The Hi-Hills Herald Issue #6
July 31, 2015
Top News at Hi-Hills Day Camp!
Celebrating our 49th Summer!
Celebrating Sportsmanship and Friendly Competition: Olympics Week at Hi-HIlls This week we put on our sportsmanship caps and participated in Olympics Week! From kickball and gaga tournaments to the annual pasta hunt, many memories were made. Wednesday’s blue team vs. green team boat events were a fantastic demonstration of teamwork. From building cardboard boats to racing them in the pool, everyone had a blast! This year, Hi-Hills brought campers a new set of activities entitled survivor challenges. On Friday, the entire afternoon was reserved for survivor day where the blue and green team engaged in all sorts of obstacles. What a perfect end to Olympics Week!
While week six has come to a close, we have a fantastic week seven jam packed with events. We look forward to seeing all smiles on Wednesday’s picture day and Thursday’s parent luncheon. In addition, we are excited to meet new friends on Tuesday’s Bring Your Friend to Camp Day. Everyone in drama cannot wait to showcase their performance of The Little Mermaid on Thursday. Have a wonderful and restful weekend and see you in week seven!
Table of Contents: Note from Camp Directors Bunk Updates
2 3-5
Bunk Photos
6
Birthdays This Month
7
Dates to Remember
9
Program News
8-10
Upcoming Dress Days 11 Counselor of the Week 11 Leagues 11 Trivia Winners 12 Counselors in Training 12 Teen Travel 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, There is only one word to describe week six at Hi-Hills: amazing! Monday morning started off with energy and excitement as campers began their fun-filled week. Some of the campers joined the Whiz Kids science camp, while others participated in our annual sewing classes, basketball or traditional camp activities. Whether campers stayed on for the full or half-day schedule, everyone had a blast! Hi-Hills celebrated sportsmanship during Olympics Week, and integrated our color wars challenge during mini Olympics events and the legendary pasta hunt. Congratulations to the blue team for finding the purple pasta! Campers gave it their best effort while also showing respect to the opposing team. On Wednesday, our Kinder Camp enjoyed their special Family Fun Night with an evening of fun in the pool. Many climbed higher on the Aqua climb, while others showed their new skills from swim lessons at camp. Chef Anthony prepared homemade pizza and cookies. We truly enjoyed watching the campers and their families interact at Hi-Hills. Next week is packed with fun and exciting activities for both you and your campers. Tuesday, August 4 will be another Bring Your Friend to Camp Day and Thursday, August 6 will be our parent luncheon followed by our drama production of The Little Mermaid (performance begins at 1:15 p.m.). Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you! Best, Cindy Wyatt – Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs Nicole Spiotta – Assistant Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 1 & 2: T he Little Rascals Week 6 was a great week for The Little Rascals. During the first part of this HOT week, we spent a lot of time in the pool and splash pad. These little campers are making great strides. Brooke, Maddy, Ryan and Sydney have been trying their luck on the climbing wall; they are getting better and better with every try. Mark, Milo, Arielle and Zach practiced their skills with the kick boards and barbells while Dashiell made his way underwater for the first time! During some of our free time we had a color war pasta hunt! The goal was to find as many painted pasta as possible, specifically the coveted purple pasta. Salome, Sam, Sydney and Maliah were great at this‌they found so many. Henry found the purple pasta, which was super exciting! In other news, Ellie and Ainsley have proven to be quite the builders and have created great buildings with giant Legos! On Thursday, we had to say goodbye to a couple of our friends. We are sad to see Sienna and Makayla go, but hopefully they will be back next summer! Just a reminder, our second picture day will be on Wednesday, August 5, so please make sure your camper wears their camp shirt. It is hard to believe that there are only two weeks left, but we are going to make the most of it! -Beth, Zoe, Viviana and Jamie
Bunk Upda tes Bunk 9: T he F irejets It is Olympics Week at camp, which means we have been participating in several blue vs. green team competitions, from boat building and races, the traditional pasta hunt, a survivor style puzzle challenge, and a gaga challenge to name a few. This week at the great outdoors, the boys cleaned up in fishing. In addition, we all had tennis lessons. It was a very hot week, but a fun-filled one. We kept hydrated and used plenty of sunscreen everyday. We can’t wait for week seven! -Joanne, Jason and Ben
Bunk 10: T he Lovely Ladybugs Bunk 10 had an awesome week here at camp! We worked together as a team to dominate many color war challenges! The girls enjoyed some healthy competition when they divided into their different color wars teams. At the same time, we all learned the value of sportsmanship. The boat races and pasta hunt were the favorite activity challenges for Bunk 10! The girls also enjoyed cooling down at the pool during this hot week. Overall, the girls had a fantastic week and we all look forward to the excitement of week seven. -Betsey, Kerry, Kiara and Emily
Bunks 11 & 13: T he Speedy Cheetahs The heat was no match for the Speedy Cheetahs this week. Olympics Week started with kickball followed by a gaga game, boat races and the legendary pasta hunt! Tennis was one activity where all of our campers excelled. Campers enjoyed playing king of the court and learning tennis skills with Mr. Walsh. Although it was hot, campers and counselors alike were thrilled to jump in the pool to cool off. We can’t wait for more color wars challenges in the upcoming weeks and the conclusion of Olympics and Sportsmanship Week! -Patrick, Julian and Mark
