Author: Brian Kooperman

Koop has put an order into our N. Bridgton weather service. The entire holiday weekend will be incredible! Just what we want for the trip into Portland to see the Sea Dogs game. Afterwards campers will see an amazing display of fireworks.

The boys appear to be very satisfied with their schedules this session. We’ve had to make only a few changes. Now, if they could just stop loosing them around camp we’d be in great shape 😉

This morning after clean up I followed some campers to see what minors they were doing. Seniors were having a very competitive flag football game. On the far side of field the baseball majors were being timed for different sprints. There were some pretty fast speeds recorded by Coach Mike. He keeps stats on his majors to see the progress they make during the session. Next I watched a little “King of the Court” followed by our new minor STREET HOCKEY. This is becoming extremely popular with the boys. I’ve watched some great games and they will go out of camp to play in a few tournaments.

Arts and crafts is held in the basement of the church on campus. On a hot day the boys love to hang out, listen to music, chat, and chill. Today was no exception. They were making their own mazes in CD cases. Very clever project I had to take a picture of a few.
Fifth period everyday is “choose-up.” Campers can go to any activity they want. I decided to watch the boys down at the lake.

Evening activity was movie night. Tomorrow is LAZY BONES SUNDAY. I think everyone is looking forward to a sleep in.

Another picture perfect day at BSC. Down at the lake a camper caught a five and a half pound wide mouth bass. This is an all time record here at camp.Campers were wake boarding and skiing and there were several first time ups on the skis. We had bulls eyes in archery. scores galore at street hockey. Basketball majors were doing a series of drills dribbling two balls at the same time.

Lunch was a treat for our Philly group. Nothing like a good steak sandwich. After an extending rest hour (which campers loved) we squeezed in the rest of the swim tests. Tonight was BSC league and three on three basketball.
Dinner was an Italian feast. We had baked manicotti and celebrated a campers birthday.

A picture perfect day in Bridgton. The 16 and under soccer team left bright and early this morning. More about their day later.

Up on the field majors were hard at work. Coach Mike had the boys doing a series of throwing drills followed by base running, and batting practice. I watched flag football where I got to see some amazing plays and quite a few touchdowns. I always enjoy hearing campers root their teammates on. Hockey majors were put through some vigorous drills in the morning and they scrimmaged in the afternoon. One of the drills I got to watch was 3 on 3 using their opposite hand. Let’s not leave basketball out. Coach Whitt comes to the court with an array of different drills to improve their game and take them to the next level.

First time since camp started I went to visit arts and crafts. The place is usually full of conversation and music. Today you could hear a pin drop. The boys were each building their own rocket following some rather difficult instructions.

A tradition at Bridgton……Tonight is our first camp fire. At the beginning of every season the campers write their goals on a piece of wood. Those goals range anywhere from making new friends to improving in their game. At the closing campfire they share those goals and tell their fellow campers what goals were met before tossing the wood in the fire. Koop saves the ashes and they will be added to next years campfire.

We are so proud of the 16 and under boys soccer team. They won all three of their matches and reached the finals. The game ended in a tie. We lost in a shoot out. They came back with a second place trophy. They were truly amazing.

I went down to the lake this morning and was amazed that I hardly noticed a ripple in the water. A fantastic opportunity for wake boarding and water skiing. The boat is in tip top shape and is out there all day long. Definitely fun to watch campers dropping a ski, slaloming, and wake boarding. Several campers tried skiing for the very first time today. It’s not alway easy getting up your first few times, but they can’t wait to try it again.
We had the entire fleet of canoes on the lake and this year Koop added a few kayaks. One of the campers caught a wide moth bass. The lake was the place to be!

This evening was free play. Boys were in the gym playing their 3 on 3 tournaments. Up on the fields guys were enjoying soccer and a little lax. Most of the rookies were at the Gaga pit. Always a popular place to hang out and play.
We managed to get through the entire day with just a few clouds, but by eight o’clock we are having some much needed rain. All boys are indoors and enjoying the cool temperatures that are more typical in Maine.

