Tag: girls camp in Maine

Home School, Remote or Hybrid Learning – Runoia Can Add to Your Daily Schedule

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Trending across US education are hybrids of remote learning, home schooling and some in-person connection at schools or pop up play spaces. Let the experiential education of camp layer into your school year with these great tutorial videos from counselors. Last spring Camp Runoia staff put together about 20 videos of easy to do at home projects including science, crafts, exercise and more. You can find them all on the official Runoia YouTube channel.

Build in Break Times During Your School Day

Building exercise breaks into the school day helps increase attention and creates more brain space for learning! Fit in a break during the day by having Kara teach your children a yoga class.

Cooking is also a fun break and involves, following a recipe, measuring, learning about stove safety and more. Check out Jen and Natalie’s fun baking moments on the Runoia Youtube channel.

Craft Ideas – Stimulating Creativity

Crafts involve planning, organization and coordination – great skills. Get your Runoia “building lifelong skills” action happening by checking out our craft ideas on Youtube. Simple crafts from things around the house – join Callie to see what you can do with TP tubes or get more involved (pre-order supplies) macramé with “K” or nature imprints or marbled paper with MacKenzie. Abbie shows how to make a pipe cleaner flower, too!

Science Applied to Camp and Life Experience

Baking comes up again in the science category as does CJ’s 24 hour Egg Osmosis experiment. And, check out Ruby’s Best Paper Airplane Ever –add in some physics lessons about aero-dynamics and physics with this Scientific American article and learn how Bernoulli’s principals also apply to how a sail boat’s sails involves lift and how it harnesses the wind to move a boat forward.

Challenge your daughter to sing (and or learn and sing) Out on the Blue Waves – one of our favorite sailing songs at camp.

Love,

Aionur

The New Normal with Help from Comfort Food

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Okay. You’ve got your new normal plan for the day.

  • Early morning workout (earns the comfort food!)
  • All children are set up at their remote learning stations.
  • Recess and snack breaks and lunch are planned.
  • Dinner menu is in the works. Maybe.
  • Now dive into work and get as much done before you get interrupted and/or the school day is over.

And…what will we do after school today?

Let’s start with some fresh air and outside play.

Everyone can help fold the laundry.

Fall kitchen fun engages, educates and puts food on the table.  Food transitions from summer to fall is fun and refreshing.

We need comfort food now more than ever.

Start this apple crisps in your oven during the school day.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Thinly slice one apple per person. Leave the seeds in as it’s easy to eat around them. For four apples, toss with 4 teaspoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Take out a baking sheet and place a rack on the sheet, lay out the apple slices on the rack so they are not touching. Flip after an hour, check again an hour later. Will take 2-3 hours. Remove from oven when they are dry but still bend. They will continue to crisp after baking.

Try Bon Appetite’s salt and vinegar potatoes -a great twist on the roasted potatoes we all know and love.

And as a side for tomorrow night, the cheesy baked zucchini helps with the prolific zucchinis in your summer garden and involves the kids with cooking. Try Wholesome Yum’s zucchini gratin recipe making a fab low carb side for dinner. Looking up the definition of au gratin will even enhance their French skills! 

We sure miss camp food, wholesome, readily available, on time and prepared for us. Meanwhile, we can do this: plan, prepare, pivot. Repeat.

Hang in there!

Love,

Aionur

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Runoia’s COVID-19 Mid-Week Update for April 15

Posted on by Pam Cobb

I speak for all of us at Runoia when I say we are thinking of all of you during another week of self-quarantine and social distancing. We know you are continuing to do your best during this challenging time. Our hearts go out to families and others outside of our camp community who have been directly impacted by the pandemic. Additionally, we cheer for our heroes on the front lines; alumnae and current staff who are EMTs, doctors, nurses, PAs, therapists, caretakers, scientists, firefighters, police and paramedics – we cheer you every day with a big “Bo Bo” from Runoia.

As you have been following the news and reading articles about schools, sports and festivals being postponed or canceled, we know you are also thinking through the scenarios of camp this summer. We wanted to share with you what our current thinking is and know that twelve weeks from now is a long time considering what has transpired in the past few weeks.