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 16 & 18: T he Sensational Showstoppers The Sensational Showstoppers had an awesome week. We would like to welcome Lucie, Madison, Lauren and Annabella, who joined our bunk this week. They have been competing in many games for our color wars championship. The girls had many challenges from winning races, to gaga, boat racing and Mr. Nature’s cockroach races. We had a blast at Thursday’s pasta hunt and survivor day on Friday. We are winding down with only two weeks left of camp and we are just days away from The Little Mermaid drama production. Congrats to Kerry’s Kangaroos for their win in basketball. Everyone enjoy your weekend; stay cool and hydrated! -Maria, Cara and Jessica
Bunks 12 & 14: T he Hi-Hills Heroes Olympics Week was action-packed and Bunks 12 & 14 enjoyed every moment of it! We started Monday off with kickball, where the girls really hit it out of the park! Tuesday was the camp-wide gaga tournament, where Cassidy made great plays for the blue team. In pottery, Ellie L., Andrea along with the rest of the girls painted their hearts that they made in the previous week. The pasta hunt was tons of fun, and the girls enjoyed cooling off and cheering for their team during the cardboard boat race. Most of our girls chose low ropes as their club this week, and they had a blast swinging! -Megan, Dylan and Amanda
Bunk 15 & 17: T he Bronanas Week six started with a bang! On Monday, the boys set out for an epic color wars game of kickball. This was just the first of many activities during Olympics Week. The green team took on the blue team in a week dedicated to sportsmanship. On Tuesday, the boys fought in an intense game of gaga. The blue team demonstrated great sportsmanship despite the loss. On Wednesday, the boys got to rest as they cheered on their counselors during the cardboard boats race across the pool. On Thursday, we participated in our hardest challenge yet: the teams had to connect sticks together to retrieve a key and unlock a mystery box. The second challenge of the day was the annual pasta hunt. Overall the boys had so much fun this week! -Graydon, Matt and Andrew
Bunk Photo s
Birthdays T his Month July 4 : Isaac Li, Joshua Monto, Anna Torgovnik July 5: Benjamin Sturman July 7: Mary Young July 8: Joshua Narsu, Isabella Orosz, Ellie Procaccino, Julia Spinelli July 9: Dashiell Malone
July 11: Robert Bellina July 12: Liam Kaplan July 13: Marky Rusas July 14: Logan Weimer July 15: Otto Larsen July 20: Zoe O’Connor July 23: Cian McGuire, Abigail Saitta July 25: Will Strong July 26: Eleanor Lee July 27: Rebecca Fernandez, Ryden Maeda July 30: Emma Tokelson July 31: Haoyuan Sun
m a r g o r P News Low Ropes This week we continued to stress safety, just as we have been doing all throughout the summer. The upper bunks participated in an exciting activity known as the trust fall. The lower bunks continued to work on the beams and their balance has really improved. The other activity that has become a favorite for all of the campers here at Hi-Hills is the tire activity. This requires balance, communication, trust and, of course, spotting. Teamwork is always important during this low ropes course. Get psyched; week seven is on the way! -Miss and Chris
Performing Arts This week was Broadway trivia week! Campers competed for points with their blue and green teams by answering trivia that we had learned throughout the summer. We are getting excited for The Little Mermaid musical next week. The campers have been working really hard and look forward to their friends and family coming to watch the show! -Taylor and Stefanie
Swimming This week we had color wars at the pool. The green and blue teams performed an endurance swim against each other. On Thursday we had relay races in the pool. Our relays included kick board, noodle and two-person freestyle relays. For “Friday Fun� we had penny dives and music at the pool. -Augie
Tuesday: Bring Your Friend to Camp Day
Program News
Wednesday: Picture Day T hursday: Parent Luncheon & Drama Production
Tennis It has been another great week of tennis at Hi-Hills. The upper bunks have developed the fundamental skills and are able to successfully implement them as we began phases of game play. We have discussed scoring in tennis as well as other rules and regulations. All of the campers have improved a great deal since week one. The lower bunks have also developed their foot speed and have shown great strides with the agility ladder. They also have significantly improved in their fundamentals. Bring on week seven! -Chris
The Great Outdoors (where the smiles and fun never end)
Week six was survivor challenge week for the great outdoors. The competition started with each team building a pole by tying sticks together to retrieve a ring that had a combination to open a mystery puzzle box. The blue team won the challenge, and their mystery message spelled the phrase, “The Great Outdoors.� They racked up 1,000 points and an additional 250 bonus points. The archery challenge involved the campers hitting a ping-pong sized ball suspended from a piece of fishing string. Points were awarded for hitting various targets such as balloons and Styrofoam shapes. All in all, the archers showed their competitiveness during the shoot. Fishing remains a success and Em continues to instruct our young fishermen in the proper way to deliver the cast to the water. Campers consistently catch big fish, which leaves us all with even bigger smiles. The paddleboat races were a big hit with both teams cheering on their boats. Each boat had to race down and around the third buoy twice and back to the dock. The younger campers only had to race to the second buoy. Survivor day in the great outdoors was a big hit and future challenges are planned for the next two weeks. The survivor theme will be expanded upon next year. In other news, the wildlife station has yielded some incredible video footage, which we will publish soon. See you in week seven! -Matt, Sarah, Thomas and Em
Mark You r Calendar
Dates to Rememb er!
