SUMMER CAMPS offer adventure, opportunities for growth

Council Bluffs Nonpareil

As summer approaches, parents often look to summer camps to provide learning and adventure opportunities to children while they are on break from school.

Many choose traditional overnight camps focused on the outdoors, equipped with activities such as horseback riding, archery, campfires and more. Lots of others choose faith-based camps, where youth can experience traditional camp activities alongside Bible study or chapel services.

“We are going to camp for the first time this summer,” said Holly Porter of Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska. “I want my son to explore camp and get to know others while he learns more about his faith and is able to grow in that.”

She chose Camp Fontanelle for a number of reasons, one being that they have a parent/child weekend for young campers to introduce them to the camp experience.

Understanding overnight camp is an adjustment, numerous day camps — covering

J CAMP

J Camp is a well-rounded, day camp experience open to Members and Non-Members in K-7th grade. Activities include arts and crafts, sports, swimming, nature, cooking, science, culture, team building and more! J Camp is a full day program, offered by age, and held at the Staenberg Omaha JCC.

Staenberg Omaha JCC

333 S. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154 402-334-6409 www.jccomaha.org/camp/

Staenberg Omaha JCC

333 S. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68154

402-334-6409 www.jccomaha.org/camp/ topics on nearly anything and everything — are also offered across the metro.

Camp is a way for children to have a week of fun that isn’t reliant on technology, Omaha mom Elisabeth Lewis said.

Cieandra Tripp, a mother in Council Bluffs, sends her children to summer programming put on by Pottawattamie Arts, Culture & Entertainment at the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center to keep them engaged in learning throughout summer break.

“We are big supporters of the arts and PACE has filled a need in our community that we’ve hoped would be there for our kids,” she said. “We love that PACE offers programs where our kids can explore their creativity and actually learn and be taught rather than being more of a day care event.

“The PACE staff is amazing and knowledgeable and have consistently hosted amazing programs that our kids just can’t get enough of. From art to clay to cooking, PACE offers so many ways for our girls to express themselves and have fun in doing it.

Affordability is also important to many parents, who say they search for camps that offer scholarships or financial assistance for families in need.

Not only do summer camps offer summer learning opportunities, they often make a lifelong impact on the children they serve.

Mandy Johnsen, whose son Noah attended the Southwest YMCA summer camp, said he had the best summer at camp.

“All the wonderful counselors made camp fun, with various weekly activities including STEM, crafts, swimming and outdoor fun,” Johnsen said. “Some of his favorites were the splash pad, making fortune tellers, going to the library and playing outside with other camp friends.”

The summer programming offers unique opportunities that students might only get in lower doses during the school year.

“(Noah) was never ready to leave at pick up time and is already excited to come back next year,” Johnsen said.

Chloe, a high school staffer at the Southwest YMCA, said the building is her home over the summer.

“I worked out, helped with day camp and kept kids safe in the pool,” she said. “This is where I felt the most love and kindness I have in awhile. The staff and camp children that were there were the reason I was able to go every morning or stay late in the evenings and help out.”

Oftentimes, alongside traditional enrichment opportunities, campers also learn important life lessons.

Meet Dylan, a YMCA camper who counselors often had behavior issues with. That is, until last summer.

“In the beginning of the summer, Dylan was receiving a lot of behavior reports and even got sent home from camp,” said Madison Peters, Downtown YMCA youth and family engagement director. “He was at the point where one more behavior report would have gotten him suspended completely.”

Instead, through working with Dylan by “giving him the opportunity to be a teacher amongst his peers and focusing more on what counselors could do to build relationships with him, he was able to shine through as the amazing kid who left on the last day of camp without receiving any more reports home,” Peters said.

Dylan may even become a junior camp counselor in the future.

He’s proven that summer camp not only provides learning opportunity to youth, but also those who help put the programming on.

By taking a step back, staff learned that “building stronger relationships and friendships with the children in their care provide them with a stronger base to build dependable and compassionate characteristics within the kiddos.”

Similarly, Cayson — a day camper at the Charles E. Lakin YMCA, began struggling with behaviors in the middle of camp.

“We were unsure what was going on,” said Amanda Stephens, Charles E. Lakin YMCA youth and family director. “He would run out of the room without a staff member and get visually upset over things we couldn’t figure out. Cayson is 5 years old and is still learning how to handle big emotions; at this age communication of their emotions is still very hard.”

Staff began working with Cayson and his family, later identifying that these behaviors were caused because Cayson was getting overstimulated easily in camp, an often noisy environment where a lot is going on.

“When something would arise and he would need to be taken out of the scenario to cool down, we would always talk with Cayson that if he feels that need to run, scream or whatever it may be, he could talk to a staff member and tell them he needs a break,” Stephens said.

Though it wasn’t part of camp curriculum, Cayson began trying new ways to cool down and take a break, learning what worked best for him: sit down, walk the track, talk it out with a trusted mentor or friend.

“This became the norm for Cayson by the end of the summer and we couldn’t have been prouder of him,” Stephens said. “Not only did he learn to communicate his need but he also learned to communicate what he needed in that break time to help his big emotions.”