Category: Alumnae

Camp Runoia – finding your tribe

Posted on by Alex

Have you found your tribe?

At our workshop last week we were invited to find a group with only random volunteers standing up as the group leaders.  The task was to be accomplished without speaking and with no other direction other than ‘find your tribe.’  There was no knowledge of what we were to accomplish in the found group or how long we were committing ourselves to those that we chose.  Reluctantly people moved to join a group, glancing around to see where others were going and apprehensively acknowledging those that came to join them.  It felt strange to make a choice with little information and based mostly on an impression of the volunteer group leader.

Finding your tribe has become a buzz of the current blog and social media world, sometimes is happens organically and sometimes you have to put effort into finding your people.

Our first task in our new group was sharing why we had chosen to belong there.  Answers ranged from the simple and thoughtless ‘it was near to my seat’ to more complex stories about previous connections, commonalities and a feeling that it would be a good place which had swayed their decision making.

In our lives we have many groups that we belong to, some through choice others through situation.  We all seek a place to belong, for like-minded people who we can share experiences with and who we can feel our best selves among.  Being a member of a group of people in which we feel like our true selves and are loved and accepted as we are is a comforting place where we can relax and engage without hesitation. We naturally have a desire for unity in the communities in which we live, work and play.

Runoia girls have a ready made tribe.
We are glad that these women found their tribe back in 1907 and founded Camp Runoia.

Camp Runoia provides campers and staff with the opportunity to have a ready-made tribe of people who come from a variety of places to be the Runoia summer family. The  group forms and reforms with new members joining and old ones moving on.  We remain connected by our commonalities and often bound by our differences.  We enjoy the belonging for the moment of time that is the summer season and sometimes keep the bonds through the years.  We regroup again the next summer.  Having a place and a group of people to be a part of is empowering and reassuring.

We can’t wait to be back on the shores of Great Pond with our Runoia 2018 tribe!  If your daughter is still looking for a place to belong this summer you can sign up here.

Camp Runoia continues our professional development

Posted on by Alex

This week: Diversity and a continued commitment to youth development

Another week and yet another opportunity for professional development right here in Maine with a another amazing, national level speaker .  This weeks workshop was presented by Maine Summer Camps, the consortium of Maine camps that comes together to ‘support and promote meaningful developmental, educational, environmental, and recreational experiences for children.’  Camp Runoia is a long time and active member of this group and is always keen to participate in any opportunities that promote further growth and learning.

Unlike many industries the Maine summer camp community is invested in working together to provide the best camping opportunities for all children.   We are a diverse group for sure so it was particularly fitting that our workshop speaker was Niambi Jaha- Echols.

Niambi Jaha-Echols

An expert in ‘cross cultural agility’ Niambi’s focus was about inclusion, diversity and our unique position as an industry to create diversely rich communities that value everyone equally.  We were lucky enough to work with Niambi last year at our Runoia staff training and this was a great reminder of our commitment to all girls and to creating a truly diverse community where everyone is valued.

It is always interesting to network with other camp professionals, to discuss common factors and also learn from our differences.  There are so many different ways to provide the camping experience and there truly are camps that best suit the needs of every child.  By opening our doors as widely as we can and staying true to our goals and missions we can build relationships and connections among groups of people who may never come into contact.

Highly recommended is the ‘Seeing White‘ podcast series that challenges our perceptions and calls us to true action.

At Camp Runoia we try our best to challenge ourselves to grow and develop, to meet the needs of the changing world that we work and live in and to provide as many girls as possible with an exceptional overnight camp experience.  We are always open to hearing comments and opinions of others, to rethinking the way we approach things and to recommitting to our goals and mission.

‘No More Mean Girls’

Posted on by Alex

Monday night, I was lucky enough to be able to attend a lecture by psychotherapist and author Katie Hurley.  Her latest book ‘No More Mean Girls – the secret to raising strong, confident and compassionate girls ’ delves into the realms of relational aggression and how it is starting among girls at a younger age than ever before.  In her research and collaboration with experts from around the world it is clear that young women are facing greater challenges in their social interactions which is having a negative impact on mental and emotional health.

