After saying goodbye to IB campers after the Fair celebration, the staff were cleaning and adjusting to how small the pre-meal circle was. In the last few hours beforehand, it had felt like a huge adjustment to even think about preparing to leave the camp. Relics of “Someday” were packed away, the cards from interactive “CLUE” had been tucked in a folder, light sabers from a Star Wars evening were retrieved from hidden around camp. All of these things are now memories. You learn so much here and live so vigorously that it feels you could never adequately take all of the experiences back home with you or describe it to somebody. I imagine that this is how many of our campers feel.
I feel it is important for campers to be able to take these treasured experiences and knowledge home with them and use them in their own lives. If your camper hasn’t given you all of the good details of camp yet, please give them the time they need to decompress. Hold back a bit on all the questions you want to ask about your children’s experiences until they have had time to reflect on them and process their thoughts. They will be ready to discuss in their own time and at their own pace. Your child has learned a lot of new skills and created some new habits: here are some suggestions for how to reinforce some life skills they learned here!
- -Campers did daily chores that they may not have at home, such as making their beds, cleaning up after meals, re-filling the sawdust in the composting toilets, and looking after their own items. Challenge them to continue helping in these ways!
- -Campers made it for three weeks without technology. No cell phones, TV’s, laptops, or I-pods. Remind them of how much fun they were able to create without those things and challenge them to continue to make fun and memories in an unplugged way.
- -We ate so much wonderful food! Our head cook, Zoe, really outdid herself this year with fresh fruits and veggies as the mainstay at every meal. Encourage your child to continue trying new, healthy foods!
- -Your camper challenged themselves in so many ways this summer. Ask them about what was most challenging for them and how it felt to overcome fears. Ask them what intentions they would like to set for themselves this school year and check in on them frequently.
- -One of the great things about IB is how the community affords an opportunity for campers to think critically about gender norms and find ways to be more inclusive of those who don’t fit into the gender binary. We often asked, “Why do you think that?” to facilitate conversations, question values and practice living with integrity.
As I read all the camper evaluations of this summer, one remark continues to show up when asked what was the greatest benefit they received from camp: Everyone is included, respected, and accepted for who they are — no matter what!
I hope they continue to keep listening to others, trying new things, and changing the toilet paper roll when it runs out!
Peace,
Megan Chamberlain, IB Director
