Kevin Gordon

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Empower Your Child for a Future Work World

At our overnight summer camp outside of Chicago, we help prepare our campers to maximize their development. For our mindful, intentional parents, from counselor and therapist Phyllis Fagell, here are some good tools to empower your child and prepare for their future work world. Bullets below, with the full blog available at this link. Cultivate “big likings” Encourage kids to explore new interests. Even a simple project can be life-changing. Ask kids to list their 10 most meaningful experiences. This will help them understand what drives them. Teach them to […]

5 Perspective Shifts to Keep You Happy

At our summer camp in the Midwest, we strive to help our campers empower themselves. One way is to maintain a positive life perspective. From the good folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree, here are some tricks to keep your perspective positive. Amor Fati: Merely “accepting” life is not enough. You need the Platinum Pro package. Love every bit of life, good, bad, and ugly. (Yes, that includes traffic.) Denial And Complaining Are The Enemy: Whatever it is, you will accept it eventually. So sooner is better. And whining […]

20 Myths About Summer Camp

Myth #1: Camp isn’t for everyone. Myth #2: Summer camp isn’t educational. Myth #3 – You have to sleep in tents. Myth #4 – You will not survive without electronics! Myth #5 – Camp is just for kids. Myth #6- You can catch poison ivy from someone who has it. Myth #7- Camp food tastes bad. Myth #8- You can’t make a campfire when it’s raining. Myth #9- There’s no electricity or running water. Myth #10- Crate stacking is easy. Myth #11- Rainy days ruin outdoor camptivities. Myth #12- 9 […]

15 Ways to Cope with “Camp-sickness”

Now that it’s autumn and campers are trying to find rhythm of the new school year and trying to get used to non-camp life, sometimes there can be a struggle missing the good times you had over the summer. Here are 15 ways to cope with camp-sickness! (1) Write to your camp friends. (2) Teach your friends/family camp songs. (3) Tie-dye EVERYTHING you own. (4) Stalk the Kupugani facebook/instagram pages. (5) Do the Kupugani Beat after every meal. (6) Wear some Kupugani swag. (7) Sing the announcement song every time […]

Final Reflections on the Anatomy of Peace

Here at Camp Kupugani, we name our cabins after influential people throughout history. One is named for Mahatma Gandhi, who voiced many inspirational thoughts during his life. One such quote from the Indian activist is “be the change you want to see in the world”. What does this quote mean to you? In previous blogs regarding The Anatomy of Peace, we have discussed “self-deception” boxes and how to escape those boxes by supporting and challenging ourselves as individuals. Now we will briefly discuss the resulting potential change and how the […]

More Reflections on the Anatomy of Peace

Our last blog regarding the Anatomy of Peace discussed getting out of the boxes of objectifying others; this forms the basis of the pyramid of change. Once we have exited the box, we can build relationships, actively listen to support people, and challenge people to bring about their own changes. The Anatomy of Peace explains that–for us to solve a problem at one level of the pyramid, we need to focus on building a stronger relationship–a the deeper level of the pyramid of change. (I.e. I might be willing to […]

How to Overcome Self Deception

After reading The Anatomy of Peace, we choose a few aspects of this thought-provoking work to apply to our values here at camp. The book elucidates four kinds of “self-deception boxes” we can get into – the four ways that we can see others as objects rather than seeing them as people. The boxes are: “Better-than” box – you see yourself as better than other people. They’re not as human as you because you simply are better. “I-deserve” box – The key word is entitlement. You don’t see others as […]

5 Tips on Raising Emotionally Intelligent Kids

At our Midwest summer camp, we are intentional at striving to maximize our campers’ emotional intelligence. A recent blog from the good folks at Barking up the Wrong Tree has some great advice along those lines. Bullets below: Be aware of emotions: Canaries. Coal mines. Sometimes you can ignore the words but if you ignore the underlying feelings you’re going to be cleaning spaghetti off the walls. Emotion is an opportunity for intimacy and teaching: The best lessons about dealing with emotions are learned when things get emotional. Yes, this […]

Service Opportunities at Kupugani

The 14-year-old campers left camp for a bit yesterday to visit a local farm. While there, the girls learned how to split wood both the old fashion way (ax and maul) and new-fashioned (wood splitter). The girls were also able to interact with the alpacas and other animals on the farm. The girls also helped to build a new pen for the guinea hens. They further supported the farm owners by moving some bales of hay. Our 14 year-old leaders-in-training (LITs) will later head to a local nursing home to spend […]

More Empowerment at Camp

While at camp, we empower young women by giving them opportunities to take leadership in their community. One service opportunity is the camp store (La Tienda) manager. Campers in this position provide excellent customer service, are involved in taking inventory, and take part in account management.

Kupu Olympic Fun

Yesterday was another fun-filled day at camp. The girls were split into two teams to open up Girls 1 2018 Kupu Olympics. Each girl competed in 4 events: gaga, an obstacle course ending on a huge tarp slip and slide, tug of war in our own mud volleyball court, and a canoe race (no paddles allowed) in the canoes around the raft and back. The competition was not decided solely on who won or lost the challenges but also Camp Kupugani values of sportsmanship, respect, participation, and effort. The blue […]

Not Starving for Leadership Training

Our LIT campers recently enjoyed a trip to Starved Rock state park where they spent the night in tents they pitched themselves. In the morning, they had to pack up the tents and prepare for a 3-mile hike. This hike began at the Starved Rock Museum where the girls learned a bit of the history of Starved Rock. They also learned about some of the fish that are local to the state. The hike traveled up a good elevation change (which might make our own What A Puff A Me […]