The Hi-Hills Herald Issue #1
July 1, 2016
Top News at Hi-Hills Day Camp!
Celebrating our 50th Summer!
Table of Contents:
Welcome to Summer 2016 Welcome to the first issue of The Hi-Hills Herald for Summer 2016! The Herald is released each Friday afternoon with stories, photos, important updates and more. Be sure to visit our website at hihills.com for additional information. Read on for a recap of our amazing first week!
Note from Camp Director 2 Bunk Updates 3-5 Birthdays This Month 7 Dates to Remember 8 Program News 8-10 Upcoming Dress Days 11 Camp Photos 11 Clubs 11 Counselor of the Week 11 Trivia Winners 12 Leaders of Tomorrow 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, Welcome to summer 2016! The week kicked off with all the fun, fun, fun you see on display here in our first newsletter of the season. The aim of The Hi-Hills Herald is to share the “magic” we create each day on the GSB campus with our entire community. Summer is off to an incredible start here at Hi-Hills. We are happy to celebrate our 50th anniversary with you and your families this summer! The beautiful weather has allowed for great times by the pool, lively games of gaga, and of course, awesome opportunities to catch a fish or two at the pond as well as experience getting a bull’s-eye on the archery range on the Home Winds campus. Our amazing staff has taken creativity to another level and demonstrated their skills through leading various summer-time activities. We’ve been having such a blast that it’s hard to believe that our first week is already coming to a close. The variety of camp activities, new events and rich traditions that have been introduced are getting campers even more excited for the weeks to come. Highlights from this week have been revisited throughout this publication. Campers have participated in everything from swim, arts and crafts, to tennis, gaga, cooking, fishing, archery and so much more! We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter as much as we enjoyed writing it. Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back on Tuesday for another action-packed week here at Hi-Hills. To all our campers: rest up! Week two is going to be AMAZING! Thank you for a memorable week with your campers!
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 Foxes & T he Beavers It has been a great start to the summer for the Foxes! As a bunk, we traveled to the community garden where we picked a whole basket of peas and even tasted a few! Michael and Joseph were big fans of being in the garden! Alex is fond of playing with our adopted GSB Middle School science department pets, Rosie and Marie the rats. They are so friendly and fun to watch. Kaydence and Tessa were quite the singers in music this week. The Foxes loved teaching the Hi-Hills song to their fellow campers for Friday’s show. Wishing you all a wonderful 4th of July and we will see you back on Tuesday! -Beth & Zoe The Beavers started week one by creating their masks for Bunk Pride Week! We have been getting to know each other and making new friends. In our bunk area, we had a blast making green slime that felt icky and playing fun games together. The Beavers created groovy necklaces by making patterns with Fruit Loops, and at the end of the camp day, it turned into a fun and edible snack! We have been busy learning and practicing the Hi-Hills camp song and can’t wait to perform it! This week, our campers had a chance to visit the community garden where we picked, tasted and learned about harvesting peas. We hope our families enjoyed this special take-home treat. The Beavers had a very busy week and are so excited to see what’s in store for summer 2016 here at Hi-Hills. -Kelly and Missie
Bunk Upda tes Bunk 9: T he Chippewas The Chippewas had a fun-filled first week getting to know each other and were super busy with their favorite activities, such as swimming, low ropes, arts and crafts, and Legoland. The campers enjoyed exploring the great outdoors with archery, paddle boats and fishing. Congratulations to Ben who caught two sunnies at the beginning of the week! WOOHOO!!! We are looking forward to lots of new adventures this summer with the Chippewas. -Joanne, Julian, and Tristan
Bunk 10: Lenni Lenapes It feels so great to be back for another amazing summer at Hi-Hills! We had a terrific first week settling into our new bunk, welcoming our campers and getting to know each other. The Lenni Lenapes are having a blast out at the great outdoors, sports and partaking in our favorite camp activity, COOKING! Yum! Our campers also relish being in pool or at the splash pad no matter what the weather or time of day may be! They are the water girls! As we prepare for bunk pride at the end of this first week, we are excited to showcase our cheer because it allowed us to be creative, work together, and most importantly, just be silly and have fun. This first week has made us really excited for what’s on the horizon for summer 2016! -Kiara and Emily
Bunks 11 & 13: T he Navajos This has been an exciting week one for the Navajos. It was full of adventure as we conquered the pool, caught fish and even shot bows and arrows at the archery range. Our bunk consists of a combination of returning and new Hi-Hills campers who have grown together and formed a strong bond. We are looking forward to many camp adventures for the Navajos and we are very excited for what’s in store for summer 2016! Enjoy the holiday weekend! -Pat, Julian, and Armeen
