The Hi-Hills Herald Issue #8
August 15, 2014
Top News at Hi-Hills Day Camp!
Truly the Best Summer Ever! Environment Week at Hi-Hills
Hi-Hills Day Camp 2014 may have come to a close this week, but the memories and friendships will last a lifetime!
Celebrating our 47th Summer!
Table of Contents: Note from Camp Director Bunk Updates
2 3-6
Birthdays This Month
7
Whether it is in competition for color war points, practicing a Broadway song or even just helping to set up one of the many activities, each camper brings out the best in one another. The energy and camaraderie across the entire campus is absolutely electrifying.
Dates to Remember
8
We had so many friends and family members join us this week thanks to our Kinder Camp Garden Party, Bring Your Friend to Camp Day and our campers’ Hi-Hills on Broadway performance. Photos from all of these events can be found on our website and Facebook page. Be sure to share your own photos with us, as well!
Athletics 11
Program News
8-10
Upcoming Dress Days 11 Weekly Photography Tip 11 Leagues 11 Trivia Winners 12 Counselors in Training 12 Teen Travel 12 Special Events 12
Gill St. Bernard’s School, 25 St. Bernard’s Road, Gladstone, NJ Phone: 908-234-0067 • Fax: 908-234-1611 • Email: info@hihills.com hihills.com • www.facebook.com/hihills
te o N A ur o m fro Camp rs to c e r i D
Hello Hi-Hills!
Dear Hi-Hills, We can’t believe summer has already come to a close. Time flew by these eight weeks and it makes us appreciate each day at Hi-Hills even more. This week consisted of a series of finales: the Kinder Camp Garden Party, the Leagues Championship, the CIT Late Night and Teen Travel Campout, the drama club’s production of Hi-Hills on Broadway, our annual Ice Cream Social… the list goes on and on! Everything came together to finish out the summer beautifully. We hosted a new event this week that we hope to make an annual tradition: Bring Your Friend to Camp Day. This was a success for both the campers and their friends and was a great opportunity to show our new friends what camp is all about. There is no better way to end the summer than with a jam-packed schedule of fun, fun, fun! This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Counselors and campers prepared for the fall–as well as the upcoming school year–and yet nobody wanted to waste a minute of these precious few remaining summer days. Energy was high and everywhere you looked there would be groups of kids huddled together with their friends to enjoy their time left at camp. To parents and friends, we cannot thank you enough for sharing your campers with us. They are truly remarkable people. Please keep in touch via Facebook, our website and email for information regarding our priority enrollment, dates and schedules for next season, as well as upcoming events such as our Fall Reunion. Feel free to keep in touch throughout the year; we love hearing from you! Our Parent/Camper Survey will be sent via email. We appreciate your comments and feedback to make Hi-Hills an even better place for your campers to have the Best Summer Ever. Have a wonderful year, and we’ll see you next summer at Hi-Hills! Best, Cindy Wyatt – Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs Nicole Spiotta – Assistant Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs
Bunk Upda tes
Bunks 1 & 2: Miss Kathleen’s Little Lambs Miss Stefanie’s Playful Piglets It seems hard to believe we have completed eight weeks of camp. Each week we have made new friends and said goodbye to old friends. Brooke and Barrett have had a great time being together for the past few weeks and have really bonded as sisters! Bianca and Gabriella have been holding hands all week and really enjoyed watching Hi-Hills on Broadway together. Jadesola loved seeing her sister perform in Hi-Hills on Broadway, as well. Johnny and Lucas were our only boys this week and they were so happy to play together. Ariel was a performer in yoga and has a great warrior pose. Giuliana and Elizabeth thought the swing in low ropes was great. They would swing all day if they could! It has been a pleasure to be with your children these past eight weeks and we have enjoyed every minute of it! Thank you for sharing your campers with us. It has been a wonderful summer!
