"Rethinking Service," Camp Business

By Nicki Fleischner

“One, two, three, GO!”

The whistle blew and the first round of campers was off. Half-walking, half-
running, they carefully balanced a Ping-Pong ball atop a paddle in their hands, eyes glued down in concentration. From the sidelines teammates cheered.

“Faster!” “Almost there!”

Members of the “Yellow Fish” jumped up and down. The “Green Snakes” crouched in nervous excitement. The Ping-Pong Relay was a familiar Color War event for the Camp Scatico Counselors in Training (CITs). Summer after summer, the group of boys and girls had participated in countless Color War relays and races, soccer matches, and softball games. Like campers throughout the United States, they shared the unique bond of growing up while spending seven weeks each summer at Scatico, a traditional sleep-away camp in upstate New York. Color War was a sacred tradition, an intense highlight at the end of each summer.

But this time, despite the familiar cheers and events, excitement, and competition, Color War was a little different. Instead of participating, the CITs were leading. And they weren’t at Camp Scatico in Elizaville, N.Y. They were at an elementary school in the Dominican Republic.

Shouts of Spanish were heard among the English cheers as one team took the lead.

“¡Corre! ¡Corre!” “¡Más rápido!”

The Dominican campers had never experienced a summer camp, let alone Color War or a Ping-Pong Relay, but their enthusiasm was palpable. Throughout the day, as the CITs introduced new games, the campers quickly caught on, adding their own strategies, cheers, and jokes.

There’s nothing more universal than the freedom and joy of playing, nothing more unifying than the magic of camp.

A Camp Connection

This past summer, I led 23 CITs, former campers who had just finished their sophomore year of high school, on a 10-day service trip to the Dominican Republic. It was a radical departure from Scatico’s traditional CIT summer experience, but one that enhanced it tremendously. While in the Dominican Republic, the CITs led a day camp for over 60 kids from an underserved community. From craft projects to sports, informal games in English and, of course, Color War, the CITs shared an abundance of camp spirit. Despite limited resources and a language barrier, they established a connection like only camp can, and in only one week converted a Dominican school into a spectacular summer camp.

Besides being a unique experience for the Dominican campers, the camp was an incredible learning and training opportunity for the CITs. The power and importance of volunteer experiences is only growing.

The world has progressed past the one-sided view that service is only about helping others, and has evolved to an understanding that volunteer work is also about personal development and growth. This is particularly true for young adults. From high schools requiring students to complete a certain number of community-service hours to the growing popularity of programs that incorporate international service, volunteer work has become an increasingly accessible and vital part of growing up. 

And it’s time summer camps got on board, especially considering that summer is when teens are most likely to seek out a service experience.

Camps are uniquely positioned to go beyond the typical soup kitchen or garbage pick-up approach and incorporate volunteer experiences in more meaningful ways. It’s what I call the “exporting camp” model, where, by bringing the traditions, spirit, and activities of camp to children who are unable to attend otherwise, it’s possible to make a tangible impact on both the CITs and the children they work with.

Whether your camp chooses to travel to another country, or to partner with a local day care, there are many creative ways for CITs to be involved in an “exporting camp” experience. 

Make It Work

Step 1: Finding the right match.

Scatico was able to help lead a Dominican day camp because the camp partnered with an organization on the ground: the DREAM Project (dominicandream.org). DREAM is a Dominican-based NGO that works with local communities year-round and is experienced in hosting American service groups.

This type of support is crucial when working with a new group of kids or in an unfamiliar environment.Whether your camp decides to stay local or travel will largely depend on the available budget and time frame, but in either scenario, finding a non-profit organization or school whose work you know, admire, and trust is key.

Reach out to members of your own camp community to see what connections to children-centered organizations already exist. It’s a great jumping-off point.

Step 2: Planning ahead.