Every day I talk, work and plan with Alex. We are meeting regularly with people from our camp organizations and with our camp director peers.  We are following the CDC and governors’ announcements. The American Camp Association is convening a panel of experts including the US CDC, American Board of Pediatrics, and the Camp Nursing Association to help us implement best practices for operating camp safely this summer.

Meanwhile, we are building our own best practices, developing new health and hygiene protocols, planning safe programming for camp and working to open on Great Pond this summer for Runoia’s 114th season. Camper and staff safety is our highest priority. Camp Runoia is a community bigger than any one person, a place where being unique while simultaneously belonging, an experience that builds life skills and s a long time partner with families.

We expect to make and communicate decisions about this summer’s camp schedule by the middle of May. Since information and guidance is changing daily, we feel it is still too soon to make the best decisions about this summer. However, here are the three scenarios we can envision at this time:

Our first and best case scenario is that we may be able to open as scheduled with new best practices.

A second scenario is we may open a little later and still run modified length sessions; following best practices and health and hygiene protocols.

Finally, if we are forced to not open camp, Camp Runoia will be there in its biggest Blues and Whites for everyone in 2021. We will provide 2020 graduating seniors the chance to come together to have their special time. In the unimaginable event that camp does not open this summer, our aim is to partner with you regarding the financial implications of this pandemic.

We are proceeding with the intent of camp opening in late June. These scenarios may raise other questions for you and we are here for you. Feel free to reach out to pam@runoia.com or alex@runoia.com or call camp #207-495-2228

The online and virtual connections with all of you through Facebook Live campfires, Zoom Mostest Evening Programs, Youtube activities, and more has been energizing for us.

Thanks for your support and outreach.

Thinking of everyone and cheering you on!

Pam
For the Runoia Team

Update from Camp Runoia

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Greetings and an Update from Camp!

It’s been a long and busy week for all since we last checked in.  We wait with patience as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change our lives and routines.  Our hearts go out to those directly affected and also to our brave health care workers and first responders, including many of our alumnae and parents, who are on the front line. We are thinking of all of you and hope our activities help bring joy and laughter to your lives.

Stay tuned here over the next few weeks for news from camp. As of now, we are staying the course for summer 2020.
_________________________

New this week is: All Family EP This THURSDAY NIGHT

MOSTEST Emceed by Barb!
Time: Thursday Apr 9, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9194214302?pwd=R2EyRXkzaHEzUG5yQmk4T3BEeE4rZz09

Meeting ID: 919 421 4302
Password: contact pam@runoia.com for the password or search your inbox for “Update from Camp Runoia” sent 4.8.2020

  • The object of the game is for each team to prepare the following categories:

best team name
best team cheer
best team uniform
oldest team (add up all the ages of team members)
longest hair
years at Runoia
weirdest talent
best celebrity impression
most letters in full name
best gentle-est lullaby sung by a team
best dance moves
wackiest pet
coolest socks being worn by a team member
most flexible team member

  • Judges will award points and the team with the most points wins!
    _________________________

Campfire on FB Live every Sunday night at 7 pm
Our April 12th Campfire theme is LAUGHTER. Send your song requests to Alex alex@runoia.com

As a thanks to Barb for her awesome song “Lava” at last week’s campfire on Earth, attached is a coloring sheet from Mulan!
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Runoia’s After School Activities can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY3ncji0tZIAnWRW11ldYsw

You may have tuned in to try everything from friendship bracelets to Congo bars recently. Here’s a reminder of this week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 4 pm EST – Duct Tape wallets, Whoopie Pies and CJ’s egg osmosis)

and next week’s list to help you get your supplies ready:

April 13th, Monday – Flower Rings with Abbie – supplies – 4 pipe cleaners
April 15th, Wednesday – Macramé Bracelets with Alex & K – supplies – tape, scissors, 2 different color nylon craft string (not embroidery floss but nylon string which is thicker)
April 17th, Friday – Toilet Paper Tube Projects with Callie – supplies – toilet paper roll tubes, tape, colored paper, markers

Shout out to Jen for organizing the activities and “bobos” to all the Runoia staff who are leading activities.
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Please know we are loving you from camp. We appreciate those of you who have completed your forms on your Camp-in-Touch dashboard. Thank You!