Bunk Upda tes Bunk 9: Electro Scorpions Well, it’s time for the sad goodbyes. Though we are departing from camp for the summer, the boys in bunk 9 experienced a lot of new challenges and now have new friendships that will last a lifetime. On a personal note, I would like to thank all the campers that I had the privilege of meeting this summer, as well as all the parents and the staff at Hi-Hills that made this a summer to remember forever. -Ben Green, Counselor
Bunk 10: Bedazzled Cheetahs Bunk 10 had a wonderful last week at camp! Ariana really stepped it up this week during her performance in Hi-Hills on Broadway. She really nailed it! We also had an awesome fishing trip this week, too! While I am still learning to appreciate the sport, my girls in bunk 10 always manage to catch fish. Ellie and Aya had a wonderful time at nature club this week. Feeding the goats, catching fish and visiting the animals have become bunk 10 all-time favorites. Caroline really enjoyed her enrichment program this week, while at camp in the afternoon she really worked on perfecting her shot in archery. Overall, it has been an amazing summer at Hi-Hills for bunk 10! I am already looking forward to next summer. Thanks for the best summer ever! -Betsy Swartz, Counselor
Bunks 11 & 13: T he Vikings This week bunks 11 and 13 had a great time at camp. On Monday our leagues championships began. Tyler and Chris played well and helped their team win the boys’ league championships! Tyler had a great hit in tennis baseball and Chris was a great team player. Kurt did a great job with his projects in arts and crafts. The boys also went on an exciting fishing trip Thursday. Chris caught a fish and the boys all had a lot of fun. Overall, bunks 11 and 13 had lots of fun with all the activities this year! -CJ Blasi, Jr. Counselor
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 16 & 18: Magical Minions It’s hard to believe that this is our last week of camp at Hi-Hills. Our girls have enjoyed every minute of it! This week was host to our leagues championship game with the Super Mighty Lions and the Majestic Dragons competing for the title. The Dragons defeated the Lions 6-4 in a very close basketball game. This week also saw the performance of Hi-Hills on Broadway featuring some of the girls in our bunk and it looks to us like a couple of them might be singing and dancing their way to Broadway! Bring Your Friend to Camp Day was a big hit. Hopefully all of our new friends will come join us at camp next year! As camp comes to a close we want to say that we will miss everyone and look forward to seeing you next summer. Thanks to Danielle and Emily for helping out with the girls and to CITs Erica and Camilla for their help as well. They did an excellent job! Everyone please enjoy the weekend and the rest of the summer! -Maria Diaz, Counselor
Bunks 12 & 14: Double Trouble Double Trouble had a great last week at Hi-Hills! Caitlin enjoyed watching Cassidy, Anjola, Ellie and Anna perform for Hi-Hills on Broadway. They did a great job singing songs from “Wicked,” “Annie” and “Matilda” to name a few. Leagues came to an exciting finish and Cassidy won the “Most Improved Player” award. During the rainy day this week we got to play DDR with the older girls. It was so much fun! We had such a great time with your girls this summer. Have a great school year and we hope to see everyone back next summer! -Dylan Rowell, Counselor
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 15 & 17: T he Stormtroopers and the Wolf Pack The past eight weeks have come and gone in a flash. This last week has certainly been a blast. Bunks 15 and 17 joined forces to add to the fun. On Tuesday we had even more friends thanks to Bring Your Friend to Camp Day! We also took part in the leagues finals, both playing and spectating. Everybody gave it their all. Now that camp has come to an end, we must move on and prepare ourselves for what comes next. The counselors of bunks 15 and 17 fondly remember our own camp days and knew we all had to come back. We hope your sons also remember all the fun and friends they made along the way. Taylor, Bridget, Jason - Counselors
Weekly Photography Tip: From Mackenzie
Bunk Photos are now online and available to download!
Above and Beyond Ever think of what camp looks like from the sky? With permission, you can mount on camera on a roof, a flag pole or even a tree and take pictures. You will discover a whole new perspective for photography and what it is able to do. Think about those satellites in space: they are thousands of miles above Earth taking pictures of everything below. That would certainly be a really pretty picture!
