The Hi-Hills Herald July 8, 2016
Issue #2
Top News at Hi-Hills Day Camp!
Patriotic Pride Week Welcome to the second issue of The Hi-Hills Herald for summer 2016! Inside this issue you will find bunk articles, activities updates and more. Campers and counselors had a great time showing off their patriotic pride on Friday with our red, white and blue dress-up day. The outfits were all amazing! Keep reading for more information or visit our website at hihills.com. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram! Have a great weekend!
Celebrating our 50th Summer!
Table of Contents: Note from Camp Directors Bunk Updates
2 3-5
Dates to Remember
6
Camp Candids
6
Birthdays This Month
7
Program News
8-10
Upcoming Dress Days 11 Color Wars 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 r u o from p Cam rs o t c e r Di
Hello Hi-Hills!
Week two was a great success! The theme this week was patriotic pride which allowed us to celebrate the 4th of July and learn about the various cultures and heritages of our campers. Despite the shortened week, we were able to fill the schedule with lots of fun and new activities. This week brought about an abundance of spirit and excitement from our campers and counselors alike. We’re ready to keep the good times and memories rolling right into week three!
With Hi-Hills comes traditions, both new and old. This week’s clubs added a fresh twist with cooking, yearbook, sports, the great outdoors and drama all encouraging campers to try new and exciting activities. As always, the pool was filled with campers, happily swimming to cool down from the heat. To finish the week, our campers came dressed to impress in red, white and blue. The week ended with an all-camp gaga tournament allowing for both the blue and the green teams to earn points for color wars. Next week we look forward to celebrating activities pride along with our upper bunk boys’ and girls’ campouts. Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone back for week three of Hi-Hills!
Cindy Wyatt – Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs Nicole Spiotta – Assistant Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs
Bunk Upda tes Bunk 1: T he Foxes This week we welcomed two new campers: Makayla and Mason. Makayla and Alex loved balancing on the beams at low ropes, and Mason quickly fell in love with the splash pad. Michael and Joseph enjoyed running around and playing tennis with Mr. Chris while Kaydence and Tessa found cooling off in the pool so refreshing that they didn’t want to leave. It was a wonderful week for our Fox tribe and we look forward to having them back for week three at Hi-Hills. -Beth and Zoe
Bunk 2: T he Beavers This week the Beavers welcomed several new friends: Maliah, J.J., Ava, Ariel and Sydney! They jumped right into the fun, making new friends and reacquainting with others! This week, we had our first low ropes course experience, and Ava was an ace at balancing on the beams. Bunk two is working on finding their sweet spot on the tennis court. J.J., Tanner, and Maliah have been very successful swingers! Eli and Reagan enjoy checking up on our class rats, Marie and Rosie, each morning when they arrive. Parker and Ariel love to scale the spider climber on the big playground. Congrats to Sydney who jumped into the deep end of the pool during instructional swim this week! The Beavers tribe made red and blue fireworks on white paper for our red, white and blue theme this week. It’s been an action-packed, fun-filled week for our tribe and we are looking forward to coming back for week three! -Kelly
Bunk Upda tes Bunk 9: T he Chippewas The Chippewas started the week off by welcoming a new camper, David. We cooled off from the heat by enjoying instructional and free swim. A favorite activity is visiting the playground and shooting hoops on the basketball courts. All the boys have selected the great outdoors as their club where they participated in archery, fishing and enjoying the paddle boats. The days have gone by quickly this short week, but most importantly, they have been filled with lots of new and exciting adventures. Bunk 10: Lenni Lenapes
-Joanne, Armeen and Mark
We had an amazing week! At performing arts, the girls learned about different variations of the national anthem and challenged their brains during a game of four corners. This really set us up for our dress-up day on Friday with red, white and blue outfits. Our favorite place on campus continues to be the pool and it was a great way to cool off during the heat this week! Arts and crafts was a fun time had by everyone this week as we made dream catchers! The girls also had a blast at the great outdoors doing archery, fishing and riding the paddleboats! We are all looking forward to another adventurous week! -Betsy, Kiara, and Emily
Bunks 11 & 13: T he Navajos The Navajoes had an amazing week two. The highlight of our week was playing tennis with Activity Specialist Chris Walsh. Campers worked on skill fundamentals, various drills and participated in some matches. Our tribe also loves playing gaga during club time along with free periods. During the scorching heat this week, our campers and counselors jumped into the pool to cool off. We would like to welcome a new member to the Navajoes, Luc, a first-time camper at Hi-Hills! We’re excited for another awesome week with our bunk. Have a great weekend and see you back for week three. -Patrick, Julian and Ben