As many camp insiders can attest, introducing new programming at a traditional camp is difficult. Here are some tips to prepare your camp community for its own service experience:

• Keep families in the loop. Scatico sent an email with a proposed itinerary in October, and organized an in-person meeting to discuss the trip in early winter. Try to strike a balance between the micrologistics and the big, impactful picture to get people both comfortable and pumped!
• Incorporate a summer orientation. Once the CITs were at camp, we held five pre-departure trip meetings. Some topics to consider:

1. Planning the day-camp schedule. Having as much of the programming developed by the CITs was important in having them feel invested and excited.

2. Managing expectations. Depending on where you choose to work, it’s important that CITs understand what the meals, bathrooms, weather, and general schedule are going to look like.

3. Emphasizing cultural sensitivity. You want CITs to be polite guests!

4. Getting them thinking about service in the right way. From Googling, you will find plenty of articles with a critical view of “voluntourism” (volunteer tourism), where young Americans sweep in to “save” the developing world, and take a lot of Facebook photos in the process. This is exactly what we wanted to avoid. 

Step 3: Bringing the camp magic. Though camp magic may seem to happen on its own, we found that these strategies enhanced the CITs’ performances.

• Rotate stations. Having campers and CITs rotate between stations helpsnavoid monotony and restlessness. We had crafts, sports, and English games, but practically anything could work.
• Divide CITs into groups. Dividing the group of CITs and giving them semi-defined roles allows the more introverted ones to shine. For each day of camp, we switched which CITS worked together and which group of campers they led.
• Stay organized. We reviewed a printed schedule of groups and planned activities each morning at breakfast. When CITs knew what was scheduled, they felt more empowered to lead.
• Allow time for feedback. Each day brought unique challenges—one kid didn’t want to participate, the camp ran out of beads for friendship bracelets, it was too hot for kickball—but that’s all part of camp. Give CITs time to voice what worked and what didn’t at the end of each day. There’s always a way to fine-tune.
• Let them do their thing. The bottom line is that camp people are great with kids, which is why using an “exporting camp” model makes sense, rather than building a school (how many average 16-year-olds are amazing at construction?). Our CITs may have been in an unfamiliar environment, but they were in their element, and it showed. Camp’s best moments will come when CITs are allowed to step up and do their thing.
• Share and reflect. We decided to keep a blog (citdream.wordpress.com) and posted every day of our trip. It allowed time for personal reflection, as well as a chance to share the experience with the Scatico family.

Spreading The Magic

Now, months after the first round of Color War victories, goodbye tears, first-time bachata dances, and games of SPUD, a new group of 32 Scatico CITs is already signed up. Come July, they will head to the same elementary school to work with a new set of first-time Dominican campers.

There’s no limit to how far the camp magic can spread. One CIT boy wrote on his blog last year: “Even across an ocean, camp brings people together.”

If your camp is interested in incorporating a service component and you need any further advice, please do not hesitate to reach out! 

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This article originally appeared in Camp Business in May 2016. 

"Turn on the Radio," Camping Magazine

By David Fleischner

The end of a summer day. We sit out on the front porch. The heat eases as the sky darkens and stars slowly emerge. The crackle of a radio broadcast punctuates the relative silence of the night, the play-by-play of a baseball game taking place hundreds of miles away. Someone adjusts the positioning of the antenna to pick up a clearer signal. Talk and laughter about the day’s events mingle with the action on a distant field.

United States circa 1950? Absolutely. But also Summer Camp 2015.

In recent summers, a tradition has emerged at Camp Scatico and become almost as much of a fixture in the day-to-day pace and life in our boys’ camp as morning flag raising and afternoon general swim. Baseball on the radio. Who could have predicted that the cutting-edge technology of the 1920s and ’30s, would help us achieve our 21st-century camp goals of unplugging and connecting more personally with friends?

Each night during the summer (except for the open dates around Major League Baseball’s All Star game), campers and staff come together to listen, talk, relax, and bond. Evening activity has ended and it’s that in-between time before younger campers head back to their cabins for the night. Our head counselor’s (HC) cabin in the boys’ camp is a long, narrow building strategically situated along one side of a main campus, ringed otherwise by camper bunks and a social hall. The HC cabin has an open porch about six feet deep running its entire length. There’s seating for close to 50 people and even more space for a lot of quality “leaning.” In the middle section, campers come at dusk to get milk and cookies before bed (just a bit Old School).

