Carpe diem. Here comes the roll out of our Theme for Summer 2016…We are super pumped to share our theme with you earlier than usual this season. Lauren & I are grateful that we were able to spend this past weekend engaged with our Camp Leader team to vision for this coming summer. A foundational part of our good work together is to explore what our summer theme will be and how it connects to our Core Values and Mission. Without further adieu…our summer theme is “We are One” {אנחנו אחד}.

Building community in an intentional way is one of our three core outcomes for all of our campers every summer. While we encourage each camper to discover their best self, we also are asking them to become engaged members of our community. How do we scaffold community building? Think about concentric circles. Beginning with the innermost circle of One Cabin, we extend outward to a second layer of One Unit. From there we ripple out further with One Camp before finally merging as One Blue Star. Within each of these circles campers find opportunities where they not only feel known, needed, and cared for; moreover, they possess the power to positively shape their communities.

Delving deeper into the meanings of the Hebrew word for “One,” I am struck by a particular use which translates to “One-ity,” reminiscent of the concept of unity. At Blue Star, we are committed to showing and reminding campers how to bridge divides, open our hearts, and welcome others into an inclusive community in which everyone is accepted.

As always, our camp programs and projects will be centered around the concept of “tikkun olam,” of healing the “one world” we all share. Our summer theme for 2016 hopes to inspire a spirit of civic engagement as well as a deeper understanding of the universal “one-ness” that connects all people. Lauren & I hope that our campers will connect to each other and the world around them in ways that honor and highlight inclusiveness, understanding, and open-heartedness.

We are One…“One love, One heart” and one Blue Star family!

Carpe diem. Lauren & I hope this finds everyone feeling good and enjoying the holiday season. We hope you had an extra bright Hanukkah and wish you only the very best for the New Year 2016! As we approach the annual ritual of “winter break,” we wanted to share an article that struck us at our core. Those of us in the Blue Star family (all of you!) reminisce and dream often of that Blue Star “magic.” What we might consider less is what actually makes or helps create that magic. That is, what is the secret ingredient (the special sauce, if you will) in the very center of the magic? The answer is below; just keep reading…

A long-time alum and very special friend of Blue Star, Walter Solomon, passed along the following article to Lauren and me from the website, ejewishphilanthropy.com. In the article, The Secret Ingredient of Summer Camp Magic, writer/educator Benjamin Kramarz explains that the recipe can be found in the concept of liminality. Kramarz defines liminality as the “state of being in transition” floating amorphously between one stage or place and the next, whether of development or more concretely as in school grades. Our good work at Blue Star is focused on harnessing that transitional time and space to create the conditions for personal and communal transformation.

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/the-secret-ingredient-of-summer-camp-magic/?utm_source=Tues+Oct+13n*&utm_campaign=Tues+Oct+13&utm_medium=email

How does it work? We intentionally build a community every summer that is filled with “good people” who are almost all in a state of transition. Our counselors are trained vigorously to model “how to be” in this unique state of being and guide their campers through it. Layered in is our meticulously designed program structure that rests on two foundational principles: First, we leave plenty of healthy space for unstructured time where campers are allowed to do what they want to do (with adult supervision and within extremely safe physical surroundings); Second, campers are encouraged and supported in choosing their own main activity options (or electives) where they can discover their best selves. To take the learning and growth to the next level, reflection is built in both informally and formally through myriad activities such as cabin circles, rose n’ thorns, and key log ceremonies.

We have written previously about transition. Transition, or change more broadly, is super difficult for many of us (for me personally). You will be reading this during a transitional time of winter break, between school semesters, and as we shift from one year to the next. The beauty and strength of the Blue Star experience anchors in embracing the in-between state(s) and harnessing their awesome growth potential.

Carpe diem. With the month of September coming to a close and the High Holidays behind us, Lauren & I wish everyone a meaningful and beautiful New Year! In the cycle of our year, marked by the zenith of summer, this quieter time period lends itself naturally to both reflecting on the recent summer past and dreaming big about the future. For reflection we spend time pouring over parent, camper, and staff surveys in an effort to gain more clarity around how we can be better. All the while we re-set our short and long terms goals for the upcoming and future summers, consider our evolving vision, and imagine how we can do our part in healing the planet. In this “big picture” context we want to share three of the Conservation Generation projects our campers participated in this past summer.