Bunk Upda tes Bunks 12 & 14: T he Lakotas
The Lakotas had a fantastic week two here at Hi-Hills! We spent lots of time in and on the water, keeping cool with swimming and riding the paddle boats. Our entire bunk signed up for the cooking club where we made the most delicious monkey bread! We got a little messy at the community garden where we picked raspberries, beets, turnips and radishes! The Lakotas have so much fun every day, and we can’t wait for the rest of the summer! We hope everyone had a great Fourth! -Megan and Erica
Bunks 15 & 17: T he Comanches This week our tribe has stepped up to a number of new challenges (#bechallenged)! Despite the intense heat, they have engaged in some great tennis competition on the courts, battled it out in gaga pit, and indulged in as many opportunities to swim as they possibly could fit into the camp day. Sounds like a great week for the Comanches! However, most impressively, when they were told the drama club was struggling to put together their show with no male campers, the bunk rallied together to assist twice a week with the missing roles. It is this type of character that really exemplifies #bebetter to me as their counselor. -Tom, Graydon and Andrew
Bunks 16 & 18: T he Cherokees Week two has certainly kept us busy and the girls are having a pow-wow of a good time. Fishing and archery are a great challenge for the girls. Their goal is to hit a bull’s-eye as well as to catch the most fish to break a camp record. Good luck Cherokees! We are cheering for you! While in the community garden, our tribe were fascinated picking radishes, beets and a large turnip the size of a grapefruit. We had a chance to sample and take home these foods. The Cherokee girls are looking forward to next week as we continue our tribal journey to succeed in all their goals. We welcome new and returning tribal campers Briana (Bright Sun), Anjola (Leaping Leopard), Jordan (Jumping Jaguar) and Annabelle (Mighty Sparrow). -Maria, Amanda and Kerry
r u o Y k r a M Calendar Dates to r! Remembe
July 12: Boys Campout July 12: Picture Day July 14: Girls Campout July 20: Kinder Camp Garden Party July 21: Parent Luncheon July 28: Lower Bunk Late Night
Camp Cand ids
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Bunk Photos are now online and available to download!
Birthdays T his Month July 4: Anna July 8: Julia, Reagan July 11: Robert July 23: Abigail July 25: Will July 27: Rebecca July 28: Ben July 30: Emma
m a r g o r P News Low Ropes It has been a toasty week, but that has not compromised our fun or spirit at “Lopes!” Some of us were monkeys and brown bears, swinging on the jungle vines. Some of us solved the sphinx’s riddle and got in a specific order without using our voices. Some of us were willow trees, gently blowing from side to side as we played “Wind in the Willow.” We eagerly anticipate new challenges on the low ropes course as we learn how to work as a team and build confidence together! Looking forward to seeing everyone back for another successful week at “Lopes!” -Chris and Missie
Performing Arts Happy patriotic pride week! This week in music we celebrated the national anthem by listening to four iconic renditions of this musical composition: versions by Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Huston, Igor Stravinsky and Stevie Wonder. We discussed what made them different, special or controversial. Afterward, we played our version of four corners based on what we learned. Wishing everyone a terrific weekend and see you back for more music, melody and creative movement next week! -Stefanie and Giulia
Swimming Campers of all ages enjoyed the swimming pool and splash pad this week. In instructional swim, campers learned the elementary backstroke and mastered it by the end of the week. Free swim is always a favorite camper activity with games of jackpot, water polo and splashing around. Please consider sending campers to the pool with water shoes; they sometimes scrape their feet on the bottom of the pool and these shoes will help prevent that. See everyone back next week for more swimming lessons and fun times in the pool! -Augie
Program News Great Outdoors The great outdoors started off its second week with another wildlife rescue and release. A baby wren was found trapped between the panes of glass in the storage area for the archery equipment! The baby bird was freed and brought outside, where several campers were able to see the bird and take part in its release. The wildlife feeding station is up and running; several hummingbird feeders are being monitored by motion activated video cameras. There are also regular bird feeders and corn station for the deer. The great outdoors has embraced the color wars theme and instituted several competitions to earn points for the blue or green team. Paddle boat races to retrieve colored tennis balls from the pond with fishing nets have started this week as well as team competitions in corn hole tournaments. Another fun activity: each week, a new bunk will pick Matt’s sock colors! Last week, the Lakotas chose pink. For week two, the Lenni Lenapes voted to have Matt dye his socks purple.
