Category: New Parent Information

We’re Mighty Glad You’re HERE…! 

You can’t open a summer camp without the people. The moment we have all been waiting for is FINALLY here…our favorite people have arrived! Dressed in their snazzy Woodland polos, the counselors were literally jumping up and down with excitement, clapping, and singing the welcome song as cars came into camp on Opening Day. Everything we’d been talking about during pre-camp training was coming to reality!

Even the less than perfect weather could not detract from the delight of the day— old camp friends reuniting, new campers being welcomed and suddenly finding themselves swept along as cabin groups began setting up their bunks. Soon groups of girls led by their counselors were exploring camp, warming up the tether balls, and getting to know each other. Lunch was a perennial favorite: mac & cheese, salad bar, and chocolate chip cookies. All hot and gooey, Dan’s homemade mac & cheese is a pasta dish (and comfort food) that always pleases the crowd. With pizza, another salad bar and rhubarb crisp for dinner, the girls got to enjoy several camp favorites on the 1st day! The natural beauty of Woodland was sparkling all day long (even with a little “dew”) and into the evening as the bus with our campers from Mexico pulled into the drive. It truly was an extraordinary day.

Dear Camp Woodland Parent,

You are about to do something brave, and terrifying, and important. In a few days, you are about to send your child/ren to summer camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. This child that you’ve spent every waking moment thinking about, caring for, motivating every decision you make around since before she was born. This child you know like the inside of your own mind. This child that drives you totally nuts and you love more than literally anything in the entire world. And you’re giving them to me – a young adult who you’ve never met in your entire life, to care for.

I can’t imagine how scary that might be. I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like dropping them off at the airport or driving home without them. I can’t imagine what it will feel like to wonder how they’re doing. Are they making friends? Are they growing? Are they learning? Are they happy?

I can’t imagine what that feels like, so what I can do is tell you what I will strive to do this summer.

I will strive to never take for granted that this child is someone’s most important human being in the world.

I will strive to do everything in my power to keep her safe – emotionally and physically.

I will strive to ensure her growth and happiness are my personal goals for the summer.

I will strive to find the things that make your child special, and celebrate them, cultivate them, let her know how cool they are.

I will strive to give you a warm welcome when I meet you and to discuss any concerns you have about your child this summer.

I will strive to be a role model for her that you’d be proud of.

When she is sad or has a bad day, I will do my best to be a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear and a comforting voice.

When she has challenges to overcome, I will strive to support her as she learns how to navigate the situation productively.

I will strive to make sure she has some of the best experiences of her life here.

I will strive to help her succeed and to build her up to see her missteps and failures as opportunities, to be a strong girl who can move on from the losses and dust herself off.

When she’s homesick, I will strive to listen and seek out help from other campers and staff members. If she’s the type of kid who’s the star of the show and the center of the room, I’ll encourage her to become the best leader she can be. If she’s the type of kid who hangs back, who needs a little time, who doesn’t quite know how she shines yet – I’ll help her figure it out, and celebrate her for being who she is.

Whether this is your first time dropping her off at camp or the seventh, I will strive to be committed to her growth and happiness. I can’t wait to see her eyes light up when it’s Donut Day (Saturday morning). I can’t wait to see her be proud of herself for performing in a play. I can’t wait to see all of her work at archery pay off when she gets her first bulls-eye (or hits the target for the first time). I can’t wait to see her feel strong.

She’s going to ride a horse, or sail in a race, or make a friendship bracelet, or dive off the raft, or write a totally ridiculous song and sing it in front of the entire camp. She might not be on the winning team, argue with a friend, or be homesick. And, I will be there for all of it, and I will strive to make it my job to know exactly what the best and worst part of her day was, every day.

You’re not going to know me until you drive down the camp road – so who am I?

I’m someone who gave up other job opportunities or potential college application boosters to be here – because I care about camp and taking care of kids more, and because I think being a camp counselor gives you skills that may be even more valuable than an internship or a different job.