I spent the day up on the fields. It was my first visit to archery, and I saw a few bulls eyes. Very impressive!! Boys were being taught safety first and the proper way to load and shoot. The weather was warmer today and everyone enjoyed all the water breaks. Today Koop joined the soccer minors on the pitch for a match. A fun time was had by all, and there was great goal tending on both ends of the field. Campers spent the late afternoon at the lake taking swim tests, which was a welcome activity as it was a perfect day to cool off in the lake.

In our majors: Tryouts were held today for the 16 and under soccer tournament that will take place this coming Thursday. Coach Whit is impressed with the talent on the basketball court. And our hockey and lacrosse majors are quickly picking up the new drills.

Our meals were great today! At lunch, we enjoyed “Taco Tuesday”! And this evening, the boys were thrilled to see five different types of pizza, soda and fresh strawberry shortcake.

In line-up, funny jokes were told, so a few campers missed out on “the bucket”!

Evening activity was a continuation of BSC Leagues. For the older boys, Coach Aren has created a 3 on 3 tournament that will carry on through the entire session. They are creating some great team names for this league including: Deer Isle Dreamcatchers, Jackman Jackhammerin’ Jackrabbits, and the Waldoboro County Wind Chimes.

I know the boys will sleep well tonight!

AND WE ARE OFF!!!!!!

With blue skies and a nice breeze campers were up and at breakfast by 8 o’clock. With choices galore. They had their pick of waffles, eggs, yogurt, fruit, granola, bagels, toast, oatmeal, and what would any breakfast be without lucky charms.

Immediately following they all met in one of our larger buildings… The Humanity Center. It has a huge lecture room and this is where the boys received their activity schedules.

During the morning I saw a new minor. We have turned one of our tennis courts into street hockey. This was run by one of our hockey coaches. Looks like this is going to be a popular minor! Up on the fields lax majors were going through a series of drills. Baseball majors were doing the same. Hockey players were given lockers and meeting Coach Warde and learning about the program. In the afternoon they were on the ice. Looks like we have some real talent this summer.

Parents of soccer and basketball…….. I promise to visit those majors tomorrow and have some great photo’s for you.

I heard the lake was a little choppy but that didn’t stop the boys from waterskiing, wake boarding, tubing and canoeing. I never heard if any fish were caught.

At the end of activities we always have a line up. That’s where counselors share special moments of the day. The boys are cheered and applauded. We also have the joke of the day. If the joke doesn’t get a thumbs up they get the bucket. On a hot day we hear a lot of bad jokes.

After dinner we had BSL (Bridgton Sports League) Camp is divided into 6 teams, The Badgers, Tree’s, Bull Dogs, Horn Frogs, Crimson’s, and Ducks. They compete all summer long. Winners have a pizza party and their names on a huge trophy. They are playing cricket, dodgeball and all fun events. Teams are comprised of all ages. From Rookies to seniors.

After an exhilarating week of orientation…. we were ready to meet and greet our campers.
Koop wasted no time having games up on the field. For new parents, BSC is divided into three groups by age and grade. Rookies (youngest) played kick ball on the soccer field. Pro’s (middle) played handball on the football field. Seniors had their own game of kickball on the baseball field.
We had a line up where campers were introduced to all counselors at camp. Followed by a dinner of chicken fingers, pasta, salad bar, and cupcakes for desert.
After dinner there was an evening activity followed by dorm meetings and settling in.

“I could never,” the stranger in line in front of me at Target exclaimed with her hand clenched against her chest.

Moments earlier, she overheard me on the phone asking my 10-year-old son how many tubes of sunscreen he went through last Summer and if he needed a new fan this year. She asked where we were headed, which, based on the overflowing nature of my shopping cart, I understood. I laughed, telling her it wasn’t “we” — it was “he.” He was going to sleepaway camp for the Summer and I was trying to get a head start on packing. That, of course, led to questions about how long and where and why. To which I answered, seven weeks, five hours away, and because we love him and want him to experience all that camp has to offer.

That’s when she made her comment. I decided it wasn’t worth any more discussion — I had my reasons and didn’t need to explain them to a stranger — but it did get me thinking. Why do we ship our children away for the Summer?