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 12 & 14: T he Lakotas The Lakota tribe had a great first week at Hi-Hills! We started out by creating an awesome bunk cheer (as featured on the camp’s Facebook page). Andrea and Annie played a huge role in creating the cheer for us. Go L-A-K-O-T-A! Joanna crushed it in the gaga pit and is a positive influence on all of us throughout the day. Hero was very creative in performing arts where she came up with hand motions to accompany the song. Andrea caught her first fish of the summer and Annie learned how to draw tribunal symbols in arts and crafts. Katherine is excelling in swimming and showed off her talents in lanyard making as well. As a group, we all really enjoyed paddle boating and archery. This week was a terrific one, and we can’t wait for the rest of the summer. -Megan and Erica
Bunks 15 & 17: T he Comanches Summer 2016 started off very well for our tribe. The Comanches took the gaga pit by storm! Out at the great outdoors, Ian caught the first bass of the year! Congrats! Cortland enjoyed his time on the paddle boats, and Leon entertained us with his dance moves in performing arts. Our bunk grew each afternoon with tennis camp friends: Alex, Brendan, Tyler and Dylan. Bradley enjoyed the face-off in capture-the-flag during athletics. Kevin learned a magic trick and impressed his bunk with it! Overall it was a great week for the Comanches, and we look forward to the future weeks here at HiHills. -Graydon, Andrew, and Tom
Bunks 16 & 18: T he Cherokees Our first week has been awesome! Out at the great outdoors, Cassidy caught the first fish at camp to earn points for his blue team. Madison also captured several points for the blue team as well as Amanda and Caitlin for the green team. The Cherokees also had a blast racing in their go-karts around the circle. This summer we are celebrating 50 years of Hi-Hills and the tribal name selected for Bunks 16 & 18 is The Cherokees. We stand proudly with our tribal name and in celebration the girls have made up a tribal name for one another. What a great idea! Together we are Madison: Still Ice, Amanda: Water Snake, Abigail: Swimming Trout, Caitlin: Ashy Fire, Cassidy: Happy Bear, and Anna: Baby Bear. The Cherokees are one unified tribe. Wishing everyone a great 4th of July weekend! - Maria: Chief Walking Tiger, Amanda: Flowing Water, Kerry: Red Sky
Camp Photo s
Photos are now online and available to download!
Birthdays T his Month
June 3 : Nicholas July 4: Anna July 8: Julia, Reagan July 11: Robert July 23 : Abigal July 25: Will Jul 27: Rebecca July 28: Ben July 30: Emma
Program News Low Ropes We are off to a great start down here at low ropes (or “lopes,” as we like to call ourselves). What is the most important thing to remember? Coach Chris Walsh eagerly raises his fist in the air and shouts, “safety!” Miss Missie reminds campers that listening silently, following directions and wearing sneakers are all essential to getting everyone to participate in all the “lopes” activities. Taking care of safety first means everyone can have fun! There is plenty to keep both our new and veteran campers engaged, trying exciting things and doing better today than we did yesterday. Let’s set some new records this summer, everybody! Be safe everyone and enjoy the holiday! -Chris Walsh
Performing Arts Happy first week of camp! This week in music, the campers learned the Hi-Hills song. After learning it, they were split up into their color wars teams, and came up with new hand motions and dance moves for the song. They then performed their version for the opposite team, and were rewarded points! We also did super fun rounds of music trivia! -Stefanie and Guilia
Swimming A big round of applause to our lifeguard staff this week. First, congratulations to Armeen for earning his first Red Cross Certification in First Aid, Deep Water Safety, and Lifeguard. Additional kudos goes to Brennan, Carter and Aaron, who earned their Lifeguard reaccreditation. Our summer team is staffed and ready to enjoy the water fun. This week went smoothly at the pool with all the day campers being tested and evaluated on their swimming abilities based on the American Red Cross “Learn to Swim” program. Swimming levels for campers range from one to five based on their abilities, endurance, floating and treading water skills. Each day, campers visit the pool area for both an instructional and free swim period. It is a pleasure watching campers develop their confidence every day in the pool and all summer long. - Augie
No Camp: July 4
Program News
Picture Day: July 12 Boys Campout: July 12 Girls Campout: July 14
Great Outdoors The great outdoors began with a new mascot, a resident red-eyed plastic alligator who keeps a close watch over campers, paddle boats and fishing in the beautiful pond at the Home Winds campus of Gills St. Bernard’s. There is no shortage of local wildlife with several sightings of a great blue heron and a pair of short footed egrets nesting near the pond. The fawning season is evident with a large groupings of deer surrounding the area. Dillion made the first wildlife rescue of the summer when a common barn swallow chick attempted its flight and landed in the pond. Dillion quickly assisted the distressed chick, relocating him to a nearby tree where his parents watched over and fed him. Kudos to Dillon for his quick thinking and actions!
