Each night, our Directors send home an email to the parents and caregivers of our campers recapping the events of the day. This is meant to provide a little relief for those families who are anxiously wondering what their kids are up to, and it’s also meant to provide conversation starters for those families to create more openness in their own conversation about grief and life when their campers return home. For instance, “I read about the coping stations you did at camp. What was that like for you?”. Below is one of those emails, from PennEx Day 4. It’s just one example of a day at camp. Each day is special in its own way. And each has all of the core elements of our program philosophy.
Dear Parent or Caregiver,
It is safe to say that the eventful past few days at camp have already made such a huge impact on all of our lives. We have seen how summer camp can shape a child so immensely, even in just one week, and this week has bee no different. Camp teaches kids independence, courage, how to interact with others without computers, phones and video games in their hands, and so much more that they will carry with them for their entire lives.
As action-packed as our days have been, nothing could have stopped us from bringing even more energy into day 4! We have been so lucky with such beautiful weather during our time here at camp. Morning activities included instructionals like the adventure course, football, soccer & more. The clinical activities, which involved expressing grief and feelings through arts & crafts and music, were truly special today. You can visibly see and hear the kids getting more comfortable talking with the clinicians, fellow bunkmates and counselors. Giving the children an opportunity to connect with kids with similar experiences is what makes this so special.
This afternoon our campers had a wonderful, relaxing time. On the boys side we took a camp photo with everyone in their matching Experience Camps shirts for a truly special memory. This was followed by an ice cream party and refreshing free swim! Our girls enjoyed a pool party and a spa day! Camp really is the best!
For dinner, we had a camp-wide cookout with the classic burgers, hot dogs & more. A classic at camp! Afterwards, the girls had their classic Stephanie Hirsch night (milkshakes for everyone!) and then a minute-to-win-it game night. Our boys had a Hobby Night and Casino Night, where we split up some of the younger and older campers for card games, tricks, capture the flag, improv and more.
Tomorrow is our last full day of activities and we must say this week is going by way too quickly!
Check out our photos from today:
http://bit.ly/PAcamp2019
Campfully,
Team PennEx