Both my husband and I went away to camp when we were kids, me for four weeks each Summer and him for eight. Ask us, or really any other kid who did so, and they’ll probably tell you those were the happiest days of their childhoods. We can still sing the songs, tell color war stories until your ears fall off, recall first crushes . . . and first kisses, and remember the distinct smell of the dining hall and the slimy bottoms of the lakes.

What we didn’t realize at the time was everything else we learned. We learned independence. We learned to care for ourselves. Yes, there were counselors there overseeing everything, but we really did learn how to handle so much on our own. Without parents there, we learned to make new friends. We put ourselves out there and tried new activities and new foods. We learned a bit about ourselves without even realizing it.

These are the lessons I want my sons to learn — once both are old enough to go (my youngest is still too young to go). Being away from home is a time to learn about yourself outside of the comforts and security of home. It’s a time to learn to bask in the uncertainty of what comes next or who will be sleeping in the bed next to you. In this age of connectivity, where there’s always a phone, computer, or tablet in sight, it’s a forced break from that. My son’s camp does not allow any electronics and I couldn’t be more grateful. Camp is a time to re-create the carefree days of childhood that my kids’ grandparents — and even their great-grandparents — experienced all those years ago. As city dwellers, it’s also a chance for my kids to experience nature — not at a museum or a park surrounded by buildings, but nature in its natural state.

And, let’s be frank here: it’s always a great break for us, the parents. The hustle and bustle of the school year is exhausting. And by the time the Summer rolls around, we could all use a break from each other. Yes, I spend half my day scrolling through the photos the camp posts for any sign that my child is happy, sad, or really just clean! But the time apart proves that absence does make the heart grow fonder.

Last year, my oldest went off to camp for the first time. He didn’t know a soul. He sat on the bus with a boy he had met a few minutes earlier and a few days later I got a letter from the him that he was loving it. He had already gone camping, canoeing, and water skiing — three things he’d never done in his life. He was playing street hockey and tennis and eating s’mores each night. And the kid I had to drag out of bed each morning for school had joined a Polar Bear club where they jump in the lake first thing every morning. In the matter of three days, he was already making memories. Five weeks later, he was begging us to extend his Summer to the full seven weeks away. We told him we thought he’d had enough for his first Summer, but would gladly do it for the next. Right now, he’s counting down the days on his calendar.

In shipping my kid away for the Summer, I’m giving him something special, whether he knows it or not right now. Just a few weeks ago, we were having one of our frequent arguments about something trivial. He suddenly blurted out that the reason I send him to camp is to “get rid of him for the Summer.” And while in that moment it may have rung true, I told him that wasn’t the case at all — that camp is hardly punishment; it’s a privilege and he’s very lucky to be able to go, that I would never spend the money I do on a camp if it was punishment.

So while the woman in line at Target may never understand why we send our kid to camp, I can think of a thousand reasons. But the best reason is that we’re doing it for him. There’s a saying the campers like to say: “We live 10 months for two.” I can’t think of a better sentiment.