I want to be here.

I care about the well-being of your child more than anything else.

I think hanging out with your kid is the best job in the world.

Camp has given or will give me more amazing friends, joys, memories and lessons than any other experience in life. I come back because I want to give that back to children, like my counselors gave it to me. I’m coming for the first time because I want to make a difference this summer.

I am silly, and serious, and imperfect – I play guitar and do yoga and balance spoons on my nose, or I play a sport in college and can sing my favorite camp song backwards, or I’m an aspiring doctor who sunburns really easily. Whoever I am, I’m a complex, strong person who knows what it feels like to have lots of different interests and hobbies. I want to help your child find her own, or teach her mine.

I want your child to feel loved. I want your child to succeed in doing something she never thought she’d do. I want her to push herself. I want her to feel like she belongs. I want her to try something new. I want her to make friends. I want her to learn. I want her to figure out what connects her to her friends, and also what makes her stand out from them.

I want her to read a book, listen to a loon call, eat a s’more, hit a back handspring, tie a figure-8 knot, make up a dance routine, paddle a canoe solo. I want her to have the best summer of her entire life. I want her to love this place as much as I do or will come to love.

But mostly, I want you to know that she’ll be in good hands, and that when you see her at the end of the summer, you’ll know it was all worth it.

Love, Her Woodland Counselor

With the start of camp around the corner, we recognize that anxiety around the unknown might be on the rise among campers and YOU (their parents and caregivers). We’d like to share few effective communication strategies of what is good to say and what to steer clear of as your campers pack their bags (physical and emotional) to get ready for the camp experience!

Questions Galore!

It is natural for the amount of questions to ramp up in the weeks leading up to camp: What will the food be like? Who will be in my cabin? Will I like my counselor? How cold is the lake? What if I can’t fall asleep at night or I get homesick? It is also normal as parents to want to be able to answer to each and every question so that your camper/s have the information they are craving to know ahead of their arrival to camp.

First off (and hopefully a huge relief), it is impossible to answer every question accurately. Secondly, when we do this, we are sending the message that new experiences can’t be done without having ALL the information (and we take away the opportunity for discovery and exploration – two of the very reasons we send kids to camp in the first place!).

**Say This, Not That**

Thanks to Lynn Lyons, LICSW, author of “The Anxiety Audit” for giving suggestions of responses to say to your camper/s when you truly don’t know the answer to their questions:

• I don’t know, and you’re going to be able to figure this out…
• I don’t know, and I have confidence in your ability to manage things as they come up…
• I don’t know, and I know this about you…

You can also refer back to other experiences when your young person was trying something new for the first time. Remember the time when you: tried out for the volleyball team, started playing the clarinet, spent the night at a friend’s house…you learned that: your coach would share information as you needed to know it, you could rely on the others in the band who joined last year, and that being away from home can be really fun!!!

Certainty vs Uncertainty

Anxiety likes certainty and comfort; however, those are promises we can’t make when it comes to camp. It can be helpful, though, to write down 2 lists with your camper – one being the things you know about camp (certainty) and the other with the things you won’t know until you get there or as the summer unfolds (uncertainty, but also exciting!).

• Known: date camp starts, how long you will be there, each cabin has its own bathroom, there is a variety of food served at each meal, there are at least 2 counselors in every cabin, laundry goes out once a week, mail is delivered 6 days a week, etc.
• Unknown: the names of the kids in your cabin, the color of shoes your counselor will be wearing on Opening Day, the exact meal served for dinner on July 14th, the winner of Gold Rush this year, the names of the Olympic teams, etc.

Camp is the perfect opportunity to practice figuring out how to do things independently, problem solve, and be resourceful. These are good things as they will give your child more opportunities to will grow and develop a sense of autonomy!

