For many of you, today is your first Sunday morning on the Kingswood squad and you’ll be delighted to see all the photos I just took moments ago. I took more pictures than breaths, causing more than one youngster to inquire about my mental status. “Your parents are refreshing their feeds every five minutes,” I barked, receiving the rejoinder, “Who would ever want to see a photo of me?” by a clearly clueless lad.
I would not be telling the whole truth were I now to insist that all boys are completely adjusted to camp life. That takes more than a week in many cases. The key, however, is for us to persist and you to lay low and let the process take its course. Funny thing yesterday: it was far cooler and breezier than normal and even I said to myself “this is not as much fun.” But look at those RIGHT NOW photos and you can easily tell that the new day dawns a fresh start for all of us, including this ancient relic of a camp guy.
Camp is a long-haul process. Cool/warm; cloudy/clear; rainy/dry, active/slow. Trust it.
Sundays are different at Kingswood. We start the day with a “Deep Clean” of the cabins and boys’ personal spaces and belongings. “Campus Clean Up” assignments expands the concept to include such innocuous chores as sweeping the Dining Room steps, which collect all manner of debris on a daily basis.
Each cabin group then has time for some reflection and maybe a cabin activity before we meet again at high noon as a full camp to review the proceedings just concluded and then take a peek into the activities on the calendar for the upcoming week. Camp is like a crescendo and each successive time frame gets more interesting.
Stealth – Capture-the-flag in the woods — is on the docket for this evening and you have my assurance that a good buzz already is about the grounds concerning this game.
Here are the cabin meeting discussion questions.
What makes someone a good friend or a good cabin mate? Provide examples from the
past week where someone in your cabin was a good friend or a good cabin mate.
2. What does the expression “To make a friend you must be a friend” mean? Provide
examples from the camp setting.
3. What are some challenges of living in a cabin with 6-22 other people? What are some
cabin rules (or personal rules) that can help create a harmonious cabin environment?
4. How is the first week of camp different for veteran campers and new campers? What
have veteran campers / returning campers done to welcome new campers and make
them feel included at camp?
- What do you think it means to “Live the Kingswood Way”?