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Rebecca Gruber

Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed
May 2016
surfing
While the academic year holds ample opportunity for what are commonly referred to as “the three R’s” of reading, writing, and arithmetic, a job at summer camp offers unique experiential learning opportunities not only for your campers but for you as well. In fact, it’s a perfect breeding ground for three other R’s too often lost in our fast-paced, always-on, hyperconnected world: recharging, reconnecting, and reflecting.
Each is important for the campers — and the counselors!
Recharging
No doubt the rigors of school bring about a palpable need for de-stressing come summer break. According to a 2014 report commissioned by the American Psychological Association (APA), young people are experiencing stress at a rate comparable to, and in some cases exceeding, that of adults.
And they know it.
Indeed, many youth say that their level of stress during the school year exceeds what even they believe to be healthy (APA, 2014).
The cause of all this anxiety? Predictably, such things as grades, tests, expectations, pressure to do well, social issues, and college, according to a survey conducted by the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (Adolescent Interest Group, 2013).
More recently, in a January 2016 New York Times article, Vicki Abeles, author of the book Beyond Measure: Rescuing an Overscheduled, Overtested, Underestimated Generation, recounted the story of Stuart Slavin, a pediatrician and professor at the St. Louis University School of Medicine, who found high rates of anxiety and depression among medical students there. Extending such inquiries into the secondary school space in Freemont, California, Slavin revealed that more than half of students tested (54 percent) exhibited “moderate to severe symptoms of depression. More alarming, 80 percent suffered moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety” (Abeles, 2016).
Abeles goes on to cite “a growing body of medical evidence” linking long-term childhood stress with a higher risk of depression and anxiety in adulthood.
Perhaps it’s no wonder then that the article cites the National Survey of College Counseling Centers 2014 in stating that 94 percent of counseling directors say they’ve seen an increase of students with severe psychological disturbances.
Although the work of a summer camp counselor is not devoid of external expectations or internal desires to perform optimally, the very nature of camp lends itself to an alternative state of mind championed by practitioners of “positive psychology.”
What is it? In a word, “flow.”
Flow, defined as a state of complete immersion, leads to increased positive affect, performance, and commitment to long-term, meaningful goals.
According to PursuitofHappiness.org, “If we are actively involved in trying to reach a goal, or an activity that is challenging but well suited to our skills, we experience a joyful state called ‘flow’” (Pursuit of Happiness, 2016a).
As described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (Pursuit of Happiness, 2016b). He has identified nine elements that, in combination, create the necessary conditions for flow (This Emotional Life, 2009).
There are clear goals every step of the way — you know exactly what to do next.
There is immediate feedback to one’s actions — when you’re in flow, you can tell how well you’re doing.
There is a balance between challenges and skills — the task is not so easy that you get bored, but you have enough mastery to be engaged and successful.
Action and awareness are merged — you’re concentrating completely on what you’re doing.
Distractions are excluded from consciousness — you’re so absorbed in the activity that you’re not aware of other things.
There is no worry of failure — you’re too involved to worry about failing; you know what to do and just do it.
Self-consciousness disappears — you’re not thinking about yourself or protecting your ego because you’re too wrapped up in the task at hand.
The sense of time becomes distorted — you may look up after being in a state of flow surprised at how much time has gone by.
The activity becomes an end in itself — rather than a means to an end.
Helpful guidance for counselors, and through them for their campers, to make the most of a summer camp experience far removed from the fast lane.
Reconnecting
Achieving a state of flow requires the relinquishment of unnecessary distraction, perhaps especially those engendered by technology. And therein lies the challenge.
It seems readily apparent that, of all the types of technology available at your fingertips, the most prevalent in your everyday lives are smartphones, according to a 2013 report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (Madden et al, 2013).
Some have asked what is driving this obsession with smartphones. A sense of having to “do it all,” according to author and speaker Ana Homayoun, who presented at the American Camp Association’s 2015 national conference (Homayoun, 2015).
That same sentiment showed up in newly released research sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance. More important, it linked what is commonly referred to as “fear of missing out” — or FoMO — to dangerous driving behaviors by young people more concerned about keeping up with their friends than with keeping their eyes on the road. Such reliance on technology to keep pace socially was also associated in the same study with a significant lack of sleep. More than half of young people (52 percent) reported they get less than six hours on weeknights during the school year (Liberty Mutual/SADD, 2015).There is a growing consensus that all of this connectedness may be not only unsafe but also unhealthy, a point made by Tony Schwartz in his November 2015 New York Times opinion piece “Addicted to Distraction.” He quotes Nicholas Carr, author of the book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, saying, “The net is designed to be an interruption system, a machine geared to dividing attention. We willingly accept the loss of concentration and focus, the division of our attention, and the fragmentation of our thoughts, in return for the wealth of compelling or at least diverting information we receive” (Schwartz, 2015).
Summer camp may very well offer a remedy to the addiction that is the overreliance on technology. Why? Because camp stresses real relationships in real time and an almost singular focus on the children, who, by and large, do not typically have access to technology themselves while at camp.
Madeleine McArdle, a veteran camper and counselor and a student at Dartmouth College, explains, “Camps should definitely remain primarily technology-free zones. That allows everyone to fully commit to interacting face to face, building strong relationships, and preparing them to be successful later in life.” McArdle, who is a member of the national advisory board of the Center for Adolescent Research and Education (CARE), acknowledges that for both children and staff, some degree of FoMO may exist when thinking about friends at home. But she adds, “What is vital to remember is that the time spent at camp is incredibly valuable and, for many, is worth so much more than spending lazy days at home doing nothing.”
Similarly, Jesse Bajaj, another student member on the CARE board and a junior at the University of Miami, reflects on his time as a camper and counselor, stating, “Camp is the ultimate stress-free environment because it eliminates the normality of everyday life such as phones, traffic, and classes. Camp gives you a completely new routine that ultimately serves the purpose of creating a loving place where campers and counselors enjoy doing fun activities together. It’s a sort of alternate universe where it doesn’t matter where you’re from, who your friends are, or what you enjoy doing because everyone is a part of the same tight-knit community. It’s the best feeling in the world to see some of your closest friends throughout the day unexpectedly, without texting to meet up or making some sort of extensive, ever-changing plan. You become so actively involved at camp that you almost forget that the real world even exists.”
Reflecting
One of the many unique value propositions of summer camp is the opportunity to try new things, new roles, and new relationships. Each offers the promise of success or failure, both viewed as important milestones in developing resilience and self-efficacy. Each, in turn, can prompt reflection that aids self-awareness and is key in establishing new strategies to accomplish goals.
At Camp Rising Sun in Rhinebeck, New York, where learning is predicated on exposing youth to real problems in a diverse social setting, an intentional “Do-Reflect-Redo” approach is used in training young leaders from around the globe (Wallace, 2014).
In truth, young people (and adults) of all ages benefit from reflection, or mindfulness — “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Indeed, a January 2016 article in The Boston Globe reported on mindfulness approaches being employed at nine schools in the community of Reading, Massachusetts, as a way “to help put students at ease and get them more in tune with their emotions, and one another, so they can concentrate on learning.” The article goes on to point out ancillary benefits related to such issues as bullying, mental illness, and substance abuse (Vaznis, 2016).
A Summer Solstice
For campers and counselors emerging from academia, camp may serve as a refuge from stress and anxiety, offering a chance to slow down and unplug. A much needed antidote to an ever-faster, technology-obsessed world.
Change places and change paces — and find time for recharging, reconnecting, and reflecting at summer camp.
– See more at: http://www.acacamps.org/resource-library/camping-magazine/changing-places-changing-paces-recharging-reconnecting-reflecting-summer-camp?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=SocialMetrics#sthash.sRVwfSjZ.dpuf

