The Hi-Hills Herald Issue #8
August 14, 2015
Top News at Hi-Hills Day Camp!
Celebrating our 49th Summer!
Wrapping up the #BestSummerEver Summer 2015 seems like it flashed before our eyes, but our campers have had an incredibly memorable eight weeks at Hi-Hills Day Camp.
With so many exciting activities and events each and every day, one thing is for sure: the 2015 camp season will leave us all with lasting memories!
Table of Contents:
They kept themselves busy this week in the athletic fields, where they competed in the leagues championship finals and showed sportsmanship on the sidelines.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but we have an amazing Summer 2016 at Hi-Hills to look forward to. Next summer we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary, which will honor many Hi-Hills traditions like color wars and carnival, as well as include new attractions and surprises.
Bunk Photos
6
Birthdays This Month
7
Dates to Remember
9
We hope you will join us! Thank you for making this summer the #BestSummerEver!
Leagues 11
Down in the chapel, campers put on an outstanding talent show performance! We also enjoyed cooling off at the annual ice cream social. Campers truly took advantage of all the facilities both at the main GSB campus and over at Home Winds.
Note from Camp Directors Bunk Updates
Program News
2 3-5
8-10
Upcoming Dress Days 11 Counselor of the Week 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, We can’t believe the 2015 summer has already come to a close. Time flew by these eight weeks of camp and it makes us appreciate each day at Hi-Hills even more. This week consisted of various finale events: the leagues championship, teen travel campout, and our annual ice cream social all came together to finish off our summer wonderfully. This week has been a rollercoaster of emotion. Counselors and campers prepared for the fall–as well as the upcoming school year–and yet nobody wanted to waste a minute of these last summer days. Energy was high, and everywhere you looked groups of kids were 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, and we appreciate your comments and feedback to make Hi-Hills an even better place for your campers to spend their 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: T he Little Rascals Well...it is week eight and we are sad to see camp end. We packed a whole lot of fun into the last week! The group went over to the great outdoors to see all the animals and ride the paddle boats. Ariel, Salome and Wyatt fed the donkeys lots of carrots while Johnny, Brooke and Jadesola fed Lucky the goat yummy apples. All of the children were fascinated by the chickens and the sounds they made. We also worked our way down to the paddle boats. Ellie, Ainsley and Ryan enjoyed the leisurely ride around the pond...and Maddie even saw a stingray! Mr. Matt caught some fish while we were there and Lauren was very excited to hold the fish on the pole! We finished the week with a trip to the garden, where we picked ground cherries. Henry, Johnny and Sydney were very brave in tasting them and some even liked the taste! We here in Kinder Camp would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents for sharing your campers with us this summer. We have learned so much, had many adventures and made great friends. We wish you all a great school year and we hope you join us again next summer! -Beth, Zoe, Viviana & Jamie
Bunk Upda tes Bunk 9: T he F irejets Our final week of camp really flew by! We have been rehearsing all week for the blue versus green team skits that we presented during Friday’s council ring. We also wrapped up our leagues championships with an awards ceremony. We worked on a starburst hand project in arts & crafts, played reptile bingo in nature and were all challenged in a scavenger hunt at the end of the week. This summer was a blast, and the Firejets had an awesome time! We will miss our campers dearly and hope to see you all back next year! -Joanne and Jason
Bunk 10: T he Lovely Ladybugs What an amazing week to end our summer here at Hi-Hills! It’s safe to say that all of us in bunk 10 have had the best summer ever! From all our camp activities, to special event days, and color wars competitions, it has been an action-packed summer filled with adventures. Through all the fun we had together, the girls made some new friendships that will last longer than the summer days here at camp. We encourage the girls to continue to #BeBetter in all that they do throughout the school year. We look forward to the fun and excitement of new activities and adventures next summer! -Betsy, Kerry, Kiara and Emily
Bunks 11 & 13: T he Speedy Cheetahs Another great summer full of fun, surprises and friendship has come to an end at Hi-Hills. As we look back on this summer, we will never forget the warm weather, engaging activities, and beautiful campus we enjoyed this year. All the counselors of Bunks 11 and 13 feel so grateful to have spent our summer with such enthusiastic, fun campers. On behalf of all of us, thank you to the campers, parents and families for making our summer one to remember forever. Good luck to all our campers in school this year, and we hope to see you next summer! -Patrick, Julian and Mark
