By Greg Keresztury, Director of Operations
We are in Session 5 at Lake Stockwell Day Camp, and this feels like a great time at the mid-way point of the summer to check-in on some of the changes we made at Stockwell for the 2017 Summer in response to our camper feedback efforts from the fall of 2016. This is the second in a series of blog posts in which I highlight some of our changes for this summer. Check back next week for a Matolly-specific blog post.
So what is new at Stockwell?
The Lake Stockwell Day Camp experience is a wonderful one, as evidenced by the hundreds of individuals campers who choose to spend some time with us during the summer. Some campers are with us for a week, but far more are with us for multiple weeks. In fact, we are tracking to have 27(!) Stockwell Stars this summer – campers who will be spending all 10 weeks with us at camp!
With so many of our campers coming for multiple sessions, we are constantly exploring options to continue to keep camp fresh and ever-evolving for our multi-session campers. Our campers should always feel that there is “something more here” for them, and something “different.” Further, as we serve more campers, we work to ensure that the engagement level of each individual camper remains high – as camp is no place where the dreaded “bored” word should ever be uttered!
To that end, we have done a number of things to continue to improve the camper experience this summer. We have added new programming space to increase both the variety of programming offered, and to improve the logistics of camp so campers can spend more time ‘doing’ and less time in transit. We have added a science program for our younger campers in which they meet in a shaded area to conduct various science experiments to learn more about how our world works. The early returns are in, and this program has gone tremendously well! It also serves to help combat summer learning loss which directly aligns with our organization’s strategic initiatives.
Further, we have added a second challenge course area where our campers can engage in initiatives which provide team-building opportunities and help campers develop leadership skills. The initiatives at this area consist mostly of ground games and “low” elements, and allow campers to begin the challenge course progression right in the heart of Stockwell. This way, when they head out to our main course to experience other elements of the course, they’ve already developed a strong base, and been exposed to many of the skills they will need to tackle more difficult challenges along the challenge course progression.
We have taken some other efforts to increase camper engagement such as increasing our existing program areas and providing additional resources to better engage a larger volume of campers. We have also reconfigured our Cherokee Beach waterfront (used by our older Stockwell campers) with new floating docks to provide a more engaging and relationship-building waterfront experience. Campers have loved going down our new slide into the lake, and spending time with friends on our dock benches!
Finally, one of the changes I have most enjoyed watching, has been the improved development of our themes and special events! While our activity directors worked in the spring to develop lesson plans for our various program areas to ensure that the activities remained fresh, progressive, and different for returning campers, our program directors worked to ensure that we had vibrant, weekly themes to give camp a different look and feel each week. So far, campers have enjoyed Star Wars Week, Wild, Wild West Week, and themes related to Disney and Harry Potter.
During Star Wars Week, campers build spaceships which launched at the end of the session, and enjoyed other Star Wars themed fun. During Wild, Wild West Week, campers engaged in an all-camp treasure hunt! Disney Week was a blast, as the campers helped dress and decorate their counselors as their favorite Disney characters. During Harry Potter Week (always a camper favorite), the campers were split into the 4 villages, and competed for points all week to win the House Cup. Points were awarded for many things including house spirit and unity, displaying the 4 core values (caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility), winning various contests, and more!
Many fun themes are scheduled for the remaining camp sessions, including the always popular Super Hero Week (Session 7), Color Wars (Session 8), Holiday Week (Session 9), and Dr. Seuss Week (Session 10). We hope to see your camper during these fun sessions!