Archery The archery range is once again one of the most popular activities for our Hi-Hills campers. Miss Cara started this season with a focus on safety and proper form. The campers are given step-by-step instructions on how to properly master correct form, stance and techniques to improve their skills. There are many fun activities planned for the archery range, such as the popular zombie target and individual competitions.
Paddle Boats This year, Captain Thomas is back at Hi-Hills to oversee the boating competitions and monitor the safety on the water, bunk and individual races, as well as coordinating for camp color war.
Fishing Our Home Winds pond is clear of algae and the fishing outings are off to a great start with plentiful bass and sunnies stocked for our junior anglers.
Mark You r Calendar
Dates to Rememb er!
Program News Athletics Athletics made its long-awaited return to Hi-Hills activity rotation this first week. Campers enjoyed great workouts in addition to just having some old fashion fun! All of our campers participated in a multitude of activities, such as using the agility ladder and playing capturethe-flag. More fun awaits campers in week two! A friendly reminder to please ALWAYS have your sneakers on when coming to an athletics session. Happy 4th of July to all campers and their families, and we look forward to seeing you all back on Tuesday the 5th! -John and Marc
Arts & Crafts
During this first week of arts and crafts activities, campers were introduced to the Native American symbols reflecting the history and heritage of Hi-Hills. This camp-wide engagement is to help us celebrate our roots as the camp marks its 50th anniversary this summer. Campers were introduced to drawings, symbols, designs and animals to reflect their new Indian bunk name. This artwork will be incorporated onto the summer 2016 bunk banners to represent their respective Native American tribe. Throughout the summer, campers will be encouraged to incorporate their images in various camp projects. Our Kinder Camper tribes, the Foxes and the Beavers, had an opportunity to create hats with Indian symbols to represent their bunks’ tribe names. Campers proudly wore them at Friday’s bunk spirit day. I look forward to working with your campers throughout the summer and inspiring and fostering their creativity. -Mindy
Tennis Tennis is off to an amazing start this summer thanks to the campers and the beautiful summer weather. Each day we begin with running, stretching, jumping rope and relays. We have been practicing the game fundamentals with forehand, backhand and volleys. Campers have been working hard on developing their strokes and game techniques since the first day. As the instructor, I have seen these campers engaged in the drills, asking questions to better understand the game, and in turn, they are on their way to becoming a more seasoned tennis player. -Chris
Program News
ing m o c p U ys a D s s e Dr
Patriotic Pride Week: Red White & Blue dress-up!
Clubs There are five club options this summer: Cooking, Yearbook, All Sports, Great Outdoors, and Drama Club! Spotlight on: Drama Club! The drama club is proud to announce that Grease was selected as this summer’s musical! Campers enrolled in this club are starting to learn the music and choreography to “Summer Nights” and “We Go Together.” It’s the perfect musical to set the stage for summer. We are so excited for rehearsals to begin with costumes, scenery and dance routines. Grease is the word!
lor of e s n u o C k the Wee Max Scherzer, Teen Travel Camp This first-time recipient made quite an impression as he joined the Travel Camp during his inaugural summer. It’s a family affair for the Scherzer family here at Hi-Hills with his mom, Julie, being the media specialist, and his younger brother, Sam, a camper in the Navajo bunk. Campers in the Travel Camp are the true veterans of the Hi-Hills community having been with us for over six years and serving as camp ambassadors to the younger kids. For Max to have been recognized by this veteran audience in such a short period of time is noteworthy. Max was described by fellow campers as a, “strong role model, someone who always is around for them, helpful, friendly, caring and just simply a good friend and counselor.” We couldn’t agree more with these campers! Congratulations to Max on being recognized as Counselor of the Week by your fellow campers. Happy to have you on board for Summer #50!
Monday: Cassidy, Amanda, Anna
via i r T y l k e We Winners
Tuesday: William, Julian Wednesday: Cortland, Cassidy, Tom Gilbert, Megan Thursday: William, Ben, Amanda, Madison, Cassidy, Tom
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Jenn Monto
The travel camp had an amazing first week of camp! On our first trip, we went to Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Times Square. Everyone enjoyed the crazy lifelike exhibits and lunching in beautiful Bryant Park. On Wednesday we went to Jenkinson’s Boardwalk in Point Pleasant where the group soaked up the summer fun, hit the arcades and won tons of prizes. We ended the day eating homemade ice cream and amazing french fries! A few campers jumped into the ocean and rode the waves of the Jersey shore. On Thursday, we headed to Dorney Park for some old fashioned amusement park fun. We ended our first week back at Hi-Hills by participating in camp-wide bunk pride with a song and dance about being the Apache bunk! -Chrissy, Carter, and Max