SUMMER CAMPS
Clockwise from top left: Authentic Community Theatre’s ACT Performing Arts Academy featured an "I love the ‘90s" theme in 2020. A camper participates in a Tree Trekkers' activity. Campers show the hair scrunchies they created during Jefferson County (W.Va.) Parks & Recreation Commission's As Seen on Pinterest Camp. Campers stretch and warm up prior to gymnastics skills practice at Jefferson County (W.Va.) Parks & Recreation Commission's Gymnastics Camp. Submitted photos
Summer camp is the antidote to pandemic living for kids
Since March 2020, kids have been living an increasingly bizarre, unnatural life of screens and quarantines, hybrid schooling (if they’re lucky), and enough fear and disappointment to last them into adulthood. However, in the midst of the insanity, summer camp can become a beacon of hope, a lifeline towing them back to their normal selves, according to the American Camp Association. For example, over 1,000 children and 250 staff attended Liberty Lake Day Camp in Bordentown, N.J., in the summer of 2020. While strict safety guidelines and a modified program were necessary, the fundamental essence of camp remained intact: Kids, playing together, being outdoors and mentored by caring staff. According to campers, parents and staff at camps that ran last summer, it was by far their most meaningful camp experience they’d had, as well as an impactful life event.
Camps have been forced to make some changes during the COVID era, but as Andy Pitkin, owner/director for Liberty Lake, libertylakedaycamp.com, points out: “Good camps breed creative adaptability and get things done. We always have. How do you get a group of thirdgrade boys to listen? What do we do about the incoming storm? The bus is running late. Animals got into the supplies. There’s no electricity in the kitchen. Camp people don’t complain. We figure it out and make it happen. Last summer, we were able to facilitate 99% of what we normally do at camp, including lunches, bussing, instructional swimming and assemblies. Were they a little different than usual? Sure, but all were accomplished with smiles and appreciation.”
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