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 16 & 18: T he Sensational Showstoppers We have enjoyed eight weeks of fun in the sun and the girls are closing it out with a blast. Our last trip to Fireball Mountain laser tag was awesome and exciting. We also celebrated a couple of birthdays with a pizza party, cupcakes and munchkins for Caitlin and Anna. The girls also made up a new cheer for the spirit stick competition and we finished up our whistles at pottery. Our basketball game was very competitive, but the staff ultimately defeated teen travel. The Showstoppers are looking forward to summer 2016, and seeing campers and staff once again for more fun at Hi-Hills. See you next summer! -Maria, Cara and Jessica
Bunks 12 & 14: T he Hi-Hills Heroes We are so sad that the summer has come to an end. Leagues wrapped up this week with Dark Magic taking on Blue Lightning. During the awards ceremony, Cassidy was named MVP of the playoffs, and Bella earned the “Dubber Award” which is a very special recognition that goes to one camper per year. In pottery this week, Ellie and Andrea were especially helpful in painting the bunk’s birdhouses, which came out beautifully! This week in nature, Campbell had a great time in the stream looking for various critters. Thank you so much for sharing your campers with us for the summer. We really had a great time getting to know all of them. Hope to see you all next summer! -Megan, Dylan, Erica and Amanda
Bunk 15 & 17: T he Bronanas Hi-Hills has come to an end, but the fun keeps going right to the very last day. The Bronanas started the week off with a change of scenery and opportunity to experience their future in teen travel at Fireball Mountain outdoor laser tag. The excitement continued with the leagues finals, and the boys cheered on their bunkmates as the Bengal Tigers took on the #1 team the Maroon Macaroons in an intense, three game series for the leagues title. The Macaroons defeated the Bengal Tigers in the last tennis baseball game of the summer. Our winners and runners-up were rewarded for their hard work during an awards ceremony. Will was named season MVP, and Dylan won the sportsmanship award. We are all very proud of our Bronanas and of how much they’ve matured during their summer, and we are very sad to see them go. We’ve had a great summer here at Hi-Hills and we hope our campers have an amazing school year. -Matt, Graydon, Andrew and Armeen
Bunk Photo s
Birthdays T his Month August 6: Emily and Will DeCotis August 7: Olivia Rubano August 8: Michael Fritzlo and Caitlin Murgatroyd August 9: Andrew Agresti and Annabelle Beekman August 10: Brooke Babinec, Kerry Colford and Julia Streger August 12: CeCelia Criscola August 13: Robbie DeVergillo
August 16: Emilia Criscola, Sienna Marsala, Bradely Matthews and Erik Raszkowski August 18: Ryder Stine August 19: Dylan Beers August 22: Tristen Miscia August 23: Grace Rubinstein August 24: Chase Thomson August 26: Zoe Olsen August 29: Leo Slayne
m a r g o r P News Low Ropes As we conclude our season of low ropes, I am very excited and encouraged with the outstanding effort and enthusiasm of our campers. Miss Missie was an outstanding assistant to me this year. She brought tremendous energy every day. We played a variety of name games so we all could get to know each other, and then moved on to four very important items that would set the stage for the summer. Safety is the most important item and we emphasized it every day. It was also very important to assist each other while performing the different elements through spotting. These elements varied from ropes to cables to beams to tires and to the always popular whale watch. Our campers gained trust as we continued to attempt and perform on the various elements and teamwork was incorporated in all aspects of the low ropes course. What a great summer! -Chris and Missie
Performing Arts In performing arts we spent the last week of camp winding down and playing games! We had a great time revisiting some of our favorite activities from the summer, and watching some great videos of Broadway shows! Thanks to all the campers and staff for a great summer! -Taylor and Stefanie
Swimming This week we revisited safety measures and practiced using life vests and life preservers. The pool has seen a lot of smiles and a lot of laughter this summer: from all the progress each bunk made during instructional swim, to all the fun we had during free swim. Again thank you for letting me and the lifeguard staff teach your campers how to swim, and I wish everyone luck in the school year! -Augie
Program News
See you next year for HiHills Day Camp 2016!