At one end of the building, the Yankee game is on the radio; at the other end the Mets game. Campers and staff flow in and out, tide-like, absorbing the action both on the radio and on the porch. A few key listeners for each radio, the serious fans, are stationed like soldiers on guard duty, ready to provide in-depth details and/or analysis when asked, “What’s the score?” or “Who’s pitching?”

Beyond providing a portal to a simpler, less-hectic time, the group radio-listening (GRL) creates a nightly haven for any camper to come and connect with other campers and staff. Some campers stop by and sit for ten minutes. Other younger campers, stay for the entire time between the end of evening activity and when they must report back to their cabins for the night (up to 45 minutes). A few older campers, with a later bedtime, ride out the action right until the game’s end, then recap highlights for morning lineup the following day.

For many younger campers, this becomes an important part of their nightly bedtime routine. Older campers and staff make them feel a vital part of the brotherhood. And while conversation does at times focus on the game on the radio, camp stories are also shared — funny and memorable moments from the day passed. Campers and staff marvel at the star-filled sky or even a prehistoric-looking insect that’s landed by a porch light. Everyone feels comfortable participating — or just listening.

Even the out-of-town fans are embraced: the campers from the DC area rooting for the Washington Nationals and the lone Bostonian camper who is a diehard Red Sox fan. There are lessons learned here too: how to root in a fun, competitive way, but always be gracious in victory or defeat.
A few cottage industries have sprung up around the GRL. We have a bulletin board mounted on the HC porch midway between the Yankee and Met sections. Box scores, game recaps, league leaders, and standings go up each morning. Walk by the HC during the day and you’re likely to see one or more campers analyzing yesterday’s games. Often it’s a group effort. The porch walls near the radios are also decorated annually in a jumbled collage of baseball cards, photos, and memorabilia. Each summer, campers arrive with donations for “The Wall.”

Like many great traditions that become ingrained in camp culture over time, the GRL lends its success to one part planning and three parts organic growth. About 15 summers ago, an assistant head counselor living in one end of the HC building (a lifelong Yankees fan) began putting a radio in his window so he could listen to games while outside on campus. He decorated the wall outside of his room with Yankee and camp photos and then moved a pair of authentic Yankee seats from inside the main building and placed them on the porch. (These seats were from the first Yankee Stadium renovation in 1973-74 and purchased in a Connecticut junkyard for $75 in 1978.)

Two summers ago, a new assistant head counselor living in the opposite end of the HC (and a lifelong Mets fan) thought it was time for equal billing. He decorated the outside of his side of the building, turned on a second radio, and even contributed a pair of Met seats (bought online and not at a junkyard, and not for $75). Game on!

No one told the campers to come and listen. To relax. To hang out. To bond. To laugh. To bring decorations to add to the porch wall.

Sitting on a porch and listening to the radio with fellow campers and staff has captured much of what we value in our summers at Scatico. Community, slowing down, and simplifying life. Feeling removed from the stress of the outside world and in the presence of the great outdoors. Who would have thought? Radio and camp — a nice double play.

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This article originally appeared in Camping Magazine in March 2016. 

"Opening Day Blues," Camping Magazine

By David Fleischner

The bus arrives. The campers race off to their cabins. Except Sam. The camp director had warned during orientation that his parents thought he might have a “few separation issues.” Standing just off to the side of the bus, he sobs — loudly — chest heaving convulsively. He refuses to budge. Gathering his breath between another body-wrenching gasp, he shouts, “I want to go home! I want to call my parents.”

You — the counselor — approach — fresh with the optimism and energy of staff orientation and opening day. You say all the right things — that you were once homesick, that there are a lot of first-year campers, that there are so many fun things you’ll do this afternoon. “Can I help with your stuff? What do you like to do?”