Compost…boom! This simple phrase became the centerpiece of our environmental sustainability efforts this summer. All of our campers learned about, cheered on, and practiced composting in their dining halls. Our composting campaign absolutely made a difference on the amount of waste we contributed to our local landfill and added real value to our Farm & Barn organic gardening program. At the same time the Pioneer and Senior Girls even made up a song and dance to garner more excitement and awareness toward composting. Click below to check it out! Sometimes all it takes is collective energy to ignite direct action. We invite and encourage you to engage in this broader effort at home this school year in whatever way(s) makes sense for you.

 

Moreover, we partnered informally with a non-profit in Israel, The Ecological Greenhouse, whose mission is to be “a meeting place for youth from the various populations and sectors of Israeli society…by cooperating and engaging in shared challenges and projects these children and teens get to know one another and manage to find common ground.” We raised funds to help support the Ecological Greenhouse of Israel’s mission through our “Pop, Rock and Roll Run” first session! Thank you campers and staff for running, cheering, handing out water and showing your Blue Star spirit for the run!

Our campers and staff also constructed our own Blue Star greenhouse, made primarily out of recycled bottles, to draw attention to the good work we all can do with a concerted effort and communal commitment. The beauty of our greenhouse is that we will be able to grow plants, flowers, and vegetables in it year round that future campers will be able to enjoy. Nature’s cycle continues from summer to summer.

Finally, we led an inter-camp community effort with four other WNC camps to have our own uniquely designed rain barrels displayed on Main Street in Hendersonville. An outcropping of our 6^th annual CampStock program, this past summer’s symbolic totem project was implemented in conjunction with the Mayor’s office. Not only did our campers raise awareness of water conservation via these prominently displayed rain barrels, but they also modeled how to build community with our sister and brother camps. It was sweet to engage fellow nearby camps in the spirit and good work of Conservation Generation…we’re all in this together! Be sure to thank your Blue Star campers for doing their part to help heal the world this summer. Shine on!

Carpe diem. A gentle yet steady breeze. Five hundred shades of green trees behind an emerald lake. Gravel roads lining nature’s paths. These are just a few of the reminders of the sheer natural beauty of these mountains and our safe space at Blue Star. It also makes it easier, even refreshing, to settle in for the summer as Lauren and I transition from our off season to our “playoff” season. With that, our focus pivots fully to getting our incredible staff as prepared as possible for the potentially transformative work they are about to do.

To help us with our staff training preparation over the past couple seasons, we have connected with Dr. Michael Thompson—a psychologist, school/camp consultant, and nationally recognized leader in the field of child development. Below is an article he wrote a few years ago on the positive impact camp counselors can and do have on children’s lives. Our intention here also is to share some of our learning with our parent community as we partner together to create a meaningful experience for our campers.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/parenting/2012/05/30/why-camp-counselors-can-out-parent-parents/?_r=0&referrer

Some of my takeaways from this article are that parents have the opportunity to allow other adult mentors to enter their children’s lives at summer camp in a much more unique environment for learning than at home. That is, campers are away from their parents and so really can grow to lean on and learn from their counselors. Thompson writes, “College-age students possess a completely different kind of authority than do parents [and they are able to] teach character and community, caring and sacrifice.” Camp counselors are cool, hip, and more like older role models who campers want to emulate. Looking up to them, campers will follow strict guidelines, try on new rituals, and make some selfless choices to be an active participant in their own community.

During staff training, we will remind our counselors and activity specialists of the powerful opportunity they have this summer. Further, we will show them how to channel their role to be fully present with their campers, meeting them where they are at and gently nudging them out of their comfort zones. Let the good work continue! See you all very soon…

Carpe diem. Lauren and I are so excited to introduce our theme for summer 2015. Our theme is “Shine On”. The idea connects to our first organizational internal core value to Let your Light shine. It is about giving our campers (and staff) permission to truly be themselves. Let THAT inner light shine and be shared with everyone in our camp community (and out in the larger world). All we ultimately set as an expectation for each camper is to be kind to others. Having a kind and caring heart and thinking of how we can be of service to others is one thing towards which we always can strive. As the Dalai Lama reminds us, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

We grew up at a time where there were growing pressures put on us to be a certain way and follow a prescribed path toward success in life. Now societal pressures have magnified exponentially, and as parents, we already are aware of this. Lauren and I view camp as a sacred and safe space where we can provide a sort of antidote to some of these outside pressures. At camp we invite and encourage all of our campers to find their best selves. We try to create the conditions within which each camper can feel comfortable just being.

