In the Swing of Summer
Sub Juniors whipping something up at cooking
The Senior girls ready for mountain boarding
Life in the 12523 has revved into high gear as we officially started our second full week of camp. School buses filled with tournament teams are heading out, College Bowl and Tribes breaks are officially in the books, and white T-shirts are looking a little less clean. It's hard to keep up with the chock-full days at Scatico, but there have definitely been more than a few highlights.
College Bowl brought all of boys side together as the four teams (USC, Michigan, Ohio, and UCLA) competed in a series of events. The games kicked off with a full boys camp dodgeball! (a special shoutout to Junior Ethan Rotko for being the last man standing) and included a brand new scavenger/ treasure hunt that involved solving riddles to find counselors hidden throughout camp, trivia questions about Scatico, and hunting for "treasure" (aka gold tennis balls).
College bowl capture the flag on the driving range
Fool Ball at the College Bowl campfire
Upper seniors at the College Bowl campfire
On girls side, the lower hill chose their older camp sisters in a favorite camp tradition where names are selected out of a fishbowl. Camp sisters join in a number of activities together, starting with this week's camp sister night on the hill! Older and younger "sisters" participated in a new girls side favorite--9 square in the air (with the added twist that arms had to be linked), plus croquet and bocce.
Lights, Camera, Action!
The 4th of July always marks a special turning point in the summer. Campers are out of uniform to rock their red, white and blue, and boys and girls camp come together for a co-ed BBQ, talent show, and fireworks under the open skies of Elizaville. It's a high energy day that feels like the true start of summer.
And this 4th marked a particularly special moment, because it was also the first time our brand new amphitheater (appropriately dubbed the camp-itheatre) was used by all of camp. Close to 400 people enjoyed a spectacular sunset and one-of-a-kind performances in our new outdoor arena as boys and girls from Jinters to counselors performed in the Talent Show. As Director David Fleischner said in his opening remarks: "In 50 years you can all look back at this moment and remember that you were here, the first night of the camp-itheatre, in summer 2016."
Hosts Jake Lisabeth and Jane Rosenfeld prepare to take the stage
Talent Show hosts were girls drama head Jane Rosenfeld and boys music head Jake Lisabeth (both soopers/ upper seniors of 2009) who led us through 23 incredibly diverse talent acts. The CIT boys kicked it off with rousing (and low-pitched) rendition of the national anthem. Some highlights:
- Ukelele and song performances by the CIT girls, Sub girls and Sooper girls (ukeleles are the sleeper trend of summer)
- An interpretive water bottle dance by the Upper Seniors
- Gymnastics routine by centers Sophie Araten and Lexi Gluckstal and a dance act by the Jints
- A hilarious and stoic ribbon dance from first-year counselors Rory and Alan
- Beautiful acoustic performance from JC girls
- Plus major props to all of our solo acts (it takes a lot of courage to get up on stage!) a song from Sienna Johnson, a Billy Joel piano number from Emmet Miller, the Olympics theme song on trumpet by Jordan Klein, modern dance from Philippin Barbe, and the unparalleled karate routine of Jack Wasserman.
Tournament News...
- Our boys Pontiac baseball team (going into 6th grade and under) made it to the semi-finals, losing in a very close game (1-0) to Camp Lenox and finishing the day with a 2-1 record. (The one run allowed in the last game was the only run scored off of Scatico pitchers the entire day.)
- Girls soccer team (4th grade and under) also snagged 2nd place at Timberlake Camp!
- Scatico hosted five camps at its annual co-ed tennis tournament. Not only did two of our doubles teams make it to the finals, but boys side saw a Scatico vs. Scatico singles finals! Shout outs to partners Allie Putzer and Ashley Mazarin, and Max Silverman and Ethan Rosenberg for their doubles performances. Plus MAJOR congrats to Tyler Winderman for coming in first against fellow Scaticonian Isaac Malkin.
DIVISIONAL SNAPSHOTS
Girls SIde
Juniors- Had a busy week at Camp Scatico, heading off to Bash Bish for their hike on Tuesday and also hosting a division-wide hair washing competition (if you can't do it at camp, where can you do it?)
Jinters- All got up on stage for the 4th of July talent show and performed a celebratory dance to "Party in the USA" (a reprise of their lip sync battle performance from evening activity the night before)
Inters- Headed off to KenWood for an intercamp where they competed with the Centers in basketball, newcomb and soccer (followed by a mandatory stop at Holy Cow for ice cream!)
Centers- Reached the top of their hike at the picture- perfect Inspiration Point before hitting up the General Store for ice cream
Debs- Were in stellar shape this week, receiving both Honor Bunk for doing an A+ job at clean up and also the "All-Star DIvision Award" from the athletics staff for their enthusiasm up on the hill
Subs- Have embraced a new trend in light of the no-phone policy and are all about taking "mental pictures," a skill that came in handy as they dove into cooking with Ally and making s'more crepes
Seniors- Were pumped to lead their first College League night (girls side is divided into four "colleges" to compete in a series of evening activitie), which was Human Anagrams
Soopers- Are busy with Tribes pep (Tribes day #1 is today!) and also riding high from their victorious performance at "Lip Sync Battle" night to the pop-song "Shower"
The Juniors down at the waterfront
Debs at tennis
The Centers at dance
BOYS SIDE
Sophomores- Are busy making papier-mache masks in Arts n Crafts to be displayed at the 2nd annual Scatico Art Show, and also enjoyed a special scavenger hunt activity with the Seniors
Sub Juniors- Participated in a "Super Stars" day, competing in events as varied as pushing a golf cart, broom tosses and speed reading
Juniors- Donned their favorite jerseys for their first game of Slamma Jamma (where baskbetball hoops are lowered to encourage crazy dunks) and also had their hike to Inspiration Point!
Inters- Headed out on a divisional flag football tournament to Pontiac where, although not victorious, they were cheered by hitting up Holy Cow on their way back to camp
Sub Seniors- Cooled off on a hot day by inventing the game of "ice kickball" where ice buckets were placed on each base to sit in (apparently it encouraged some very speedy plays)
Seniors- Not only had a successful hike up Breakneck Mountain but also conducted a "Warrior Course," that included a series of obstacle courses and drills
Upper Seniors- Held a "15 minute life lessons" theme day, where they learned everything from how to dance to a jam band, to advice on how to apply to their first job.
CITS- Enjoyed their first two van nights, heading to the movie theatre to see "Finding Dory" (reviews were mixed) and also to a Camp Scatico favorite Sal's Pizzeria.
Juniors on their hike to Inspiration Point.