“Do you even like your children?” the woman I had just met asked me.

The audacity of the question took my breath away. I had been chatting with her, explaining that my kids go to sleep-away camp for two months every year.

I quickly realized two things at once: She was obnoxious, and she actually didn’t care if I missed my kids during the summer. She was talking about something else.

I didn’t have to tell her the reason I “send them away” for most of the summer is because I like them. They adore camp, and it’s actually harder on me than it is on them. I often tell people that the first year they were both gone, it felt like I had lost an arm. I wandered around the house from room to room experiencing phantom limb pain.

Now, instead of being offended, I got excited.

I was going to be able to tell her something that my husband and I rarely get to explain: We do it because we truly think it will help our kids be successful in life. With under-employment and a stagnating labor market looming in their future, an all-around, sleep-away summer camp is one of the best competitive advantages we can give our children.

Huh?

Surely, college admissions officers aren’t going to be impressed with killer friendship bracelets or knowing all the words to the never-ending camp song “Charlie on the M.T.A.” Who cares if they can pitch a tent or build a fire?

Indeed, every summer my kids “miss out” on the specialized, résumé-building summers that their peers have. Their friends go to one-sport summer camps and take summer school to skip ahead in math. Older peers go to SAT/ACT prep classes. One kid worked in his dad’s business as an intern, while another enrolled in a summer program that helped him write all his college essays.

Many (this woman included) would say that I’m doing my children a serious disservice by choosing a quaint and out-of-date ideal instead. There are online “Ivy League Coaches” that might say we are making a terrible mistake.

We don’t think this is a mistake at all. It might not be something to put on the college application (unless my child eventually becomes a counselor), but that isn’t the goal for us.

Our goal is bigger.

