Life Skills at Camp!

Jed at Camp Weequahic 1971

Last week, 14 members of the Meadowbrook Leadership Team attended the American Camp Association Tri-State Camp Conference in Atlantic City.  It is a great opportunity for our staff to share and earn with thousands of other Camp professionals.

In the spirit of sharing, here is a blog post from another Camp...this one from my Alma Mater, Camp Weequahic.

At Meadowbrook, we are very focused on teaching important life skills to our Campers.  This blog post is a great perspective on some of those life skills that we teach at Meadowbrook, skills like Resilience  Sportsmanship, Teamwork, and Self-Esteem.  Check it out...and let us know what you think!

 Learning to Lose at Camp

Don't Take My Word...

I often write and speak about the amazing benefits that Camp offers Children.  But you don't have to take my word for it...check out this great article from Cigna about the Benefits of Summer Camp!

Summer Health: Benefits of Summer Camp

See you at Camp!!

UPDATE FROM A SNOWY MEADOWBROOK

Yes, it is snowing at Camp!  This is different from our normal Blog Posts.  Before we end our day, we wanted to briefly update everyone on a few things going on at Camp as we prepare for the best Summer ever!

For our youngest Campers, we are now offering a mini-day program for entering pre-school Campers.  The day will end at 1:30 and include lunch and swimming twice each day.  Let us know if you would like more information on the program for you or a friend.

We are always focused on improving our facility, and this year we seem to have more projects than ever in progress.  We are about ½ way through our bunk renovation project.  We are also working on completely re-building our Sun Mountain building area, including going from 2 bathrooms to 6 and adding a program room for some new activities we are working on.  We are also working on building 2 new GaGa pits, a new Gymnastics area under our big-top tent, new high elements at our Challenge Course, and lots more.  We are also busy on plans for a new Field House targeted for the Summer of 2014. 

For our YA Campers, we have added a new elective-type activity called Clubs.  We are busy looking to hire outside specialists for activities like Magic and Martial Arts.  We are finishing the building of our first regulation size ping pong table.  Once we have it perfected, we will build a few more before Camp starts.  They will be located in our new After Swim area called The Ridge.

For our Travel Campers, we will be adding Co-ed Sports Leagues, a Camper favorite from their YA days.  We will also have a few days of all choice for Travel Campers spread throughout the Summer based on the trip Schedules.

All of this is in addition to the ongoing projects that our office and facility staff work on all winter, every year.  We already have our 8 Weekly Special Event Themes and are busy planning schedules, Special Events, and Bus Activities.  We have had many Staff members from last Summer come to Camp to re-interview for the Summer of 2013.  We have reviewed hundreds of surveys from last Summer and are working on the many suggestions.  And of course, we are working on finalizing the 2012 Video Yearbook that we hope to mail soon so we can relive the Summer of 2012!

We have already hired about 70% of our great Staff, but we are always looking for more great mentors and role models for our Campers.  We are especially looking for a few Adult Group Leaders, Art Specialists, and Phys Ed Teachers.  We are also looking for some Lifeguards, Ropes Staff, Whispering Woods Staff, and College Athletes.  All Staff MUST be available to work all 8-weeks, no exceptions.  Anyone interested should give us a call in the office.

Finally, make sure to stay on top of everything happening at Camp.  We post lots of information on both our facebook page and our blog.  Make sure to check them out and like/subscribe to both so you don’t miss anything.

Stay safe during the snow…and think Summer…only 143 days ‘til Camp!!

- Roz, Jed, Rich & Marty

Unplugging at Camp

Earlier this week, we wrote about Learning Life Skills at Camp.  At Meadowbrook, this is a significant and intentional focus of our program.  We also provided a link to the p21.org website for additional information on 21st Century Skills.

Today we have the pleasure of sharing with you a great 11 minute Tedx video from our friend and colleague Steve Baskin talking about "Unplugging our Kids" and how these 21st Century Skills relate to all that we do at Camp.

Unplugging at Camp

Enjoy....and let us know what you think!

Summer 2013 Weekly Themes

LAST SUMMER'S SPECIAL EVENTS CALENDAR

A hallmark at Meadowbrook is the amazing level of excitement that we create for our Campers.  Parents tell us all the time that their children get up early for Camp, get dressed by themselves, run down the driveway to meet the bus, etc.  They are EXCITED to go to Camp!

One of the ways we intentionally create this excitement is with our weekly themes that change each and every year!  Each theme is supported by Special Events, Activities on our Buses to and from Camp, and projects in our Creative Arts areas.



We have already shared that the theme the first week of Camp will be AMERICAN STARS AND TIGER STRIPES (see prior post).  Jumping to the last week of the Summer, our Week 8 theme will be AROUND THE WORLD IN 5 DAYS.  Special thanks to All-Star Counselor Audrey S. who suggested it on our facebook page in the fall. The highlight of the week will be our full Camp Carnival on Wednesday with the theme "MCDC WORLD'S FAIR."  Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to another amazing Summer at Meadowbrook!

Learning Life Skills at Camp

This past Sunday, we held our first Open House of 2013.  It was a great day with lots of families coming to learn all about Meadowbrook and meet many members of our fantastic Leadership Team.

One of the things we spoke about extensively during the day was the role Meadowbrook plays in teaching Campers what we call LIFE SKILLS.

So what are life skills?  They are the"soft skills" that unfortunately have been lost in a world where schools are pressed harder to teach to standardized tests and technology has usurped 'free play" with children spending more and more time in front of computers and television sets, playing video games, using social media, and communicating via texting and messages with a maximum of 140 characters.

This is where Meadowbrook comes in!  At Camp, we are very focused on teaching our Campers the skills that are necessary to succeed in the 21st Century.  These include (but are not limited to): Decision Making, Independence,  Problem Solving, Resilience, Leadership, Teamwork, Patience, Perseverance, Self Confidence,  Goal Setting, Communication, and many more.  We do this in all areas of Camp...from our Athletics Program to Creative Arts;  from our Lake Activities to our Challenge Course; from Lunch to Swimming to Special Events to our T.I.G.E.R. program.

The beauty of it all is that our Campers are learning these important life skills in an incredibly safe and fun environment.

For more information on 21st Century Skills, check out the website p21.org.  For more information on how Meadowbrook teaches these skills, call us in the office anytime!

Special Events

The most popular question we are asked as Camp Professionals is:  "What do you do the rest of the year?"  This is followed in popularity by: "You must be starting to gear up now" which we usually hear in April or May.  The truth is, every day of the year is packed solid with planning to make every Meadowbrook Summer the Best Summer Ever!

Today we spent four hours working with Melissa, one of our 2 amazing Special Events Directors.  We worked on all of our bus activities and our weekly themes for the even weeks (weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8).  We will work on the odd weeks when we meet with Jill later in the week.

So, what are this year's themes???  Well, we are not prepared to share them all yet...but, we will start by sharing Week #1.  This is an idea that was created years ago, but we needed this year's calender to make it a reality.  In honor of the Meadowbrook TIGER Program and the 4th of July, we will start this Summer with AMERICAN STARS AND TIGER STRIPES!

It will be a great start to the Summer as we celebrate America's Stars and Stripes and everyone learns about the 5 elements of TIGER: Teamwork, Integrity, Generosity, Enthusiasm and Respect!

Make sure to follow us on facebook and subscribe to this blog so you are the first to learn about the rest of this Summer's great weekly themes!

Only 168 days 'til Camp!