Birthdays T his Month August 1 : Andrew Hansen
August 11: Anna Leung
August 2: Katherine
August 12: Cecelia Criscola
Humphrey, Zachery Yekta
August 13: Ella Baker, Robbie
August 3: Lucie Iati
DeVergillo
August 4: Kurt Hunziker
August 15: Samantha Witt
August 6: Emily DeCotiis,
August 16: Bradley Matthews
William DeCottis
August 18: Lea Casareale,
August 8: Caitlin Murgatroyd,
Nina Bhatia
Michael Fritzlo
August 19: Dylan Beers
August 9: Andrew Agresti,
August 20: Gabriella Tarinelli
Maya Saunders, Annabelle
August 23: Grace Rubinstein
Beekman
August 24: Chase Thomson
August 10: Kerry Colford,
August 25: Lucas Suthern
Brooke Babinec, Branddon
August 28: Katie Lazaar, Sara
McCall-Sulton
Merton, Landon Braemer August 29: Alexander Roch, Clinton Wolfe August 31: Ariana Isusi, Hannah Spieler
Program News Low Ropes
The final week of camp has wrapped up with an emphasis on safety, working together with fellow campers, communication and improvement during our activities. The campers have come a long way! The interest in the low ropes course continued to grow throughout the duration of camp. I am extremely grateful and fortunate to be the low ropes specialist here at Hi-Hills! I look forward to the continued growth and success of the low ropes program and all of our campers. -Chris Walsh, Activity Leader
Performing Arts
What an exciting last week at Hi-Hills! This week the campers played Broadway Jeopardy to win points for their blue and green teams. The drama club also presented Hi-Hills on Broadway to their fellow campers and parents! The hard work paid off! -Taylor, Activity Leader
Swimming
This week in swim we focused on safety. The campers wore lifejackets in the pool and swam with them on. We also learned “reach and throw and not go� in which you reach with an object to save a person. It was a pleasure and rewarding experience teaching your children to swim this summer. -Augie Lorio, Activity Leader
Nature
This week in nature the campers took their last walk of the summer into the Peapack Brook. Many of the campers caught salamanders and crayfish. A few bunks also played bird bingo. As another camp year comes to a close, I would like to say thank you for sharing your children with us this summer. I really enjoyed having them in nature! -Mr. Nature, Chuck Hogan, Activity Leader
We’ll see you back
Program News
next year for
Hi-Hills Day Camp 2015!
Mark You r Calendar
Dates to Rememb er!
Fishing
Everything about our fishing trips has been fun! The campers took fishing to a new level this summer. Their skills and knowledge for fishing have reached an all-time high. We completed our program on August 14 with bunks 9, 10, 11 and 13. It was a great experience for me to work with this many campers of this age group at the same time. Thanks to all that helped make fishing such a fun sport this year. -Em Foster, Activity Leader
Tennis
There once was a man from Nantucket. He missed out, because the beautiful weather and camper camaraderie were so great for this last week at Hi-Hills. While some would love the beach of New England, the rest of us prefer the beautiful fields and lush tennis courts to be found on the Gill St. Bernard’s School campus. Even during the last day of camp, the excitement continued with the girls defeating the boys in a big tennis baseball match! -Marc Willemsen, Activity Leader
Archery
Week eight primarily consisted of positive reinforcement of proper shooting form along with an overall review of shot execution. Campers overwhelmingly chose to shoot at moving targets, and some were able to squarely hit a dime-sized target on a moving fishing bobber! Campers held their enthusiasm all the way from the first week of camp to the last week. It was an incredible summer. -Matt Hibbitt, Activity Leader
Program News Pottery
This summer we had lots of fun! Campers learned many different pottery techniques. As the summer went on I could see them improving and learning. They were all very excited to experience the pottery wheel and the different hand building projects. During this final week we used our time to glaze or paint our final projects. I hope everyone enjoys the results! Show them off to everyone! Enjoy the school year and I will see you next summer! -Savannah LoPrinzi, Activity Leader
Arts & Crafts
This week in arts and crafts the campers made recycled art out of old crayons. They created compositions out of crayon pieces and then the crayons were melted to blend the colors. They also learned how to make origami swans out of old magazine pages. Kinder Campers made butterflies using pony beads and pipe cleaners and also created paper bag Harry the Hawk puppets while the older campers made dream catchers. -TT Dechent, Activity Leader
Yoga
The last week of camp is inevitably a bittersweet time. On one hand, we are ready to enjoy the last few remaining days of summer, while on the other hand we will surely miss our friends here at Hi-Hills. This camp truly feels like a family. It is so rewarding to have campers ask to perform certain poses in yoga. It is my intention that each and every camper take home with them a variety of exercises and breathing techniques that may increase their success for whatever journey one embarks on in the fall. Many blessings! - Marc Willemsen, Activity Leader
Program News
p Dress U Days
Great job on the retro outfits this week!
