Camper

reason. Some of the youngest campers struggle to stay awake for worship at 8:00pm. For them, moving worship to 7:00 pm and having optional game time move to 8:00 pm would allow the younger campers to head to the cabins by 7:30 and begin settling down for the night. However, this rhythm of closing the day with worship holds meaning and value for staff and campers who have attended Camp Don Lee in the past. Talk of changing that pattern caused protests from the staff. They did not want to change “how we do things at Camp Don Lee.” Goldenbaum-Yang evaluated the cost of change and decided that the value of moving worship earlier did not outweigh the cost of the relationship capital necessary to enact the change. Secondly, Camp Don Lee creates culture through worship songs. Because the community values worship, the worship leader plays a key role at camp in the summer. Sometimes the camp has a guest musician come in for the night or for the weekend. Goldenbaum-Yang partners with this music leader to develop the theme with appropriate music to underscore the message of the evening. Layering helps the worshipper hear and understand both content and theme more…

camp has a unique tradition we call “putting on the Ritz.” At the end of each night, campers and staff have a spotlighted opportunity to share personal highlights and give thanks. Speaking to the group and revealing emotional thoughts terrified the campers, so very few “put on the Ritz” in the beginning nights of camp. A couple courageous campers relieved the fear that the majority carried. Eventually, “putting on the Ritz” became the treasured moment of everyone’s camp experience because this…

It was lights out and my campers were finally settled into bed. I just started to mentally plan for our next day when I first heard it. It was not just crying but a full belly-grabbing scream. “Hey um, I don’t um feel good. I think I’m sick.” I was a Sophomore, and it was my first year being a camp counselor for the 6th grade class camping trip. The camp leaders had all of the high school volunteer counselors sit through a required training. This training went over everything. Topics…

Trapped in the cave The beginning of the Theology IV course has been quite a unique experience for me. This has been because, I’m not sure what I’m going to expect going forward. For me, it’s hard to realize that just three years ago I started my journey initial studies of theology. My first impressions were glowing. I loved reading the bible freshman year with Mr. Sotelo, and enjoyed course to move up to honors my sophomore year. My sophomore year experience, however, was much different. The…

I had been a camper at this camp when I was younger. It certainly appealed to me that I would be contributing some of my time to a place that had provided me with good memories. But I knew that being a counsellor would be much different and more difficult. I would have to get along with lots of new co-workers, manage large groups of young campers, and learn how to teach camping and hiking skills, all on my own. Visions of potential disasters swept over my mind. Despite my fears, I knew at the…

necessity for communicating with Deafblind people. While I was off from intervening, I also took a bit of time to meet up with the campers I would be with the last half of the week ahead of time so they knew who I was and I could be informed…

The icy water splashed onto my skin as I jumped in the pool for the third time. Emerging from the water, I looked over to the camper I was playing with. Four-year-old Davie began bouncing up and down as I waded over to the shallow-end pool steps where she sat with a ginormous grin on her face. “Again! Again!” she said, giggling. “Okay, but just one more time.” “Two more,” she said. “Oh alright, two more,” I laughed. Davie’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she turned, running up the…

Reflecting on our five days spent in Retezat, I cannot help but relish in almost every single experience since it was all so new to me. I had never gone on a hiking trip before, nor had I ever spent that much time in the wilderness being able to truly enjoy God’s creation. However, there were two moments that definitely stick out to me as I reflect on the journey: the first being our time at the summit of Peleaga and the second being the night that Paige, Janelle and I spent in the Salvamont…

After having fun at Lake Erie, we drove a couple hours to Cedar Lake, India, and then we found the camping grounds. Mom told us we might be there a long while, so we sent up our big ten person tent. Which, really, is only big for 3 people, they must of thought that tem dwarfs could fit in there, not people. The campsite wasn't really that big, but we didn't have to share anything with other campers. We had our own picnic table, and fire pit, and water and electricity. We even had our own trail…

Happy Camper Early Education and Family Center is located at 15 Frances Blvd. in Douglasville Georgia. The hours of operation are 6am-6pm. Happy Camper is a non-profit center and relies on funding from private philantropic sources federal state and county resources, Early Head Start Georgia Pre-K, United Way and tution to deliver services. Happy Camper uses Creative Curriculum and its teaching philosphy is based on reseach that defines the developmentally appropriate practices from birth to…