We are consciously opting out of the things-to-put-on-the-college-application arms race, and instead betting on three huge benefits of summer camp, which we believe will give them a true competitive advantage — in life:

1. Building creativity.

2. Developing broadly as a human being.

3. Not-living-in-my-basement-as-an-adult independence.

MIT’s Erik Brynjolfsson says, in his book “The Second Machine Age,” that we have reached a pivotal moment where technology is replacing skills and people at an accelerated pace. He argues that creativity and innovation are becoming competitive advantages in the race against artificial intelligence, because creativity is something a machine has a hard time replicating.

The problem is that creativity seems so intangible.

Steve Jobs once said, “Creativity is just connecting things.” He believed that people invent when they connect the dots between the experiences they’ve had. To do this, he argued that we need to have more experiences and spend more time thinking about those experiences.

Indeed. According to Adam Grant’s book “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World,” researchers at Michigan State University found that to receive the Nobel Prize, you need deep study in your field and those broad experiences Jobs was talking about. They studied the winning scientists from 1901 through 2005 and compared them with typical scientists living at the same time. Grant writes that the Nobel Prize winners were:

* Two times more likely to play an instrument, compose or conduct.

* Seven times more likely to draw, paint or sculpt.

* Seven-and-a-half times more likely to do woodwork or be a mechanic, electrician or glassblower.

* Twelve times more likely to write poetry, plays, novels or short stories.

* And 22 times more likely to be an amateur actor, dancer or magician.

You read that right. Magician.

It’s not just that this kind of original thinker actively seeks out creative pursuits. These original experiences provide a new way of looking at the world, which helped the prize-winners think differently in their day jobs.

The beauty of summer camp is that not only do kids get to do all sorts of crazy new things, they also get to do it in nature, which lends its own creative boost.

Most importantly, my kids have such intensely packed schedules full of sports, music, art classes, community service and technological stimulation throughout the school year that it makes finding these all-important quiet mental spaces more difficult.

Summers provide a much-needed opportunity for my children to unplug, achieve focus and develop those creative thought processes and connections.

Okay, okay. Creativity might be a compelling tool to beat out that neighbor girl applying to the same college, but what about this “developing broadly as a human being” stuff?

I didn’t come up with that phrase. Harvard did.

William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard, has penned a compelling letter to parents. It practically begs and pleads with them to reevaluate the summer extracurriculars race and to “bring summer back,” with an “old-fashioned summer job” perhaps, or simply time to “gather strength for the school year ahead.”

Fitzsimmons writes, “What can be negative is when people lose sight of the fact that it’s important to develop broadly as a human being, as opposed to being an achievement machine. In the end, people will do much better reflecting, perhaps through some down time, in the summer.”

In terms of “developing broadly as a human being,” summer camp can provide an impressive list of life skills.

Studies over the past decade have shown outdoor programs stimulate the development of interpersonal competencies, enhance leadership skills and have positive effects on adolescents’ sense of empowerment, self-control, independence, self-understanding, assertiveness, decision-making skills, self-esteem, leadership, academics, personality and interpersonal relations.

Now for the cherry on top: Independence.

Michael Thompson, the author of “Homesick and Happy,” has written, “… there are things that, as a parent, you cannot do for your children, as much as you might wish to. You cannot make them happy (if you try too hard they become whiners); you cannot give them self-esteem and confidence (those come from their own accomplishments); you cannot pick friends for them and micro-manage their social lives, and finally you cannot give them independence. The only way children can grow into independence is to have their parents open the door and let them walk out. That’s what makes camp such a life-changing experience for children.”

So, yes, Ms. Tiger Mom, I am letting my children walk out the door and make useless lanyards for two months.

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They might not have anything “constructive” to place on their college application, but they will reflect, unwind, think and laugh. They will explore, perform skits they wrote themselves and make those endless friendship bracelets to tie onto the wrists of lifelong friends.

The result will be that when they come back through our door, we’re pretty sure that, in addition to having gobs of creativity and independence, they’ll be more comfortable with who they are as people.

And just maybe they’ll even bring back a few magic tricks.

Laura Clydesdale lives in Berkeley, Calif., with her husband and children. She blogs at lauraclydesdale.com. Follow her on Twitter @l_clydesdale.