Camp Kupugani Blog
Pancake Breakfast!!!!!!!
Goood morning all!!! Its 10AM and already a super productive day for our Kupugani ladies J Earlybpird volleyball? Check. Community gathering? Check. Delicious pancake breakfast? Check. Camp chores to keep camp beautiful and instill responsibility? Check. I can hear “Little Sally Walker” being played in the rec hall, which means it must be time to break up into our morning teams! More later.
It’s CAMP Time 🙂
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Camp Kupugani 2011 has begun; the campers have arrived and have moved into their summer homes 🙂 The Camp Kupugani flag is flying high (literally). We have already nearly finished our first full day, and the campers have already been super busy…tacos for dinner; campfire last night. Today, there have been swim evals, riverwalks, canoeing, pool time and morning and evening group activities. Super fun! Camp is back and better than ever!
Spring in the Air, and Empowerment on the Way!
Now that the grass is greening, the birds are returning, and the smells of spring are in the air, it gets more and more exciting to prepare for camp. It’s really magic contemplating what will happen this summer. What child will experience the first-time joy of doing something she didn’t think she otherwise could do…from the “I can’t” to the “I did!”. And carrying that over to her life—whether it’s 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years forward, when another “impossible” task arises, and she has the confidence to attack […]
10 Tips to Empower Girls Webinar Link
Here’s a link to download our recent webinar about empowering young women. Keep Up to Date Have access to incredible articles and keep up to date with all Camp Kupugani life here!
When a Child is “Ready” for Camp
A good friend asked me today when he and his wife would “know” that their daughter is ready for sleepaway camp. There is a certain level of surreality to the situation. I think back to us 20 years ago in college, as roommates. Certainly, the two decades-later prospect of me as a camp professional seriously advising him as a parent would have been a ludicrous one. Flash forward to today, with that being a critically important aspect of my job as camp director. With only a small trace of irony […]
The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In
Checked out an interesting article about the ramifications of parenting while plugged in. Nothing too earth shattering that we didn’t already apply at camp, i.e. recognizing that human interaction is valuable–but maybe a little bit of a wake up call for certain parents.
Challenges of Camp Standard Time
Thinking earlier today about how Camp Standard Time (CST) is a funny creature. Days seem very long yet fly by…as do the weeks of camp. Before you know it, the girls are gone. Also the CST time lag that underscores the trust that our camper parents have in us. If/when there are times when a camper has a difficult transition, those down moments are the ones that result in the letter home that makes parents wonder if their babies are okay. Meanwhile, the parents don’t necessarily get to see the […]
Our Camp Staffing Process More Selective Than Harvard
We’ve been enjoying a camp week with the 4H-ers at camp. Our camp staff is amazing, as expected, especially since they’ve been culled from almost 250 applicants. On top of their being just generally awesome, it’s fun to note that our staffing process is even more selective than Harvard. Its acceptance rate is almost 7%, while ours is approaching 4%.
Serious Responsibility of Caring for other Children
I had a couple of amazing moments earlier today–one a parent moment, and one a camp moment. During our staff training for rock climbing, led by our experienced instructors, Mico had his now annual opportunity to scale the limestone rock face. Belayed safely by a new staff member, he climbed his way to the top of the 50-ish feet limestone cliff, watched by smiling Mama and Papa. He was engaged and feeling great the whole way up, which was surpassed at the summit by his absolutely beaming smile and eyes […]
Intentionality and Punished by Rewards
Have been enjoying summer staff training, recently with session discussing Punished by Rewards. Sharing viewpoints on how challenging it is to overcome the popular, easier choices that teachers, parents, and others working with youth make. Avoiding the carrot and/or stick approach that many use–which work only temporarily to elicit desired behavior…and at a cost of eroding true relationship-building. Instead, we’re learning to focus on the harder work of helping youth to develop the intrinsic values so that the carrot or stick will be unnecessary.
6 Questions for Supporters of Arizona Law
As a camp celebrating diversity and empowerment of girls and women of all cultures and backgrounds, it’s been a troubling few weeks following the attempted passage of the proposed Arizona law targeting undocumented aliens. The article below has some good insights… Six questions for supporters of Arizona law BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com This has been a bad week for those of us opposing Arizona’s anti-immigration law: New polls show that a huge majority of Americans support the legislation, and key candidates for November’s mid-term elections are now saying they want […]