Then you are struck with an inspiration. You send a nearby counselor to get Brian, a second-year camper who was very homesick last summer. Brian was one of your success stories. He’ll be able to find just the right words to get Sam through this crisis and into the flow of camp life.

A few minutes later Brian approaches, dressed in the camp uniform and looking quite determined. He slowly and seriously appraises Sam, dressed in blue jeans and a Yankees’ T-shirt — clearly clothes of the outside world.

“Brian, I thought you might be able to help Sam out.”

“Whatever they tell you,” Brian turns to Sam and speaks slowly, “don’t let them get you to the bunk and into uniform. Then you’re here for the whole summer.”

Opening Day Blues

The first day of camp — an extreme emotional roller coaster ride at the very least — is a potential time of crisis for the homesick camper. If we can just get Sam through the first day, we know he can make the summer.

The veteran counselor at residential camp may understand that almost all homesick campers will have a successful summer, but just try telling that to the crying camper who refuses to meet his bunkmates — let alone go to the first activity. Worse, no amount of staff training ever seems to anticipate fully the range of challenges faced on opening day. What’s a counselor to do?

Getting Ready for the Moment of Truth

The director warned that Sam might have “a few separation issues,” so how did you prepare? The following tips may prove helpful:

• Assign a staff member to sit next to the potentially homesick camper on the bus. And, maybe bring along a deck of cards or some other game to keep busy. (Maintaining a sustained conversation with an anxious camper can prove a challenge.)
• Encourage precamp e-mails and phone calls to welcome first-year campers. Some camps assign big sisters/brothers prior to Opening Day.
• Contact the child during staff orientation and talk about the exciting things to come: how friendly the bunkmates will be and how you’ll be there to help him through the first few days.
• Acknowledge that it’s very normal for a first-year camper to be anxious. Empower the camper by asking what he thinks will be helpful at the very moment of arrival. Go shoot baskets? Swim? A tour?
• Make a contract: This is what we are going to do the second you get to camp. By empowering the camper and getting a verbal confirmation, you will find it easier to get them moving and into the flow of camp life.

Good luck, if these “negotiations” are left to the actual time of arrival, when the camper is in distress.

The Eagle Has Landed

The bus arrives or the parent drops the camper off . . . .

David, now a twelve-year-old and a veteran camper, recalls (with some humor) that catastrophic first hour three summers ago, when he screamed and cursed at his parents for leaving him at camp. Even counselors’ nerves were tested that afternoon, and other parents, each experiencing a measure of their own Opening Day stress, found anxiety levels edging up a notch or two (or three).

“One thing that helped me was bringing me to visit older campers in their bunks,” said David. The older campers welcomed David and shared personal memories of their first days many years ago. In their unpacking, they also showed a glimpse of a teenage world to which most ten-year-old boys aspire. When companies market products to children, they often will show children and teens several years older than the actual target audience. These older campers then recognized and said hello to David (at the waterfront, walking to meals, etc.) during the first crucial days of camp — building his self-confidence and feelings of importance.

Randi, a counselor and former homesick eight-year-old, engages her campers in decorating the bunk. She also has returning campers give tours to first-year campers.

Don’t Overanalyze

David remembers one counselor saying, “You’ll see your parents in just a few weeks.” Rather than reassuring him, the future seemed to stretch out even longer than before. Brett, another of David’s counselors and a key support during those first few hours, concurs: “Your natural instinct is to tell him that he’s going to have a great time and that he won’t miss his parents. Don’t even go there. I try to totally change the subject. Ask him what he’s into.”

“A long discussion right away on why they’re homesick,” says Randi, “is a bad idea.”

Connections

As a thirteen-year-old, Jennifer was very anxious about her first sleepaway camp experience (a first extended separation from home). “People who kept saying it would get better didn’t really help.” Neither did her older sister, a longtime camper, when she told Jennifer, “you can’t do this [be homesick], you’re thirteen!”