How do we create these conditions at Blue Star? We spend a lot of time and energy behind the scenes, with our team, devoted to designing an overall program structure and specific daily programming aimed at just this. For example, our campers are given the opportunity to choose themselves what their primary two “options” (or daily camp activities) will be. In other words, they do not just go with their whole cabin to every activity already pre-selected for them. While that might seem quite simple, it actually provides many of our campers the unique experience of choosing and pursuing what they really want to explore as their main focus (without their parents’ input). This is one example of how we consciously are carrying out a foundational philosophy at Blue Star passed down to Lauren and me from Herman Popkin and directly through Rodger. That is, every child possesses a unique gift(s), and it is our mission to help her/him discover that.

Lauren and I believe that it is such important work to discover what makes each of us truly happy. The process of self-discovery can be illuminating and liberating, even if the change it inspires is subtle. We believe that what is most important about this process is that our campers find happiness. That is what becoming successful in life means to us. When we are truly happy we really do “Shine On”.

Carpe diem. Lauren and I just returned from a wonderful week in New Orleans at the American Camp Association (ACA) National Conference. Most importantly, we spent a lot of time attending various educational sessions that pushed and stretched us as we learned tons…so many ideas to bring to camp this summer and beyond. While we were there we also were humbled to be able to receive a prestigious award on YOUR behalf.

Blue Star won the ACA Eleanor Eells National Award for Program Excellence, honoring the Conservation Generation initiative we launched with you last summer. This program highlights environmental stewardship and allowed us to put into practice our “programs with a purpose.” Lauren and I believe that doing good (for others and for the world) is the central ingredient in creating the space within which children can discover what truly makes them happy. YOU all did good work this past summer, and we know you are continuing with that good work this school year in your home communities.

We want to be mindful of both celebrating the achievement AND reminding ourselves to “keep going.” What can we do next? How can we build on this? At the same time we want to make sure we place this award in a larger context, starting with Blue Star’s rich history. We have learned that Blue Star actually has won this award for program excellence before for the Camping Unlimited program (pretty unique to earn this national recognition twice). As one of my mentors from the Harvard Graduate School of Education reminds us, “let the work continue!”

*See the video presentation and learn more about the Eleanor Eells Award here… http://www.acacamps.org/awards/eells

Carpe diem.  With winter break on the horizon Lauren & I wanted to share our evolving thoughts on technology with our camp community. Our children will be home for the holidays for a week or two, soaking up much needed re-charging and decompression time. Parents will be faced even more with the question of how much “screen time” to allow. Full disclosure: While our Eli is only two and a half years old, we already face that very real question. Eli knows how to work an iPad and iPhone; that seems wild to me! Lauren & I have to set boundaries around how much time he gets to watch his (PBS Kids only) shows and play with his Wheels on the Bus app. This too is our dilemma.

One of our summer leadership team members recently submitted his thesis for his M.Ed. He chose to focus on the powerful emotional intelligence education that campers learn at Blue Star (of course, Lauren & I are deeply honored). He even quotes from Herman Popkin’s book, Once Upon A Summer. Paraphrasing his thesis liberally, technological frills distract a person from living life fully awake.

Thoreau echoes this idea: “with a hundred ‘modern improvements:’ there is an illusion about them; there is not always a positive advance…. Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.” Thoreau, [Vol 4] Walden, 57

At Blue Star we have the increasingly rare opportunity to provide a safe space for children to really BE PRESENT with other children (and older mentors in our incredible camp staff). They can engage directly in “face-to-face” time, learning how to navigate the labyrinth of social dynamics and how to read social cues from their peers. Do they need their screens in this setting? Do their screens help them discover their best selves, build intentional community, and do good?

We leave you with more questions than answers and another article (and short podcast) that we have found to be instructive…

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/09/30/351521488/kids-and-screen-time-cutting-through-the-static