Making decisions is one of the biggest things I do all day as a camp director. What are we going to put on the menu? Who is going to teach tennis because the instructor is sick? What are we going to do about the cookout if it rains? Who is going to run assembly today? When should we hand out the postcards for campers to write home (they went out today)? So many quetions and so many decisions to make each and every day.
I never learned about decision making in a classroom. I cannot remember one teacher in high school or a professor in college ever talking to me about how to make good decisions. However, I do remember learning about the making choices and the positive and negative consequences for decisions at camp.
The best way for children to learn how to make good decisions is to practice decision-making. We provide the perfect opportunity for this life-skill practice on our Camper’s Choice days, and today was the first of Session A. Every camper gets to choose and sign up for their favorite activities for the entire day and make their own schedule. These are definitely some of the most popular days at camp. Camper’s Choice days promote independence, allow campers to have a voice and give them control of their journey.
Favorite Details of the Day
- Reflect at the Rock: Beth challenged campers and staff to be investors. Not investors of money, but investors of people, How are others benefiting from your influence on them? When you leave a positive impact on a person’s life, your return on your investment will be more than money could buy.
- Meals: Breakfast was cinnamon rolls, bacon, eggs and fruit bar. Lunch was french dip sandwiches, tater tots and salad bar. Dinner was chicken fajitas, homemade guacamole, corn and black bean salsa, fajita vegetables and salad bar. And for dessert we had cinnamon and sugar churros. Yummy!
- EP: Casino Night! This is a Highlander tradition and one of the most fun nights for our campers. From bingo games to blackjack, campers get to play games, eat yummy treats like cotton candy and win awesome prizes. Some of the prizes for the big winners tonight included table cleaning for a day by the leadership team, entering camper’s choice sign ups first, a gallon of chocolate milk at dinner (we normally only have chocolate milk at breakfast), a bag of oreos for your cabin, a pool party or soda and candy at the next Gus’s. The stakes were high and the campers had a blast!
- Weather: The weather today was so great! The forecast called for rain, but we had sunshine or cloudy skies with no rain all day! Hooray!
On camper choice days we offer a wider variety of activities that are not offered on regular days at camp. Our cabin counselors get the opportunity to teach these activities and showcase their passions and talents with our campers. Some of these activiites include running, letter writing, friendship bracelet making, weightlifting, Party Rock Anthem (giant dance party) and more. In addition to on-camp activiites, there are fantastic trips that campers can take to kayak, canoe, hike or climb.
The most important choice we encourage our campers to make each day is the choice of their attitude. In life, there are many things that are beyond our control and our happiness is not about what is happening to us, but how we choice to react or respond to the circumstances of life. I believe that this is one of the most important lessons we teach at camp. Though we may not like every activity we do at camp, when we choose a good attitude we can always have fun!
Tags
About Melissa Fitzgerald
