Tag: summer camp

Unique Opportunities at Camp Weequahic

When your child heads back to school after a summer at Camp Weequahic, they will hear a lot of their classmates talking about what they did over the summer:

“I went swimming in my pool. Every day.”

“I played baseball with my friends.”

“I visited my Grandma in Oklahoma.”

But when your child stands up to share his or her experience, it might sound something like:

“I don’t even know where to start! I tried archery and gymnastics, I learned to bake INCREDIBLE French pastries, I crafted my mom a necklace in arts and crafts. I swam a lot, but I also went water skiing and sailing! I went camping and learned important outdoor skills. I was in a musical. I even went down a zipline!”

Screen Shot 2014-12-03 at 11.12.54 AMThe great thing about Camp Weequahic is that it’s not a place to send your kids where they’ll do the same ol’ thing they’ve always done. Once they step foot onto camp, they’ll be surrounded by new activities. A camper may discover their love for archery or sailing, but would have never had the opportunity to try it back home.

At camp, your child has a hands-on opportunity to learn outdoor skills such as navigating a hiking trail, learning to make a fire, cruising through an outdoor fitness trail and getting pro-level instruction in tennis, lacrosse or basketball. These are things they would rarely have the chance to learn outside of a summer spent at camp. These skills prepare campers with a sense of confidence and self–sufficiency that can be carried over into many other aspects of their lives.

The lessons campers learn while trying out new activities at camp are invaluable. Learning to work together as a team, whether in flag football or during a mountaineering adventure, is an essential character trait built upon at summer camp. Campers learn to trust themselves and step out of their comfort zone, while also learning to trust their peers and building lifelong friendships in the process.

Campers can explore their creative side, and try new artistic outlets not found in their typical English class or art elective. Jewelry making, cartooning, ceramics, music production, jazz dance and cooking are just a few activities geared toward right-brained campers. When was the last time your child had the opportunity to really get their hands dirty and create a piece of ceramic art? Or learn first-hand what beautiful art can be created out of a piece of scrap metal? At summer camp, giving each camper a once in a lifetime experience is our goal, and we strive to make sure there are unique opportunities for everyone to take part in.

Screen Shot 2014-12-03 at 11.13.11 AMYour child could go back to school with thrilling adventures of playing Bingo with grandma in Oklahoma or delight the class with play-by-plays of their neighborhood baseball games. Or they could teach their class a thing or two about archery, French pastries, sailing, outdoor skills, jazz dance, flag football, ceramics and what is involved in training for a triathlon, just to summarize their first couple weeks at camp.

Give your child the gift of brand new experiences by sending them to a camp where they can do it all. It’ll be a life changing experience for the both of you.

 

 

Looking through Camp Photos…Again.

Admit it. During the summer, you just scroll through the camp photos looking for any part of your child—a pose with friends, a smiling face, an arm, a shoe, a finger—anything that you can bookmark and study intensely to see what information you can garner using every technique you’ve ever learned from Law & Order. But have you ever gone back through the photos months after camp ends and just browsed at large, not just at your children, but at camp at large? If you haven’t, you should.

Camp photos aren’t just random shots caught by the camp photographer as he or she casually passed by. They tell astory. The story of camp and how the summer unfolds. The camp photographer is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest working people at camp. In fact, the work is so difficult, that many camps employ more than one, plus a videographer or two. Camp photographers are some of the first people out of bed each morning and some of the last to go to bed each night. Daily, they are charged with capturing the spirit of camp in pictures. If that sounds easy, try making around several hundred acres to capture about twenty activities happening simultaneously. On top of that, you’re taxed with trying to capture images of each and every camper each day. It’s a task. But a valuable one. Because, at the end of the summer, what a camp photographer leaves behind are images of the best moments at camp.

If you look back through the camp photos, you see friends enjoying time together in arts & crafts, sports teams in action, candid shots of campers living in the moment of whatever activity in which they are participating, being reflective, or just taking it all in. You also see moments of true surprise, awe, joy, and even disappointment. You can literally relive the summer by looking through the camp photos. If you want to know what your child is up to, scroll for the photos of our child. But if you want to know what is happening at camp, take the time to look through the camp photos…again.

Home Away from Home

18439 is the zip code that has become my second home for five summers.  Starting at the age of six, I learned many core virtues at Camp Weequahic in Pennsylvania.  Summer camp has absolutely changed my life.

Living and sleeping in a cabin with different girls and no parents involves plenty of responsibility.  Everyone has to clean their bunk and the bathroom everyday with only a little help from the counselors.  Also, each camper has to create his or her own schedule of fun activities planned.  In addition, I have to be accountable for brushing my teeth and folding my laundry.  Responsibility is important, but cooperation is also a big part of the camp experience.

At sleep away camp, cooperation is used everyday no matter what.  All campers must cooperate completely during their activities by including everyone. By cooperating with my fellow bunk members, we can accomplish chores and activities more quickly than doing it all alone.  In competitions, different teams have to cooperate in order to win.  When the entire camp breaks into different tribes, girls and boys work together creating songs, competing in relays, and answering trivia questions.  At times, I can be a strong leader in my bunk or for my tribe.

Finally, I have gained independence every year I have been at this camp. Living 3,000 miles away from home allows me to take care of myself and be independent.  I am in charge of serving others and myself food.  I try new things like cooking, sewing, tubing, and kickball.  I have created friendships with people from all over the world and have stayed in touch with them.

Arriving at camp is the best experience of the whole year.  I am away from my parents but at least I still have my bother there with me.  I learn many things and make many new friends.  All of this creates a remarkable summer experience!

–Jenna H.