We are busy working on everything from current programming, maintenance, summer program, plans for new health check in and health readiness systems at camp, finalizing staff hiring and preparing for an awesome and safe summer on Great Pond.

To our families who celebrate the upcoming holidays, we wish you a Happy Passover and Easter. To all we send peace and calm.

With love,

Pam and Alex
For the Runoia Team

An Update from Runoia

Posted on by Pam Cobb

We are thinking of anyone who is ill and in self-quarantine or hospitalized. We are sending positive thoughts to loved ones, family and friends.

We are well aware that everyone’s every day lives have been turned upside down. Camp Runoia has preserved through other outbreaks (H1N1, SARS, polio) as well as WW1 and WWII and more recent wars. We will forge forward!

We are also monitoring the CDC, following guidelines, and in touch with other resources that have been extremely helpful including our parents who are doctors, our local health team, our insurance company, and food and supply purveyors; we are ready for camp 2020.

The Maine CDC has this info to help understand transmission of COVID-19 and also help lessen the spread of the virus.

Our basic preparedness: requesting no one arrive at camp if they have a fever, pre-camp reach out to families about any illness at home or exposure, our check in systems at camp with new protocols including temperature checks, being outside a lot of the day and frequent hand washing. We are feeling prepared and will continue to respond to new information and recommendations.

Be safe. Stay active. Get sleep. De-stress. Cover your cough. Help others. Practice Social Distancing. Wash your hands!

Conscious Leadership and Learning

Posted on by Pam Cobb

This week four of our Runoia leadership team met in Portland ME for a workshop in conscious leadership. The joke I heard from anyone I told I was going was “I’m glad it’s not about unconscious leadership”.

Truthfully though many of us plow through our days on auto pilot and we don’t frame our interactions with people with a sense of curiosity, an openness to actively listen, not engage in drama, a commitment to feeling and being honest.

Being honest seems so obvious however statistically 97% of people lie at some time. Even answering “how are you feeling?” And answering “fine” is easily a lie. But we all know most people use the question as a greeting and they really aren’t asking for us to unload everything on our minds. So we answer “fine”. We say things to protect people’s feelings or we stretch the truth so we don’t cross wires with someone. And sometimes we lie to do that.

What we mostly received from spending a few hours with an engaging albeit intense, humorous trainer was a way of supporting each other, to be real and honest with each other, to make agreements we can commit to 100% with the caveat that we can re-negotiate the agreement. We are inspired to bring this concept to the rest of our Camp Runoia leadership team.

We realized we can express ourselves, put ourselves in each other’s shoes, not have to solve everything for everyone but create a safety net that will help them to learn on their own.

All year at Runoia we are preparing for the next summer. We model our staff training on workshops we attend, we reach into our bag of tricks to add a special twist to an event for camp, sketch out ideas we share with our team and flesh out together. It’s the positive and calm moments of the off season that help us fire up our engines for the on season.

One of the best parts of preparing for camp is we learn in the process. Camp is a place for intentional youth development and a side outcome is we adults get to grow through the process as well.

Find your Favorite Camp Runoia Song!

Posted on by Pam Cobb

Hail! Hail! Comrades all! Greetings from Camp Runoia. As chilly temperatures settle in this fall, are you feeling

nostalgic about your camp days? Relive them through camp songs – find your favorite in this blog. You can also peruse recordings of Runoia songs on our website.

It won’t be long before we’ll be gazing at sunlight on the water and hearing the wind blow through the mid pine trees by the waterside. Where does the wind come from? We often ask ourselves in our leisurely tech-free time at Runoia. For many girls these days it’s a long road to freedom to detach from their cell phones and screen time. But it’s like a cowboy’s lullaby to give in and unplug for a few short weeks.

When the girls arrive and turn down Point Road you can hear the ring of oh here we come as campers burst with excitement. It’s been months they’ve been dreaming of sailing out on the blue waves and canoeing with paddles softly dip, dip and swing-ing across the cove. Whether they’ve come from out in Wyoming or nearby.

It’s that first sunset at camp where we shout give me the light of the campfire so we can continue our evening as darkness descends. That’s’ the moment when mmm-mmm I want to linger is audible across the beach.