But on the bus ride to camp, Maria, a first-year counselor from Australia, connected with Jennifer. “She told me how she was new and wondered whether the kids would like her. She talked about all her plans for the nature program.”

Randi remembers when she was an overwhelmed homesick camper and her counselor, Sabrina, showed her several crystals she had brought to camp. “She told me one was a ‘healing crystal’ and she let me sleep with it under my pillow.”

David tells how that first afternoon, “Jon [a counselor] took me out to have a catch with him and another camper, but not right in the middle of campus.” This got David busy and built a first connection with a bunkmate — but not in a spot (the middle of campus) that would make him feel overly self-conscious.

Free Time — Public Enemy #1

Public Enemy #1 for the homesick camper on opening day is free time. Make certain that the camper is engaged during all those in-between moments — no matter how brief — before and after meals — walking to and from activities — just before bed. This can be exhausting for a single counselor, so make certain that as many staff as possible are on task and communicating with each other. During that first dinner, tell the campers, “Evening activity doesn’t start for thirty minutes so we’re going fishing.” At the end of evening activity, say, “We have forty-five minutes until bedtime — let’s play cards on the porch of the bunk.” Make specific suggestions of things to do, and try to include a few other campers and a second counselor.

The First Night

As a counselor — when envisioning the first night of camp — think college finals. This is not the time to be thinking about a night out. Your campers need you — maybe desperately. Think how you would want a counselor to be there for your child in some future time to come.

So far, you have been doing all the right things, but now it’s time to put away the deck of cards and turn out the bunk lights. Obviously, a great moment for a story (that’s not scary or about parents). Randi likes to tell funny stories about camp and to talk about exciting activities to come.

But now that you’ve finished and the group has settled down, there’s still one camper you hear sobbing in his bed. If it’s clear that this camper is not going to fall asleep soon, what’s a counselor to do?
Jennifer fell asleep the first night with her counselor Rachel reading to her. “I had brought all these books to camp for summer reading. I fell asleep on page three of one, and she told me in the morning she kept reading to page twenty-five because she thought I was still awake,” said Jennifer.

On a first night, sometimes a counselor needs a little creativity. A younger camper unable to sleep might prove a good “assistant” head O.D., helping make the rounds of the older campers’ cabins. Choose an activity that might push the camper to the point of sleep. Surprisingly, this may take less time than anticipated once they are active and doing something special — and not just lying in bed and thinking about home. Talk with a supervisory staff member about the parameters of rule bending at bedtime the first few nights of camp.

Calling the Cavalry

The longest day is almost over. You’re already feeling burned out and ready to scream at your homesick camper, “Come on and pull yourself together!” If not administering a kick in the pants, you’re prepared to give in to any and all requests ranging from phone calls to skipping activities to going home on visiting day. Now is a good time to seek advice and support. Supervisory staff respect and appreciate counselors who know when to get help. And don’t make promises that you might not keep or are not yours to make, but rather the director’s in discussion with the parents. It is okay to tell the camper, “I can’t make that promise to you.”

The Big Picture

There may come a moment in the first day, as you vainly attempt to comfort a sobbing, hysterical camper, when you think, “Why am I doing this? Maybe the camper doesn’t belong at camp?” Though there are campers who never overcome homesickness at a residential camp, the vast majority of campers do — and their achievement becomes a powerful and memorable success in their lives. You need to keep the faraway finish line as a vision in your mind as you struggle through the first few turns on what may prove either a sprint or a marathon. By working as a counselor, you need to understand and accept that there is value to what you are doing that goes beyond just playing and having fun.

“Whatever they tell you, don’t let them get you to the bunk and into uniform. Then you’re here for the whole summer.”

Brian’s warning to Sam did actually prove true — as Sam did change into his uniform and successfully finish the summer. The quote has also provided an anecdote for staff training in the following years. What was learned? Sometimes even the best-intentioned strategies can go astray.

So as the campers arrive, keep a sense of humor, feel good about the importance of what you are doing, remain flexible, and tap into the camp support system. There are children out there who will remember your devotion their entire lives.