The Dreaded Letter from Camp

We advise you not to be surprised or alarmed if/when you get letter/s from home at the beginning that contain a message of “distress”. This could be any number of things, but here are some of the more common ones: “the food is terrible”, “no one likes me”, “I’m in the riding class for ‘babies'”, and of course, the “I want to go home” plea. 

Lynn Lyons reminds us that it is completely normal for your first instinct to be that this is serious and permanent. It may also propel you to jump in catastrophic problem solving mode (send food your child likes, request to change cabins/riding classes, or offer to come get your child from camp right away). 

Should you pick up the phone and call camp upon receiving this kind of letter, the person on the other end will kindly ask you what day the letter was written (good chance it was 3-5 days or more in the past) and will almost always report that the “uncomfortable thing” was resolved long before the letter reached your mailbox or inbox. It is also highly likely the letter was written when there was a period of down time, either right after lunch or right before bed when thoughts can quickly turn from positive to negative. 

**Say This, Not That**

Again, Lynn Lyons offers some great suggestions on what to say when you are stuck holding a letter that tears at your heartstrings when you pick up a pen and respond to the “cry for help”. You could say something along the lines of, “It sounds like your adjustment to camp has been a bit tricky, and I am confident that you can work through this…”

She also recommends that you ask questions or give prompts in your return correspondence:

• I wonder what it was like to go water-skiing?
• Tell me 3 new things you have done since you arrived at camp…
• Tell me about your cabin counselors…

Camp Cheerleaders

We also recognize that some of you went to camp yourselves and LOVED it! It is natural to share excitement and nostalgia for your camp experience. You are going to “LOVE camp”, the food is fabulous, everyone is so nice, the activities are great, no one gets homesick, etc.” Lynn Lyons calls this “global reassurance.” Those kinds of “cheerleader comments” may actually not help your camper because they don’t want to disappoint you if they don’t have the same affinity for camp as you do. They could also feel “tricked” when they experience the very likely scenario of not enjoying every meal that is served, having someone in their cabin who is annoying, or not being a fan of archery.

**Say This, Not That**

Because it is unrealistic to think that everything will be perfect 100% of the time while at camp, it is best to set expectations so that your camper/s are prepared for things not always going as planned or to their liking. Lyons uses the “buffet” or “smorgasbord” metaphor to explain this idea to kids. When you go to fill your plate at a buffet/smorgasbord, there will be certain items that you like a lot and may even want to take a 2nd helping, other items that you take one bite first before eating an entire serving, while there will be some that you would rather avoid altogether (like vegetables but you eat them anyway because y0u know they are good for you).

Variety is the Spice of Life!

The problem with telling kids that everything is going to be fabulous sets them up for disappointment and possibly resentment. It is better to talk to them about how camp is a variety of experiences…some will be exciting, others will be so-so, or even boring. Being at camp is an opportunity to practice the skills of being flexible and adaptable vs being rigid or stuck in the idea that everything goes smoothly and the way you want it to be all of the time. As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said over 2500 yrs ago, “the only constant in life is change.” This summer is a great time for your camper/s to develop the ability to manage uncertainty (and build resilience!). Something tells me that this won’t be the only opportunity they will have in life to put that skill to good use!

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

Now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s for 2024 (we have a few remaining spots left) so that your daughter/s have the opportunity to develop the skill of managing uncertainty and building resilience through the Camp Woodland experience! Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

A BIG thank you to our camp families for taking the time respond to our end-of-season survey and giving valuable feedback about the recent summer so that we can continue to improve as we make plans for 2024. Our theme this summer was “Soaring Free in ’23,” and from the comments we received from parents about the transformations being noticed at home after spending time with us, it obvious that your camper/s soared quite high!

PARENT PERSPECTIVE

Because our survey responses come together for both Woodland and Towering Pines, and many camp families have children at both, they are co-mingled here:

Our daughter has become more adventurous with her food choices which is great! They are both learning to be more independent and try new things.