The summer flies by in a flash and it’s not long before girls are leaving on a jet plane. Reflections of somethingspecial there at Camp Runoia stand out as girls return home to study hard and then, back to canoes and paddles.

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like camp!

The Value of Camp by Jen Dresdow

Posted on by Pam Cobb

After nine summers as a full season camper it was an easy decision for my daughter, Natalie, to apply for the CIT program for more value at Camp Runoia. She was excited to not only spend one more summer with her friends, but also participate in a leadership program that would add value and skills to her resume. As a camper, Natalie earned the highest awards in both riding and windsurfing and she looked forward to sharing her passion with younger campers and developing her teaching skills in those areas.

The first challenge CITs face is planning and executing the 4th of July festivities at camp. Though this process Natalie learned some valuable lessons about teamwork, trial and error, and communication. After the 4th, CITs focus on either lifeguard training (LGT) or Junior Maine Guide(JMG). Natalie choose to work towards her lifeguard certification as she hoped to work as a windsurfing counselor in the future. Natalie found the lifeguard training challenging, but with the support of Ally, the head of swimming, she was able to meet all the goals.

During the second part of the summer, the CITs honed their teaching skills. All of the CITs worked with Eliza to complete their level 1 Archery Instructor certification. Natalie spent the majority of her teaching time at the waterfront or at the barn. She further supported the riding program by traveling to shows with the girls and helping them prepare to go in the ring. Additionally, the CITs participated in various community service events.

Like many sixteen year olds, Natalie wanted to get a job to earn money of her own. Before she got home from camp, she was offered a job on Monday evenings at the barn she rides at here in Kansas. Her official title is “gopher”, which entails helping young riders get prepared for their lesson, teaching them to groom and tack, and doing evening chores such as watering and turning out horses. Through this job Natalie is able to continue to gain experience working with children and share her love of horses.

Natalie also applied for a lifeguard position at Jewish Community Center here in Overland Park. She was hired on the spot for the job and works twice a week after school. Lifeguarding is a great job for high school as the shifts are short due to the attention demands and the pay is above average for most jobs available to sixteen year olds. Natalie not only uses her lifeguarding skills at this job, but also sharpens her customer service skills and leadership skills as she navigates the demands of pool goers both young and old.

This fall, Natalie applied and interviewed for a Junior Counselor position at Camp Runoia. She is excited to return for her eleventh summer at camp and work in both the windsurfing and

riding programs. Through these camp experiences, she’s been able to successfully navigate application and interview processes, gain leadership skills, live in a community, and develop her talents. All things that will certainly benefit her as she begins the college application process next fall. Camp has been an integral part of Natalie formative years and invaluable in helping her prepare for college and beyond.

Post Camp at Runoia is Bittersweet

Posted on by Pam Cobb

How and why is post camp bittersweet? It’s too quiet around here. I miss the giggles at night time, the splashes in the water, the sound of doors slamming and the laughter rippling or roaring out of a shack. Yet, there’s something about completing a camp season that feeds the soul. There are memories tucked away. There is the growth in campers you can measure, see and experience. There are the notes and emails and excitement about next year.

So, we get busy. We plan and strategize and take feedback from campers, families, staff and administrators and we make things happen. This fall, we are building an addition on our health cabin. This will expand the h

ousing we have for nurses and create two more beds and a new storage and organizing room for nurses.

Additionally, shacks 1- 7 are getting a face lift – well, a floor lift, really.  All the buildings will be raised and new posts and pads will be replacing the old and, wait for it… the floors will be sanded and finished. Say goodbye to splinters!

This is the mundane stuff we camp people get excited about. Yeah, sure, we are planning program and continual improvement, staff training and connecting with staff about re-hiring, we are interviewing excited but nervous new families and still running fall tours as we visit people in their homes. That’s super exciting, too.

But creating spaces and places in camp is the kind of warm and fuzzy we often feel in the fall when we dream about next summer.

Just next week, we’ll be meeting with 150 other Maine camp directors for the Maine Summer Camp Directors’ fall gathering. A time where we share and confer, brainstorm and collaborate to make Maine camps the best camps in the world. So, there’s lots going on for us as you focus on back to school but the bottom line is we can’t wait till next summer already. For now, we’ll take it a week at a time!