David Fleischner is the director of Camp Scatico in Elizaville, New York. He is the past president of the New York State Camp Directors Association and a former board member of the New York Section of the American Camping Association. He has written articles on homesickness and first-year camp counselors for The New York Times.

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This article originally appeared in Camping Magazine in May 2003. 

Summer 2016, Edition #7: August 4 - August 10

HIGH STAKES COLOR WAR 

Color War is always an intense, all-out finish to an event-filled summer at Scatico. It's the last full-camp push; a series of games and competitions campers and counselors alike have been looking forward to since their very first day in Elizaville. For Soopers and Upper Seniors it's a bittersweet four days: both a time to lead, and a farewell song of sorts. From coaching younger campers' sporting events, to strategizing for All-Star games, leading cheers, and encouraging good sportsmanship, the Soopers and Upper Seniors truly set the bar for Color War, and the rest of camp follows suit. For younger and first-time campers, Color War is an exciting rush, and a time when truly every camper is given the opportunity to step up to the plate and shine for their team. The best Color War moments come when new and unexpected talents are brought into the spotlight. With activities as diverse as art projects, softball, chess, trivia, ping pong ball balances, and egg tosses, there is bound to be an activity for everyone. 

Inter/ Sub Junior soccer 

All smiles at jump roping 

BOYS SIDE 

Boys Color War is four days of non-stop action, from the first dodgeball match on the A-court to the final chicken fight in the Social Hall. On boys side three counselors are chosen to be Generals for each team, and help the Upper Seniors lead and coach the rest of camp. At some moments the teams were neck in neck, but ultimately Grey pulled ahead to win. The four days had many magical moments, but here are a few standout highlights. 

Gathering sticks for rope burn. 

HIGHLIGHT REEL 

• An intense game of Inter/ Sub Senior soccer went beyond overtime and into penalties, where Isaac Malkin scored the winning penalty kick to take home a victory for Green.

Isaac Malkin's penalty kick

• A heated game of All Star Chess eventually ended in a draw, with Jake Vandercar and John Fischgrund as the final two standing. 
• Boys side resurrected an old event: the Flagpole Shootout. It used to be that a counselor sat in a chair and campers shot foam arrows at them from a distance, but this summer we switched it up and used real arrows to shoot at a life jacket draped over a chair. Simon Mandel scored a victory for Grey when he shot an arrow that pierced right through the lifejacket's "heart." 
• Novelties are fun, mini-competitions that break up the flow of larger sport events throughout the day. In the egg toss novelty, Aidan Rogers and General Alan O'Neill were the final partners with an intact egg, securing a win for Grey. 
• The always-heated A-game (played at the Pavilion) was a particularly close one this Color War, with Green winning by just two points. 

The A Game 

• The Swim Meet and Boating Reggata always bring new all-stars to the fore. War Canoe, which involves campers from all divisions rowing as fast as they can, was won by Grey by only three seconds. Shout outs to Grey coxswain Henry Lilienfeld and Green coxswain Max Rosh. 

Grey and Green go head-to-head in a canoe relay

• Green won All-Star Softball, in part thanks to a home-run hit by Captain Brian Schindler. 
• Both Senior Football and Upper Senior Soccer were intense matches ultimately won by Grey. Senior Jonny Leibowitz scored multiple touchdowns for his team, and Captain Ethan Edelson scored 4 goals! 

Upper Senior Ryan Ditkoff up to bat. 

• Green nabbed a victory in Soph-Sub Junior Hockey with Nick Mozga scoring numerous goals!
• Rope Burn is always a highly-anticipated Color War event, and involves each team building a fire high enough to burn through a rope hanging above the flames as quickly as possible. Each team is allowed to recruit one "fire-building" supervisor, to strategize how to maximize the height of the fire's flame. Evan Baitch designed Green's winning fire, a moment made extra sweet since his twin brother Ryan was General. 

"Go Green fire, burn a little higher!"

• Grey clinched their Color War victory in the final potato race (campers run back and forth along the Social Hall to place blocks at various distances), when Upper Senior Sage Blumenfeld won.  