As every summer, the kids have come home more independent and mature. This year, they also seem closer to each other since they were both in coed show and got to share that experience.

Our son seems a lot more mature; we can tell that he’s gained life perspective and is not as addicted to devices which is great. He’s been much more talkative with all of us and he’s gained significant skills in meeting new people on his own and talking with them.

**I see them more talkative and they both seem really happy with their experiences. **Maturing and willingness to work hard on goals. **More confident, social, self confident, mature. Growth. ** Both kids are more capable, independent, and embracing of challenges. Also, they seem to have a more mature attitude about life. ** Confident (!) and able to walk into situations with unknown kids/adults and not feel overwhelmed! **

** Independence in our daughter. Compassion and inclusion in our son. **Increased confidence, independence, and adventurousness. ** Increased confidence, trying new things. ** More confidence around tennis. ** She is now officially a camp kid! Loved it! **Self esteem, open to try new things. ** He’s become more active and is eating better. **

** Better sense of self. ** She is more of a leader and doing things outside her comfort level. ** He is more confident, has more independence, smiles more and more often. ** I can see that he is more open, he gained self confidence, and made new friends. ** Confident, healthy, happy, and I can’t wait for her to go back so she gets a break from her phone obsession (ha!). **

CAMPER PERSPECTIVE

Towards the end of camp, each girl had the opportunity to share her thoughts on what “soaring free in ’23” looked like (all campers whose form we received are included here):

Tamarack

Audrey: trying new things and making new friends, being a good friend; Amelia: making new friends that are different from me; Evie: meeting new friends, fun; Jaclyn: trying new things and being myself; Eleanor: trying really hard in all of my activities; JoJo: having a lot of fun with all of my friends at camp; Luci: trying new things; Georgia: trying new things and being kind and open to everybody; Fiona: having fun at camp with new activities; Oli: trying oatmeal and new activities

Silver Birch

Alice: first time going to a sleep away camp that I really liked and felt like I grew at; Elyse: trying new foods and activities, making new friends; Clara: being myself and having fun (and MUCH, MUCH MORE!); Masyn: in the breeze was an eagle so kind and he helped me find this place; Lia: having fun and being myself; Mojo: learning space; Roberta: nice, welcoming, happy; Ana Roberta: mi verano esta muy paque y escanlar; Maya (CIT): trying my best

Starshine

Eloise: a girl trying new things; Maggie: I tried kneeboarding; Olivia H: trying new things; Casilda: I tried riflery and archery, and I also really like dance; I love my counselors and cabin; I love tennis and sailing; Renata: fun and awesome; Camila: being at camp; Dani (CIT): amazing – I made a lot of good friends, and I want to keep in touch with them…it was a break from home

Driftwood

Hannah: great!; Orla: fun and free to be me; Maddie H: trying new things and achieving stuff in 2023; Amelia: passing up to my blue archer; Maddie B: trying new things; Nat (CIT): enjoyable, fun, new

Hilltop

Julia: fun, trying new things and being friends with new people; Regi: wonderful, new chances and a lot of fun!; Natalia: fun, unforgettable and joyful; Olive: meeting new people and doing things I would never do; Sophia: being yourself without being judged, being able to be who you are, brave, confident; Casi: a really fun summer that I loved a lot; Taylor: learning new things and starting new beginnings; Tess (CIT): enjoying my activities for the activity and not the level

Sunnyside

Zoe: it was great, and I progressed so much; Alix: learning a lot in riding; Stella: being my most authentic self and finding activities that make me happy!; Amelia: experiencing new things, making new friends and starting new beginnings; Phoebe: being myself and being brave; Clara: fun, loving, and super filled with friends; Olivia: learning how to shoot in riflery; Sydney: passing levels; Isabella (CIT): being myself and having fun

