We’ve been anticipating this moment all year, and it’s almost here: Summer 2018 at Camp Nor’wester kicks off in three days!
Our First Session campers will be making their way to camp on Monday, and all of us here on Johns Island are eagerly awaiting their arrival. For the past two weeks, over ninety staff members have been participating in staff training – learning and practicing skills, setting up program areas and camper units, and building a vibrant, caring community, all in preparation for our campers.
Assistant director Jill shares tipi-living tips and tricks with our staff members.
More extensive than many other programs’ training modules, our staff training is an intensive time of group education, practical instruction, team building, and personal and interpersonal growth. Training sessions include safety and risk management role-playing scenarios, child development seminars, workshops on how to give and receive feedback, and experiential opportunities to practice camping and outdoor skills. In addition, our staff have been working tirelessly to set up their department areas, pitch tipis and distribute bedframes and mattresses, plan activities for their campers, and ensure that our facilities and grounds are safe and clean.
Our tipi-pitching teams have a lot of fun making camp ready for our campers.
Despite the hard work and long hours, our staff members are embracing all of the preparations that go into staff training. It’s all building up to that exciting moment of campers’ arrival.
We can’t wait to welcome our First Session campers in just a few days!
A note about our Summer Blog: We’ll be updating our Summer Blog a few times a week as the summer season kicks off. Expect to see a photo or two of camp life, read about session highlights, and join us in spirit as we celebrate another wonderful, surprising, challenging, and life-shaping summer at camp.
We continue to uphold our commitment to providing an independent experience for our campers, and so our blog is meant to offer a short and sweet snapshot of what you can expect to hear about much more fully from your campers when they return home. It is their story to tell – and we encourage you to ask them to tell it! For now, we remain committed to giving each camper a special place and time in which to experience, process, and write their own stories.
We look forward to sharing these glimpses into the summer with you – and extending a bit of the Nor’wester magic to you in the process!