GIRLS SIDE

On girls side Color War is structured slightly differently, and the Sooper girls really step it up to lead the rest of the camp. The competition kicks off with a Sing, where each team chooses a theme– this year's were Green Candy Land and Grey Rydell High– and perform a series of songs (an Alma Mater, Folk Song, and Entrance about how awesome their team is, are a few highlights). Soopers and Seniors work together to prep for sing for days straight, creating unbelievable sceneries to hang in the Social Hall. Following Sing it's three days of non-stop action, from Apache relays and All-Star Volleyball to Scavenger Hunts and the Bucket Brigade (teams need to fill a huge garbage can with water so that a ping pong ball inside of it raises to the top and spills out). It was a close competition, but in the end Green secured an overall victory. 

The team emblems, made by the Subs for each camper to wear everyday. During sporting events, campers opt to hang them from trees. 

HIGHLIGHT REEL

• The Sing included many standout moments, including a beautiful winning Alma by Grey to the song "All I Want" by Kodaline, and impressive winning scenery and Entrance (appropriately to the song "I Want Candy") by Green. 

Green Candy Land Scenery

Grey Rydell High Scenery 

Green Candy Lane Soopers and Seniors in costume for the Sing 

Green and Grey in an epic sing down 

• The jump rope novelty, where division by division girls run through a spinning jump rope, is always a highlight. The Junior girls surprised all of camp with their impressive skills, and in the end the Grey team had the final campers not eliminated, including the youngest of the trio Maya Pisetzner. 
• The Apache Relay involves everything from finding objects in a hay stack to rolling clay into a ball and accurately serving 3 tennis balls. Every camper participates in an event, there are over 70 in total, which spans all of girls campus and the lake! Although they started out behind, Green pulled ahead for a victory. 
• A little rain did nothing to stop the intensity, with everything from Junior/ Jinter Simon says to Sooper/Senior dodgeball. 
• The Upper Hill treasure hunt was particularly high stakes, ending with two Soopers rowing to the ice peak located in between boys and girls waterfronts to find the mafia's "weapon". It all came down to Sam Derasse and Lindsey Sherman from Grey, and Sophie Blumenfeld and Anna Rosenberg from Green. It was neck-in-neck but Green emerged victorious. 

Grey Soopers Sherman and Karlin are ready to lead. 

Carson Lava at hurdles! 

• Grey was able to nab victories in nearly all of the novelties, from hit the penny to water toting (teams fill a vessel with water using only their hands). 
• The Swim and Boat Meet were as intense as ever, with Green and Grey in a dead tie all the way up until the last event: the Sooper General/Lieutenant relay where one leader loads the other up with unlimited lifejackets and then the duo swim together (it looks something like a human orange marshmellow) to the dock and back. In the end Green Gn. Emily Mester and Lt. Anna Rosenfeld made it back first. 

Jane Greeley leads the Grey War canoe. 

Erica Smiley leads Green War Canoe. 

• Grey nabbed a win in All-Star Softball, thanks in part to some stellar pitching from Eliana Pisetzner. 
• Green dribbled, passed and scored their way to a victory in All-Star Basketball. Shout outs to the "Emilys" (Holzer and Mester) for their impressive games. 
• To learn of the overall winner, the Chief Judges light the letters of a rope spelling out GREENY. They start with the G, R, and E and then depending on the third letter they light teams know if Green or Grey was victorious. With the lighting of the second E Green knew they had won for the first time since 2013! 

Green Centers on the soccer field 

Grey Inters on the soccer field 

Grey Juniors and Jinters throw their weight into Tug of War. 

PARTING WORDS

It's hard to believe it, but with Color War in the books it's nearly time to say goodbye to the 12523. The final night of camp is one filled with many time-honored traditions, from the boys and girls banquets, to a viewing of the Slide Show and closing campfires. After living 10 for 2, the 2 always seems to go by way too fast. Let the countdown to summer 2017 begin!