Tennis This has been a tremendous experience for me working with the campers during the tennis sessions. We had the opportunity to learn a lot of basics and incorporated these fundamental skills into becoming better tennis players. The campers have improved their forehands, backhands, serves and net play (volleys). I have continued to stress hand-eye coordination, proper form, and the importance of being prepared at all times. You must always be ready because, “proper preparation equals peak performance!� The 2015 HiHills Day Camp Tennis Tournament was an exciting and very successful way to end the season. I really enjoyed my time this summer as the tennis activity specialist! -Chris
The Great Outdoors (where the smiles and fun never end)
This week in the great outdoors, we were treated to a special sighting of a pair of Egret chicks who nested in a tree on the northwest corner of the pond. Momma Egret has been making frequent trips to the tree to feed her chicks. The wildlife feeding station yielded 70 videos and 300 photos of deer and squirrels, as well as a southern flying squirrel. Plans are already being discussed to expand the outdoor technology with more feeding stations, cameras and a geo-caching club. In archery, campers finished up the week with crossbows and the Genesis compound bow. Archery was one of the most popular clubs this summer and some additions to the program have been discussed which would also incorporate the use of newer technology. Fishing remained steady; the change in weather definitely affected the fishing with a shift in the type of fish being caught. This week several large bass were caught by setting the bobber high so the bait would reach the deeper, colder water. The larger fish produced a serious fight: it was clear when there was a bite from all the excitement and yelling. Some campers used nets to catch and release fresh water clams from the paddle boats. The creation and implementation of the great outdoors on the newly acquired Home Winds Campus was nothing less than a great success. Even still, we have several improvements and upgrades to all the activities planned in the works, which will make it state of the art and second to none. Till next year, goodbye from your great outdoors crew! -Matt, Em Thomas Sarah
Mark You r Calendar
Dates to Rememb er!
Program News Pottery Time really flies when you’re at Hi-Hills Camp having so much fun! During week eight, we finished up glazing leftover projects, as well as glazing birdhouses the counselors created at the beginning of the summer. They turned out beautifully, and they will soon be hanging around campus for the birds to enjoy! -Savannah
Nature This week some bunks took their last nature walk of the summer in the Peapack Brook, while other bunks played reptile bingo. As another summer comes to an end, and I complete my 16th summer here at Hi-Hills, I want to say thank you for sharing your campers with us this summer. I really enjoyed having them in nature, and I wish them good luck during the school year! -Mr. Nature
Arts & Crafts This week campers created their own wild designs using vibrant colored markers on their paper hands for the “High 5s from all at Hi-Hills!” group project. Hands were then arranged in a starburst on large paper, which will be hung in Founders’ Hall for the remainder of the summer. It has been such a fun summer creating individual projects as well as whole group projects with all the campers and Hi-Hills staff, and I wish everyone a wonderful year! -Lindsay
g n i m o c Up ays D s s e r D
We saw a lot of camp spirit and awesome outfits on Friday’s Color Wars DressUp Day!
Counselor of the Week #COTW
Thank you! Thank you to all of our counselors for their hard work! Each of our counselors do a tremendous job and Hi-Hills simply would not be the same without you. Every day you are out there having fun with, supporting and keeping our campers safe. Your job is an important one, and you do it with style! From all of us at the Hi-Hills Herald, from our junior counselors to our head counselors and everyone in between: Thank you!
s e u g a e L
2015 LEAGUES CHAMPIONS: Boys – Maroon Macaroons Girls – Blue Lightning 2015 AWARDS WINNERS: Sportsmanship – Dylan Beers (Bat-Men) and Amanda Bullett (Dark Magic) Most Improved – Juan Sebastian Villada (Clementines) & Anjola Olawoye (Kangaroos) Coach of the Year – Julian Gammon (Tigers) and Joanne Hibbit (Blazing Comets) Regular Season MVP – Will Stamato (Tigers) and Madison Gesualdo (Blue Lightning) Playoff MVP – Ian Torkelson (Macaroons) and Cassidy Gesualdo (Blue Lightning)
ia v i r T y l k Wee Winners
Congratulations to all of our weekly trivia winners!
Teen Travel rs Counselo
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Mindy
Thank you for making this the #BestSummerEver at Hi-Hills!
Teen travel was sad to begin our last week of the summer at Hi-Hills, but we were still ready to make the absolute most of it. On Monday, we invited bunks 17 and 18 to come along with us to experience what teen travel is all about. We went as one big group to Fireball Mountain in South Jersey to play some intense games of outdoor laser tag. On Tuesday, teen travel made up for getting rained out of our first baseball game by traveling to Somerset to watch the Patriots beat the Sugar Land Skeeters 8-5. Wednesday was campout day, and we spent the entire day and night on campus. We played manhunt, ate pizza, and even saw the meteor shower at night! The last two days of camp were bittersweet, but we made sure to enjoy them as much as possible. Thanks to all of our campers, new and old, who came to teen travel this summer and helped make it one of the best summers ever. Until next June! -Craig, Kaitlyn and Joseph