Treetops

Vale: a great year with all my friends while enjoying the activities that I love to do the most; Marion: fun, friendly, free, amazing; Lizzie: having soooooo much fun; Bella: getting to meet new people and trying new things; Izzy: doing the activities that I like and having a great cabin; Elizabeth: one of the best years ever!; Katherine: just living life with amazing friends and things to do without stress or anxiety

Aquarius

Sofia: a great opportunity to try something new; Delia: being on the water and enjoying sailing; Lou: learning a ton in sail race; Lizzy: having fun; Lizzie: being open to others sharing feelings and being free in spirit; Kaitlyn: hanging out with friends and learning how to be a good CIT; Lilah: having fun and slaying every day

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

While feelings are at an all time high from the summer, now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s for 2024 and reserve your spot/s before we open registration for new campers. The early bird discount ($750 deposit, 5% off 2024 rate) for all returning campers has been extended through 9/8/23 when registering for 6 weeks: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com

I was an anxious kid. Life, for me, meant constantly fighting an incessant stream of questions like what if that plagued my mind. But there was an escape–spending the summer at Camp Woodland. At camp I took six activities, the same every year: swimming lessons, free swim, riflery, archery, tennis, and horseback riding. The familiarity of my camp routine distracted me from facing anything unknown. There was a simplicity in my regimen that I clung to for most of my early summers. I never wanted to try any new activities for fear of embarrassment and failure. So, I stuck to what I knew. My activities were like old friends. I knew them blind. That worked perfectly for three summers, until my fourth year, when I was placed in a more advanced horseback riding hour and my little world flipped on its head.

I had ridden horses for three summers by then, but the prospect of being in the advanced hour, surrounded by older, skilled riders, made me so anxious I felt sick. I had caught glimpses of the pasture during these sessions and seen blurs of beige and brown, clouds of kicked-up dust, and what seemed like impossibly fast speeds. I was certain that the second I mounted any horse going that fast I would be flung off and land somewhere in the trees.

My first day in riding left me in tears. I already felt miles behind my peers. I trooped, defeated, back to the cabin, and I was in no mood to unpack the day with my friends, so I sat on the porch in the sinking sunlight alone. The door creaked open and my live-in CIT, a girl named Arantxa, sat beside me. She introduced herself, but said nothing. I was grateful for the silence. Her presence was comforting enough, as if she was letting me though she was there for me. She would wait until I was ready to talk.

Day after day, I wandered out to the porch. When I felt like crying after being reminded again and again I was the worst in my class, I found some semblance of solace on the rickety cabin steps. Arantxa came out and sat with me every day. Eventually, I began to tell her about riding and my debilitating fear each time I walked into the barn. I confessed I wanted to quit. She frowned. “The fear you have,” she said, “is not something to run from. You have to accept your fear. Live with it. Free it, and it will make you better. Don’t quit riding because you’re scared. Just keep going.”

Those words kept me enrolled in riding for the next six weeks. She was right, I was afraid–that never went away. But Arantxa helped me befriend my fear. I made peace with it, and understood that its very existence was proof that I was growing. Growth, I learned, was not what resulted from natural skill or prowess. It was earned from that uncomfortable in-between, that space where what if still pestered me. But this time I was armed with the tools to twist what if into something powerful. Something hopeful. Instead of asking, what if I fail? I found myself asking, what if I succeed?

We had a horse show on the last day of camp to demonstrate all of our acquired skills. I mounted my horse, welcoming the flutter of anxious butterflies in my gut. Scanning the crowd, I saw my friends beaming at me. But something else caught my attention: Arantxa, breathless from running to escape her CIT duties, stood at the fence with a handmade sign drawn just for me. She waved and smiled, and warm pride bloomed inside my chest. As I rode around the arena, I felt like a blur of beige and black, fast and flying, ready to take on the world. I knew then that I could conquer any activity, any obstacle, and any challenge in my way.

This blog was originally written by Molly K as an influential figure essay for a college-prep English class assignment. We are excited to have Molly join our staff team in 2023!