Spring in Maine is much revered, how we long for the warmer days where the snow melts and you actually have grass again. It is always somewhat of a surprise as the world has been predominantly white since November so the bright spring green hurts your eyes at first and the colors of the first flowers are vibrant against the brown. It takes a while for the trees to wake up and there are not usually leaves until the middle of May so it really is a practice in patience.
You never quite know when to pack away the boots, snow pants and mittens as an early April snow storm can catch you off guard and send you scurrying back for an extra sweater or a wooly hat. Then just when you are out enjoying the warmth, sunshine and fresh air they descend. You are suddenly surrounded by swarms of tiny, annoying, biting, buzzing insects the Maine black fly! They seem to be a species all of their own only found in the Maine woods with perhaps the Scottish midge as their only living relative! You tolerate them in your desperation to be in the great outdoors, sweeping the driveway, tidying the yard and riding bikes hold too much appeal to be overly bothered by a fly.
Appropriate attire is essential!
Luckily they are gone before June when our staff and campers arrive to camp to be replaced by the less annoying mosquito’s.
I love this recipe for a simple make your own bug repellent I’m going to see if it works on those pesky Maine black flies!
Fair choice and commitment is part of everything we do at camp!
Interview with Lea Kone of Maine Camp Experience with Owner/Director, Pam Cobb
Self-esteem is such a buzzword these days. What do you think self-esteem means today?
You’re right, it’s almost an overused word. About ten years ago people began moving away from it and started using intentional youth development as a catch phrase. It was a phrase that meant helping kids develop in their youth — collaborative problem solving, initiative, creative thinking. A lot of things that schools are not necessarily teaching. So I think self-esteem morphed into intentional youth development, butnow I feel like that, too, has been almost overused. Now 21st century skills has really become the new thing. It addresses the question: What are we teaching kids to help them become not only great citizens, but business, government, social leaders, etc.? I think camps help develop all of these skills because camp involves community, a support system that isn’t coddling, and expanded comfort zones.
In what ways do you see the self-esteem of campers change from the beginning to the end of a camp summer? And how does it change over multiple summers?
Parents say their child is more organized, takes the time to think through what’s coming up, and is prepared. I don’t know if every camp is like this, but at Runoia there’s not a counselor in between activities helping kids get ready. They have the responsibility of changing from a bathing suit into horse riding clothes, and hopefully they hang up their swimsuit to dry. A camper learns these logistical and organizational skills at camp.
There’s also a whole piece about taking care of other people. It’s about being the stand-up girl, helping others learn how to advocate for themselves, for yourself, learning who to ask for help or lobby for something that you want and are not getting — all without your parents doing it for you. I think parents really see how their daughter comes home and she makes her bed, how dinner is now run like a camp meal — everyone has to help set the table, clear the dishes, sweep the floor.
I think these moral imprints grow from summer to summer. The little campers learn how to brush their teeth, put their clothes away, get dressed. But when they get older they start to think outside of themselves. They think, “This girl needs help. She needs to know where to mail a letter,” or, “This camper doesn’t know how to get to the ropes course. I’m going to help her out.” Camp helps kids think about and do things for others.
And delayed gratification is a very real thing at camp. It’s the experience of living in a large community with a lot of other children. It’s the reality that you don’t get everything instantly and you don’t get everything that you want. I guess, in essence, you have to grow up at camp.
Activity-wise, which activities do you think grow self-esteem in campers?
I think different activities service different tools. When you look at progressive activities like archery, where you learn to shoot at 10 yards, and once you get past all the levels, you move to 15 yards and then 20 yards. It keeps getting harder. It’s like that in a lot of activities in camp. Tennis, riding, softball, canoeing, sailing. First you get the feel of sailing by being in the boat with people who are more experienced. Then you start to work the boat. You learn how to tie knots. Then you progress into skippering.
Progressive Accomplishments Lead to the Dragonfly!
It’s the same with our wilderness trip program. Our younger campers start with shorter trips and then by the time they’re older, they’re doing longer trips and harder climbs. So I think there are a lot of ways to build skills, and then I think self-esteem growth occurs organically. “I want to climb higher.” “I want to shoot further.” “I want to solo a canoe.”
Also, having victories and defeats without your parents being there is important. If something doesn’t go well, you say, “Okay, that didn’t go so well. How can I make it better?” Your parents aren’t there to console you, to tell you you’re really great. Sharing victories and defeats with other adults outside of your family is a good thing.
Like finding your own voice…
Yes, that’s a great expression.
How do you see the approach to self-esteem changing in the future?
We could probably “Google” what’s next. But I think the 21st century skills are really good ones. People are coming out of the best colleges, but they are not able to succeed in collaborative problem solving or participate in things outside the norm. To allow someone else to be successful over your own ego-driven persona — that’s a big thing companies find people lacking, but camp is teaching these skills.
What is something you would say to parents as they prepare their kids for camp?