Archery Archers are racking up points attempting to hit wiffle golf balls and small playing cards with arrows. The small balls are worth 50 points and the cards are worth 25 points. Our young archers are being given instruction on how to properly group arrows and the importance of shot consistency.
Paddle Boats Once again, the paddle boats are a favorite for campers coming to the great outdoors. Some of our young captains don’t want to leave their boats, even when it’s time for the next activity!
Fishing The current record for the largest bass caught was set this week: 14 inches! The most fish caught by a camper in one day is four, with both a young female and male camper holding that record. Thanks to Em and his assistant Ryan, who are teaching the campers technique and proper bait presentation.
Program News Athletics Athletics continued to move along smoothly during week two as campers kept active. All sessions began with each individual camper getting a roll at the “Fitness Dice� and leading the rest of the bunk in a brief exercise. From there, bunks participated in intense but fun games of a Hi-Hills favorite, monkeyball. The object of the game is to win a one-on-one battle for the ball in the field and bat the ball over a human goalie line to score a point for your team, all this while in a crouched position and only being able to use your hands! The summer is off to a fantastic start and campers are a blast and looking forward to the next pivotal contest during week three. -John and Marc
Arts & Crafts This week in arts and crafts campers continued learning about Native Americans through learning the history of a dream catcher and then having the opportunity to create their own to hang up for display in Founders Hall. Several of the bunks were also involved in making a fireworks banner using textured brushes to create a beautiful effect of red, white and blue colors. It is an exciting time in the arts and crafts room as the campers and counselors are developing their tribe cloths along with creating projects that reflect camp themes each week. Looking forward to working with all bunks again during week three. -Mindy
Tennis Week two has gotten off to a great start after a very successful July 4th holiday. Patriotic pride is the theme this week and the campers demonstrated a lot of pride on the tennis courts. They have been very attentive during instruction which has led to outstanding participation. We have continued to work on hand/eye coordination and foot speed. Also, the campers have begun to practice serving to go along with forehands and backhands. Looking forward to continuing pride in week three! -Chris Walsh
ing m o c p U ys a D s s e Dr
July 15: Favorite Activity
r o l e s n u Co of the Week Graydon Rogers
Color Wars 2016 Friday was our first big color wars event of the summer. We kicked the day off with an introduction to our team captains: Megan and Betsy will lead the blue team while Patrick and Kiara will lead the green team. Campers marched over to the gaga pit for a camp-wide tournament. Each tribe represented their team and played their hearts out. The winner will receive 500 points and second place earns 250 points. This was a fabulous start to our 2016 color war season. In addition to the big events, campers have been earning points throughout the week for their team by demonstrating positive behaviors such as teamwork and cooperation. Our color wars pride will continue throughout this 50th anniversary summer with the winner being crowned during our final week. Leading up to this summer, each team has one victory under their belt. 2016 will be our exciting tiebreaking year!
Counselor of the Week is being awarded to Graydon Rogers, a junior counselor for bunks 15 & 17, also known as the Comanches! Graydon feels right at home here at Hi-Hills having been a camper for over 10 years himself and now serving in his second summer as a junior counselor. Rodgers is being recognized this week for supporting and participating in the drama club with their upcoming performance of Grease. When drama club specialists Stefanie and Giulia voiced their concerns to fellow counselors that no boys were signed up for their club, Graydon immediately volunteered and encouraged his campers to follow his lead. The boys joined the cast and are excited to start rehearsals. The Comanches were rewarded with points for their color war team for stepping outside their comfort zone. Congrats to Graydon on being such a positive role model for your campers and for the entire camp!
ia v i r T y l k Wee Winners
Tuesday – Cortland, Cassidy, Tom and Ryan Wednesday – Arnold, Joanne T hursday – Ben, Maria Friday – Eric, Julie
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Teen Travel: Apache Teen travel has had an amazing week with many excursions to beat the summer heat. We traveled to the movies, saw an intense battle with knights at Medieval Times, and traveled to Mountain Creek Waterpark to cool off with white water rafting and swimming on one of the hottest days of summer so far! The highlight of the week for many of our teens was enjoying a meal “medieval style,” which involved eating with your hands, reflecting how food was eaten many centuries ago. Additionally, our campers enjoyed the thrill of cliff diving at Mountain Creek. On next week’s agenda is our overnight getaway to Club Getaway in Connecticut. Rest up teen travel campers; there are lots adventures in store for you to explore next week! -Chrissy, Carter and Max