Leagues Leagues is a camp-wide competition that involves a variety of games of soccer, tennis baseball and basketball in which teams of campers compete to win! The campers play on their teams and play for points every week.
Some of our exciting games:
s c i t e l h t A Corner
Championship Round, Game 1 – August 11, 2014 BOYS’ RESULTS: Basketball Chompers 16, Blue Banzais 11 GIRLS’ RESULTS: Soccer Majestic Dragons 1, Super Mighty Lions 0 Championship Round, Game 2 – August 12, 2014 BOYS’ RESULTS: Soccer Blue Banzais 4, Chompers 1 GIRLS’ RESULTS: Basketball Majestic Dragons 6, Super Mighty Lions 4 Championship Round, Game 3 – August 13, 2014 BOYS’ RESULTS: Tennis Baseball Chompers 6, Blue Banzais 5
It is almost unimaginable that another camp season at Hi-Hills has come to an end, though we prefer to view it more as the start of the 2015 camp season. The final week for athletics focused first and foremost on the leagues championship series. On the boys’ side, the Chompers claimed the title by winning a third and decisive tennis baseball contest over the Blue Banzais in the final showdown. The girls’ side of matters saw the Majestic Dragons sweep the championship series against a very talented Super Mighty Lions squad, with the Dragons claiming a nail-biting 1-0 soccer victory and an equally intense 6-4 basketball win to walk away with the championship trophy. It has been another absolutely phenomenal camp year here at Hi-Hills, and we are already looking forward to June 2015 when we do it all over again. Thanks to everyone for the greatest summer ever, hands down! -Marc and John
Congratulations to all of our weekly trivia winners!
ia v i r T y l k Wee Winners
Your final question is: What did you experience at Hi-Hills 2014? (Psst! The answer is that you had the BEST SUMMER EVER!)
Teen Travel rs
Counselo
ng in Traini
ve of camp ha l s k e e w t h t eig ecia believe tha ut a very sp It is hard to To my teens I send o have seen growth flown by. will miss you all!” I adership, taking I message: “ every participant in le building on your d n e in a ! h in eac and of coursood luck in the future y it il ib s n o p ther. G on res with each o s ip h s d n ie fr xt year! eing you ne e s to rd a I look forw
Mindy
Our final week of camp was bittersweet. We travelled to Point Pleasant Beach to enjoy the rides and play arcade games on the boardwalk. The rain held out so we had a great day. Later on we had our campout with the CITs. We played a softball game together with all the campers and counselors. We roasted s’mores and had a grand ole time sleeping at Gill. Teen Travel had an awesome summer. We can’t wait to see you all next year along with new travellers! Have a safe, happy and successful year! -Monica
Special Events
There were so many great special events this week at Hi-Hills! We had our Kinder Camp Garden Party, Bring Your Friend to Camp Day, Hi-Hills on Broadway, leagues championships, ice cream social... it’s hard to believe we fit everything that we did into this week! It has been so much fun sharing these experiences together, and we know you will treasure these memories for a lifetime.