The teens have arrived, and it’s going to be a crazy week. Traditionally with this age group (grades 9-12), our special programs end up being quite extravagant, but no matter how old the kids are, they’re never too old for the arch. The arch is a tradition that will last as long as camp does, it’s just a symbol of a great beginning every week.
The cool part about this week is that most of these campers have been here before, and over the years they have developed friendships with fellow campers. Since a lot of these kids live all over the place, camp is sometimes the only place where they get to see their camp friends, so after the arch there are some really cool reunions going on that just remind you that it’s going to be a great week.
Although some of these campers already know each other, there was still a lot of introducing to do, which is why we spend a lot of time in the cabin on the first day. Another reason why we do that is so that our photographer can go around and do cabin pictures. Poplar Point managed to execute a fairly perfect “everybody jump at the same time and hopefully the camera will get a picture where we will all be in the air at once and it won’t be blurry or anything” picture. Well done.
After swim tests, health checks, and cabin pictures, the campers picked their skills and went out to get it started. Since our special programs in Summer Scorcher are so extravagant, Monday ends up being really the only regular camp day of the week in the sense that nothing out of the ordinary is really going on. Throughout the week you’re going to see pictures and read stories of some pretty awesome events, which is why today is a good day to show what the skills look like.
We’ll start with archery, where the kids are taught the basics about shooting a bow, and by the end of the day they usually start to find their aim.
The canoers were taught the basic C stroke and J stroke, and then went out onto the lake fairly quickly, as it isn’t as difficult to get all the canoes in the water as it is with the younger campers (the boats are heavy for an 8-year-old). Shea wishes she was going, but unfortunately for her she is stuck teaching water skiing.
Things ran pretty smoothly and to the schedule yesterday, which made the wakeboarders happy since they were able to spend a good amount of time on the water. We caught them right at the beginning of the skill and they were already all in the boat and ready to go. It will be cool to see the campers improve throughout the week, and hopefully we’ll hear stories about some cool trips, or at least some funny wipeouts.
There was a lot happening on the lake yesterday with kayaking and skimboarding on top of the waterskiing, wakeboarding, canoeing, and sailboarding skills. The kayakers were all certified, and are now able to go on some sweet kayak adventures, and the skimboarders are certainly in good hands with our head skimboarding instructor Scott teaching them how it’s done.
But not all the skills were practiced in the water, as a couple of skills like Drama, utilized their air-conditioned surroundings.
The Arts and Crafts skill on the other hand, clearly didn’t care too much about the AC, because they were just excited that Kristen was teaching the skill. It’s amazing to see how much some of these campers look up to our staff. Precious.
There is a lot going on this week, but we’re all still extremely excited to have Matt Klippenstein as our speaker this week. Matt has spoken here before and always does a great job. Matt was also a staff member here for many memorable years, so he’s very familiar with how things are run around here. Please pray for Matt, that he has the words to say, and can rely on the Holy Spirit to speak through him.
Like I’ve said multiple times already, we’re really excited for this week. Fresh IE is here today and will be performing a concert with a couple special guests that he’s brought over tonight. Fresh came two years ago and rocked the socks off this place, and so we’re very much looking forward to that happening again. God has also worked through his testimony to speak to campers in the past, so pray that God will challenge the campers here through Fresh’s show as well.
Be sure to check back on the blog every day to see what kind of crazy stuff we’ve been up to, as it’s certainly going to be a memorable week.
Just a reminder about our Facebook and Twitter pages. Give them a follow, and you’ll be able to get a look at exclusive pictures and discussions that you won’t be able to see on the blog. And for more pictures of Kindle week, sign into our eCamp account for photo galleries and other camp resources. Sign in information would have been sent with your registration packages.