Until next week,

Aionur

 

Camp Runoia Traditions – the ‘name story’

Posted on by Alex

The close of a Camp Runoia summer has a lot of traditional moments. Some seem like camp classics; from finding out the end of season scores,  singing ‘It’s Blue and White’ at Cotillion to enjoying a final campfire together. Others are a little harder to fathom how they evolved. Runoia examples are the log book statistics and the ‘name story’. I’m sure if we pored over the Logs for a long time we could go back and find out when some of these traditions became established and maybe even who brought them to camp.  Certainly some have evolved over time and others have come and gone in just a few years.

The ‘name story’ was an established  part of Log Night long before my time at Runoia and I have been writing it for a lot of years now. It includes the last name of all of the campers and staff that stay with us the whole season and needs to be read with a creative flair as there are some tricky names to get into some kind of tale. There were more names than ever this year.

Camp Runoia staff 2019 their names are in the story!

Here is the 2019 version of the Camp Runoia ‘name story’:

FFMD’s – Fabulous Fine Maine Days

After a very rainy May, that had put a real Strain on getting everything Doone to open up Camp Runoia it had been a summer filled with  ‘fine Maine days’ and beautiful sunsets to the West on Great Pond.

Campers had enjoyed the familiar routines of camp life. Nagle every morning the Flagg was raised, the Bellringer kept the Kells ringing on time, Vanns had taken the campers out on trips, girls got to tie Dye their T-shirts in all kinds of Clancy colors and it had been a great time with lots of Cartmell’s across the kickball field. A ride down to the Marini on the ski boat was a real treat.

At assembly even with a Hacking cough the Germain counselor was really good at translating the word of the day.  In Liu of songs, Dresdowed in their camp uniforms everyone headed out across the Heath to visit the old Mill on the other side of the farmhouse. ‘Budeiri that we have an old ruin at camp’ said the young rapper McCarron to Sidorsky.

When lunch time rolled around after Grace everyone sat down to a delicious meal. On the Plata that Jacob took out of the Hubbard and brought out to the table was a Bolduc roasted in Herbst the Corneluius delicious too. That was a fine Bolduc-Jackson said ‘I Kotsiri would like some of those Hobbs Knobs British biscuits for desert.’ Meanwhile the vegetarians were delighted with their Heuberger made from chickpeas.   While everyone was waiting for desert Frank O’Malley the Irish counselor enthusiastically played a little jig on the Picariello while campers joyfully McLellaned around the dining hall.

Up at the farm the chickens were making such a Kranefuss when laying their Brown and White eggs. ‘Ojeah I feel like a real Pratt’ said Dean the farm counselor ‘I think that the baby goats finally escaped by jumping on the old Cobb horse and have Krakoffed down the road.’ ‘I Quinonnes what to do!’ Now that they are Friedman, I will have to Mullen over a plan with Emerson, Alexander in order to capture them maybe Cooper can help us too.  With a quick prayer to St Peter the counselors Tapiaed on the grain bucket and Skaliotised off after the goats.

When the trippers were out hiking a storm rolled in and the campers had to Neal down and Crawley through the Thacker underbrush toward the Goodoak that guided them to the edge of the woods. They Pulliamed themselves along using Phillips rope that luckily he had brought ‘That was pretty Roffman ‘ exclaimed Martin I hope that everyone is o’Shea. Pammenting the fact that they had to cut their trip short they all used the Holthouse and washed up with the biodegradable Castillo soap. Then with a big cheer of ‘hip hip Perez ‘ they hopped in the Radford van and with Davis driving headed back to camp.

The blue and White games had gone off splendidly even though there had been a petition for the introduction of a Brown team. Shooting competitions had been a big hit, using the old Smith and Wilson and the newer Santos-Pearcy model , Jackson and Gwilliam Atienzad perfect scores. ‘O’Dwyer ‘ said Harris even though I Browder my best effort I Mahedy must try harder I only scored a Kerti and need to get at least a 40 to pass my level. On the fields girls were Korineing around bases after using the Melgar bats to hit home runs. ‘Korosi’yelled the team captain as a camper ran for home base.

While sucking on Mintz and Mullering over the events of the season the directors figured that it May have been the best summer yet on Great Pond.