Hurley’s latest book is an excellent read for parents and educators.

The increased use of technology and the ease with which cyber bullying can occur are prevalent factors in the social interactions that most girls experience today.   A rumor or photo once shared with a quick click can become instant public humiliation and a destroyer of lifelong friendships. Exclusion from the social group is one of the biggest and most damaging forms of social aggression that our girls are facing.  Girls are often left to flounder alone in an environment that can instantly become dangerous and emotionally damaging.

Adults need to teach, model and help girls to navigate the relational world that they live in.  Helping girls to understand the concepts of empathy and kindness and how they can be incorporated into their social interactions both in person and online are crucial to the development of healthy relationships.  Educating girls about what mean behavior looks like, how they can not be part of the problem and helping them understand steps to being a solution will help strengthen their connections.

Hurley claims that girls can be the change in their own social worlds by:

  • Being the ‘upstander’
  • Refuting the rumors
  • Meeting negative comments with positive ones
  • Saying something nice to the victim
  • Involving adults

Fortunately overnight camp provides girls with the opportunity to develop face to face relationships, to be tech free for a few weeks, to work through hard social situations with the support of caring adults and to continue to grow their self-esteem and self-worth.  We must commit to helping girls navigate the complex social world that they live in, help them to not be the ‘mean girl,’ recognize when relational aggression is happening and stand up when they can.

For more from Katie Hurley and a ton more great articles check out her website

 

Building Lifelong Skills – CIT Program at Camp Runoia

Posted on by camprunoia

Being a CIT (Counselor-in-Training) is not just another year at camp – it’s the opportunity to develop and refine some of the life skills that universities and employers value most in their students and employees. Studies show that the most sought-after students and employees are those with strong 21st Century skills and experience in teamwork, problem solving and creativity, organization, decision making, leadership, communication, perseverance, and positions of responsibility.

Top Reasons To Be A CIT

  • Stepping into leadership roles in camp including planning and executing special events and learning and practicing teaching skills through hands-on experiences and feedback
  • Training in group dynamics, risk management, youth development, communication, behavior management
  • Immersion in the skills of problem solving, decision making, organization, goal setting, creativity, and flexibility.
  • Serving as a role model and leader of younger campers
  • Working collaboratively as a team to accomplish goals
  • Community service
  • Honing activity skills and participating in certification programs in Junior Maine Guide, Lifeguarding and Archery
  • Developing confidence and skill in public speaking

Even in these cold days of January we are busy preparing for, and dreaming about, the coming summer. We love having your girls at camp and seeing them graduate from their camper years. When they pass this milestone, we invite you to consider the next chapter of Runoia for your daughters. We know that there are many opportunities for them during the summers of their high school years… community service trips, immersion learning programs, sports camps, family experiences, jobs, and just plain fun. Our CIT program is another amazing opportunity for girls to grow, develop, add to their “resume”, and experience a fun, intensive leadership training program. We would love to have them join us as CITs.

Unplugged – Camp Can Help

Posted on by camprunoia

Happy New Year one and all! It’s the time for reflection on the past year and a looking ahead to the next. For many, it is a time to make resolutions… exercise more, lose weight, and the one I have most heard this year, is “unplug more”. I’ve been thinking about what it means to unplug, and found myself remembering when “unplugged” was not in our everyday vocabulary. Now I am not OLD but I am older, and I remember well how different life was 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Perhaps you remember some of these things too…

Waiting your turn for the home phone to call your “besties” and hearing the dreaded busy signal (no call-waiting) or no answer and no voicemail. Now we connect to anyone or multiple people in any place and at any time.

Taking pen to little scraps of paper in school to write notes to my best buds and figuring out all sorts of tricky ways to pass them. No texting, snapchatting, Instagram, etc.

Waiting with great anticipation for next week’s episode of my favorite TV show instead of binge watching a whole season in one weekend.