Program News Pottery We had a lot of fun activities going on this week at Hi-Hills. Bunks 10, 12 and 14 all made beads to accent their friendship necklaces that they will be putting together. Bunk 9 continued to work on the pottery wheel. Kinder Camp on the other hand got a head start on decorating their bunk’s birdhouse. Have a good weekend everyone, and I will see you in week seven! -Savannah
Nature In honor of Olympics Week, the campers cheered for their team’s cockroach during our annual cockroach races. The competitions were close, with many races won by the distance antennae. Campers also collected points for their color teams during the plastic frog and lizard hunt in the Peapack Brook. Upper and lower bunk nature clubs continued to grow in numbers with many returning participants. -Mr. Nature
Arts & Crafts Keeping in line with this week’s theme of Olympics and sportsmanship, bunks have learned what the five Olympic rings represent as well as why green, blue, red, black and yellow are the chosen colors of the rings. The five rings are meant to represent different regions of the world, while the five colors depicted on a white flag represent those colors used on many national flags. Kinder Camp created Olympic ring collages using five colors of paint and paper tubes. Bunks 9 & 10 created Olympic ring flowers. Bunk 10 also made spool and bead tigers when they came into arts & crafts for a “your choice” session. Bunks 11 & 13, 12 & 14, 15 & 17, 16 & 18, and Teen Travel created Olympic sport silhouettes using white paper and one of the five Olympic ring colors for the background. Bunks 16 & 18 also got to make Olympic torches using cardboard cones, acrylic paint and tissue paper. -Lindsay
g n i m o c Up ays D s s e r D
Next week is Performing Arts Week! Dress up as your favorite character, actor, celebrity or anything drama related!
Counselor of the Week #COTW
s e u g a e L
Augie Lorio This Week’s Counselor of the Week is Hi-Hills veteran and Aquatics Director, Augie Lorio! Augie was nominated because, “he is amazing at his job and is a fantastic swim instructor. Augie cares about all his campers and is very kind, insightful, helpful, brave and strong.” Congratulations Augie! It has been another incredible week of counselor nominations. Keep up the great work, and stay tuned for week seven’s winner.
CURRENT LEAGUE STANDINGS Boys Team W L T Pts. Maroon Macaroons 7 2 0 14 Bengal Tigers 4 3 2 10 Lil’ Cutie Clementines
3
4
2
8
Bat-Men 2 6 0 4 Girls Team W L T Pts. Blue Lightning 8 0 1 20 Dark Magic 4 5 0 12 Kerry’s Kangaroos 3 5 1 10 Blazing Comets 2 6 0 6
Monday: Christina Tamchin, Anjola Olawoye, Lauren Rossiter, Billy Cooper, and Dylan Rowell
ia v i r T y l k Wee Winners
Tuesday: Julia Spinelli, Madison Gesualdo, and Jason Mono Wednesday: Arnold Hu, Maddison Gesualdo, Joanne Hibbit, and Julian Gammon Thursday: Andrew Agresti, Cassidy Gesualdo, Matt Rivas, and Sarah Hogoboom Friday: Ethan Zhang, Angelina Gao and Matt Rivas
raining elors in T
Couns
rs counselo y m , ix s n week ly bunk ying by. I d their new week sibility of fl is e im T g receive e respon in trainin . They enjoyed th nd of the day. This nts ee ke assignme g snacks out at th elors in training ta e in s h t distribu a few of the coun ooking Around t .s d C .T a “ week I h lping out in the inued and the C.I as turns he s. Color wars cont dnesday, Jake w e s is World” cla their teams. On W as he set sail in h e n d m o e a t y l. Ever suppor lead the blue te in the poo nd see you o t e c n a e r s t o a h o c k teens, a rdboard b team’s ca im on! Great wor ! k cheered h next wee
Mindy
Have a wonderful weekend! Week seven is on its way!
Teen Travel Teen Travel had yet another fantastic week, both on the road and back at camp. Our group had a blast participating in a color wars game of kickball and also learning about sportsmanship. Tuesday was a highflying day as our group bounced around at the Rebounderz trampoline arena. Height was a minor theme of the week, as Teen Travel journeyed to Camelback Mountain and traversed their ropes course in the treetops. Thursday was more down-toearth as we played mini-golf at Golf Zone in Flanders. We closed out the week with Olympic dress-up day and a spirited survivor day competition. See you in week seven! -Craig, Kaitlyn and Joseph