Camp is a microcosm of the world. It’s not utopia. There are struggles. But because of the ratio of adults to children — at MCE camps specifically — kids must overcome adversity. However, before camp, kids must get ready to go away. They must build skills by spending nights at a friend’s house, a relative’s house, making it through those new experiences so that when they get to camp they aren’t totally shocked. They must practice some independence beforehand.
How can camps promote the skills we mentioned throughout the year?
I think that parents can help their campers make their own decision about returning to camp and help them understand that it is a commitment and to stick with it. By addressing the things that they may be concerned with about returning to camp, we are helping children to work out their own problems and see the glass as half full. We don’t want to teach parents how to parent, but we want to encourage campers to stay in touch with their camp friends in meaningful ways, be it old-fashioned letter writing, texting or planning out of camp time together. Parents can remind campers to stay connected and help facilitate visits.
We have to remember, camp is a great place to try new things because there is a zero tolerance for shame or humiliation. Whether it’s singing a song in front of the whole camp, or acting in the talent show, or trying something new that you wouldn’t try at home because everyone else is already good at it. And at age 9 or 10, campers are getting an early experience of what it’s like to go off to college. It’s a very powerful thing to be disconnected from your family and then write or tell stories about your experiences once you get home.
Camp Runoia, being a girls’ camp, is so much about connections. Girls from all over NE, the US and the world come together and find so many things in common!
Yesterday was our opening day of camp in 2013. Imagine our surprise when a dad of a new camper met another dad of a camper and recognized that one dad was the other dad’s camp counselor from his camper days at their camp!!!
The day before yesterday a dear childhood friend of mine emailed me a picture of her tour of Harlem she had just taken. In the picture, she was standing with a Runoia camper and the camper’s mom in front of the Apollo. In the process of taking the tour, they began chatting and made the Runoia Connection!
We joke about 6 degrees of separation from Camp Runoia. It seems no matter where we go, there is some Runoia connection!
Enjoy the start of summer, we are busy finding out what we have in common with each other here at camp on our second day of Runoia’s 107th camp summer!
Celebrate all the poets in your life – young, old, published or those who write verse in there heads. Poetry truly is a window to the soul.
ODE to the JMGs
Trees and first aid we know you will beat
Runoia cooking testers love to eat
Your essay will explain
You’ve got the map of Maine
Campfires with other campers is your treat
Off to testing camp you go
With the power of knowledge, your tests you’ll devour
Wet day fires will blaze
Your canoeing will,
Any tester, your skills over others will tower!
April
April showers bring May flowers
What does May bring???
Us one month closer to CAMP!!!!
Runoia
Living the good-life
By Nature’s side on Great Pond
Will all of my friend
– Jane Tegeler, 2011
Maine
Maine is a wonderful place
I love living here
There are lots of wide open spaces
And plenty of animals at which to peer
In it is Camp Runoia
In the wonderful Great Pond
There are no boys to annoy ya’
Of Camp Runoia I am so fond
I want to stay all year here!
-Lily Waddell, 2011
Throughout the month we will feature several poems by Runoia poets, enjoy!
From the 1977 Log
Come with me to smell the salt air
to watch the gulls wheel and dive against
a sky of steel blue
to hear a bell buoy clanging in the soft night air
And follow me to a mountain top vividly outlined
against the morning sky
a lake
hidden among the rocks and trees
Talk with me about growing and learning
share your thoughts
strengthen your ideals
Site with me beside a campfire
– Author unknown
Camp Runoia is a member of a few camp organizations for professional development, networking, education and best practices. One of our groups is called Maine Camp Experience. They also have a blogging page with good updates on Maine camps and All Things Maine. Enjoy!
It’s no coincidence that the New Year is ushered in directly following the December holidays. It gives us a chance to reflect and reset a balance in our lives.
Since many families have been busy with school vacation holiday time, the Camp Runoia office phone have gone a bit quiet and emails have turned from a torrential downpour to a trickle. We, too, have taken family holiday time. It’s amazing to me how refreshing it is to S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N.
My holiday reflections and subsequent feelings of gratitude are multifaceted. The board games come off the shelf, the library book pile gets dug out and meal times are lengthy and meaningful. Dog walks are longer. Discussions are more intentional. Having a coffee with a friend doesn’t seem like a guilty pleasure but a delightful occasion. There is no lack of rich roods. Again, it’s no mistake that New Year’s resolutions follow the feasting of the holidays.
What are your ponderings about the year? Have you thought of resolutions you want to employ in 2013? Whatever they might be or not be, there is a world of people who are unified in belief that the changing of one year to another is significant and provides a chance to reset.
My resolutions? Being present in the moment and taking time to smell the roses are all wrapped up in my concerted effort to maintain a balance between efficient life work and slowing down. My experience over this week has been refreshing and in a sense, simple. It reminds me of a childhood summer at camp. What’s not to love about that.
Happy New Year Camp Runoia – take a minute out of your busy day to fill in the blanks!
BY Diana Bartenstein 2001