Talking with friends face to face, playing games, listening to music together, goofing around, and just generally, “being”.

Being in nature, whether a walk on the beach, a hike in the woods, or a paddle on a lake, and the “music” was the waves, wind, and bird calls.

“Plugging in” is not bad – it’s wonderful to be able to connect with friends and family so easily and I do enjoy some binge watching, but it can dominate us unless we intentionally keep things in balance. Camp can be an enforced and welcome balancing force. As a director, I do need to be “plugged in” at times each day, but it’s just as important for me to leave the screen and go out and play and talk with girls and counselors in our beautiful natural environment. Unplugging is just one of the gifts of camp but it is one that girls benefit from so much and most of them end up loving the experience. Catherine Steiner Adair, a Maine camp alumna, a researcher, writer and leader in the field of girl’s development has written extensively about technology and the value of unplugging for girls and families in today’s world. It’s well worth a read.

 

New year new challenges

Posted on by Alex

You can teach an old dog new tricks

I have been singing in various women’s choirs since I was seven years old and have had the pleasure of working alongside some amazing conductors and competing in international choral competitions to great success.  As a member of a choir it is a comfortable easy place for me to be.  You literally can lean on those around you to help carry the tune or maintain the sound.  I have sung with my current chorus for the past 12 years and it is safely within all aspects of my comfort zone.  There is a sense of community and support among the eclectic group of women not unlike that which we have at Camp Runoia.

With my Women In Harmony singing friends.

This fall stepping completely out of my comfort zone and with a little trepidation and a good amount of anxiety I decided to challenge myself and started taking private voice lessons.  In most aspects of my life I am generally a very confident person but when it comes to singing alone I often clam up and feel very uncomfortable.  Leading camp songs isn’t too much of a problem but more formal performance in front of an unknown audience terrifies me.

I wanted to develop my vocal technique, understand my somewhat irrational fear and be able to overcome some of my lack of confidence in solo singing.  Our chorus pianist is one of the most brilliant musicians I have met and is very non-threatening so was a great choice for taking this leap of faith with.  She doesn’t even require a financial commitment so I couldn’t even use the ‘you’ve paid for it so you have to go’ as an incentive for showing up.  It is interesting as an adult to push outside of your comfort zone by choice and then to stick with is even when it is fairly painful.  Not knowing really what to expect I convinced myself that I could at least make it through the first class.  I did! and now look forward to those 45 minutes a week when I focus on my own skill development.  I don’t think my technique has improved all that much yet but I feel more confident walking in and know that I can do things that I find challenging even if I have to give myself a little mental push.

As you welcome in the New Year and perhaps make resolutions to change or start something new, I hope that you will be confident and courageous, try something unexpected and go outside of your comfort zone.  As we often tell our campers ‘it isn’t always easy to try something new.’ It is great for kids to see adults not always be good at something and have to work to get better or to overcome a challenge.  Share your journey with those around you and embrace and enjoy the process.

Bring on 2018!

Bringing in the light

Posted on by Alex

Winter Solstice – when the dark days or winter turn into the light days of summer.

As the Winter Solstice creeps up on us and daylight lasts barely 9 hours up here in Maine, we are thankful for the seasonal celebrations that fill our homes with light and brilliance.  Often around our house at this time of year you will hear laments of ‘but at camp we wouldn’t even have started EP yet!’ as PJ’s are snuggled into and bedtime stories read so much earlier than they would be in the summer.  It is certainly a time for hunkering down, reflecting on the past year and taking time to contemplate the months ahead.

Whether decorating a tree, lighting candles or stringing lights around the house there are plenty of ways to brighten up the dull days and to literally bring in the light.  Luckily  in Maine we now have a lovely coating of snow so the white, brilliance reflects the sunshine and certainly makes our short days more cheerful.

Holly by the Runoia farmhouse.

