Adventure & Attitude
Yesterday was our first full day of Junior Camp!
What’s a typical day like for the boys during this week?
The bell schedule is similar to our longer sessions, but with more time during each activity period, and an earlier dinner/Evening Program/bedtime due to the younger average age of campers. Each day starts bright and early, with a wakeup at 7:30am so we can get right into the day’s action. First, we gather at Morning Watch to share a thought for the day as a whole camp community, which sets the tone for the rest of the day.
From there, it was time for breakfast! Before heading to activities though, we have a daily Morning Assembly. This is a fun, high-energy, and silly time that we all share as a camp community, taking place on the front porch of the Dining Hall right after breakfast. There’s a skit, singing and music from our “FCC Band”, and time for announcements. Afterwards, it’s time for the first two activities of the day!
During this session, campers rotate through 17 different activities together as a cabin. It’s a great way for boys who are new to camp to experience a sample of many of the great things they can do at Falling Creek. The activity periods are 70 minutes each instead of the usual 50, allowing them more time to sample each activity on the rotation. The activities they’ll rotate through this week are: horseback, outdoor skills, paddling, swimming, archery, day hike, riflery, disc golf, climbing wall, flag football, arts and crafts, soccer, F.A.R.M., dance/performing arts, pickleball, woodshop, and blacksmithing.
After doing two activities together as a group in the morning, boys have the opportunity to enjoy a free-choice period before lunch. This is a time when they can choose what they want to do, and move freely around the free choice areas. They can decide to play games under the Dining Hall, head to the field or courts, or go swimming at the waterfront. Playing at the swim docks is usually the most popular free choice activity, since there’s nothing like having the zipline, rope swing, blob, and roller coaster to help you cool off on a hot summer day!
After lunch and a rest period to recharge back at the cabin, it’s time for the second two activities of the day. Campers get a second free choice period as well, just before dinner, where they have another chance to choose how they want to spend the hour. In the evening, the fun doesn’t stop after the meal - it’s time for Evening Program! Yesterday we played Capture-the-Flag, but with the whole main bowl of camp as the “game map”! Since the Green and Gold teams aren’t limited to a single ball field, the possibilities for where to hide the flag are vast, and there are a lot more game strategy options.
Finally, before heading to the cabins to get ready for bed, campers enjoy an evening snack of milk and cookies. Call to Quarters is at 8pm, so there’s plenty of time to shower, brush teeth, put PJs on, and get ready for bed. Before the Lights Out bell at 9pm though, we have one more cabin tradition in the evenings: Evening Embers. This is a time when all the boys in the cabin circle up with their counselor around a lantern, and talk about their day.
Each week this summer has had a theme, but since we have limited time during Junior Camp, we’ve chosen a theme for each day. These are outlined in the Counselor Journals that all staff have, and used to shape things like Evening Embers discussions. On Opening Day, the theme of the day was “adventure”. This was certainly true for many of the boys, as Junior Camp is often the first time that they’ve been away from home for an extended period. No matter what their individual goals are for this session, or how each of them define adventure, this week is sure to be full of it!
Yesterday, for the first full day of camp, the Evening Embers theme was “attitude.” As the Counselor Journals say, “Attitude is a mental and emotional approach to something that can either be positive or negative, but focusing on the good is how you can live with Positive Attitude, one of the parts of the Falling Creek Code.” Often at camp we see campers and staff combine these two themes, displaying an “attitude” for “adventure”! Today is Tuesday, and adventure awaits!