Bringing light into our homes is an ancient tradition to ward off the dark days of winter and celebrate the return of the light. Feasting and decorating have long been practices used to help the long nights pass more quickly.   Can you imagine bringing in a whole tree to burn as they often did in Europe the Yule log was often burned throughought the festive season – it makes our Sunday night Campfires at Runoia look pretty tame!

However you choose to bring in the light at this dark time of year may the memories of the longer days of summer warm your heart and brighten your spirits.  As we celebrate the turn of the earth into longer days we will be counting them down until it is back to summer and our time to gather again on Great Pond.

 

Season of Giving or is it?

Posted on by Alex

‘Tis really the Season of chaos….

We still don’t have a tree and now there is 6” of snow on the ground, my closet is a stack of unopened Amazon packages, the ‘Elves on the Shelves’ haven’t moved in 2 days, I need to get a new windshield (thanks to yesterday’s storm) and there are definitely just not enough daylight hours in these very short, Maine winter days.

At this time of year it is so hard to not get sucked into the crazy chaos of the season.  With school concerts, Holiday events, shopping, family gatherings and all the regular day to day life stuff snowballing around us it is hard to find the time to take a moment for yourself,  to breath and be appreciative.  This Holiday season I hope that you can take a second or two and pause, relish those around you, be present not panicked and generally enjoy the moments not count the minutes.

The good news is today I dropped off 3 bags of gifts at a local nonprofit for our sponsor family, I actually have 99% of the Holiday cards ready to go in the mail- what a joy it was to write them and reminisce as many of them are to Camp Runoia friends made over the past 20 years, tonight I get to go to an awesome lecture about empowering girls – Rachel Simmons, the Holiday tunes are on and I just booked a really fun surprise for the kids next week.  I am determined to make memories, build on our traditions and try and embody the true spirit of the season rather than being bombarded by the commercial components or a need to keep up with the Facebook friends!

I am going to win the Holidays and I hope that you do too!

Helping Others Help Themselves

Posted on by Pam Cobb

You inspire us at Camp Runoia to be the best we can be by helping others, and sharing our passion for the camp experience with children and adults.

In honor of all the campers and counselors of Camp Runoia, we are making a donation to two camps in the Sonoma area of California that suffered devastating destruction from wildfires this fall. Both camps are committed to rebuild, re-open and create a magical summer for campers in 2018.

In this spirit, we hope you spread your own Runoia generosity and cheer and help others during this holiday season.

May peace be with you as you celebrate the holidays and the start of the new year with your family and friends!

For information on the camps damaged by the California wildfires that we are donating to this holiday season:

Cloverleaf Ranch

Camp Newman

Heart of Camp ~ Counselors and Staff

Posted on by camprunoia

I have been so fortunate to do my life’s work as a camp director for over 30 years. I have had the deep satisfaction and joy of sharing the lives of thousands of children as they have grown into such fine adults. I have been honored to be welcomed by families as a partner in their parenting. I have worked with so many fine counselors. I have lived, worked and played in the beautiful out-of-doors while learning so much about myself. And I have had so much fun!

All of these experiences have been connected completely to the heart of camp – the counselors and staff. Each summer we bring together a group of young, and not-so-young women and men to work with our girls. They come from different parts of the world with diverse life experiences. The reasons they come to camp are many. Some have grown up in camp and often cite that they want to give back to the community that has given them so much. New staff members are excited about teaching skills, working with children, being outdoors, making friends, etc. etc.

For whatever reason they come, they soon realize that it is a job working 24-hour days, 7-days a week that requires being a friend, coach, mentor, big sister, role model, and parent all rolled into one. Counselors need to employ skills in decision making, problem solving, motivational speaking, organization, refereeing, group management, interpersonal dynamics, safety awareness, creativity, time management, teaching, care taking, sensitivity, empathy, and flexibility. They set aside much of their own lives – friends, family, hobbies, social life, work, school – to take on this responsibility. They demonstrate amazing commitment every day as they give so much of themselves to create a magical experience for girls.

We know that are counselors and staff could choose to do so many other things with their summers, and we are so grateful they choose to be with us at camp. These fine people truly are the heart of camp.