“Skip around the pole! Skip around the pole! We won’t stop until you skip around the pole!” This is a daily chant at Camp Starlight. It’s a special way for the entire camp to wish campers and staff a happy birthday! And, as you might guess, they don’t stop until those celebrating skip around the pole (to do so is a secret wish of almost everyone at camp, btw). And this is how a birthday begins at Camp Starlight. After skipping around the pole, birthday boys and girls get to help raise the flag. Camper and staff birthday gear tends to be a bit more—um—“creative” than on a typical day. Tutus are almost certainly involved as is brightly colored clothing. Sometimes there is also a hat or a crown. Always, it’s easy to spot someone who is celebrating around campus. Later in the day, the entire bunk gets involved for a party in the canteen. Of course, there is cake! A birthday just isn’t a birthday without cake, after all. At dinner, the lucky camper (or staff member) usually gets formally serenaded by his or her bunk with a round of Happy Birthday. Every day is a great day at Camp Starlight, but a birthday is a really great day!
Posts Tagged ‘camp activities’
Celebrating a Birthday Camp Starlight Style
Wednesday, July 24th, 2013
OMG!…Oh My Girls Visits Camp Starlight
Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013
Have you ever heard of a vision board? Do you know how to make a healthy smoothie? When you want to relax, do you know how? Much of Girls Camp got the opportunity to learn the answers to all of these questions during special workshops conducted by Oh My Girls this past S Day. Oh My Girls, according to its website, is the “first ever health club designed exclusively for girls ages 8-18,” and teaming up with Camp Starlight to present the Upper Inter Girls and Debs with such a uniquely fun and constructive day was their first venture into the world of residential summer camp.
Claire Liever-Saul, Oh My Girls Vice President, helped the Upper Inter Girls and
Lower Debs learn some techniques for de-stressing, including proper breathing during the Meditation and Stress Management workshop. Sydney M., one of the Upper Inters who was eager to share her experience, particularly enjoyed the lavender and Hershey Kiss exercise. “She put lavender in the window, and told us to smell it and think about how calm it made us. Then, she told us to suck on a Hershey Kiss and think about good things.” Says fellow Upper Inter Jamie F., “It worked really well!”
After learning how to relax, the girls made vision boards during the Design Your Life session with Life Coach Christine Judge. Vision boards are collages that encourage you to envision your lifestyle at a certain point in your life, whether it be in a year or ten. The idea is that creating a vision board helps literally helps you visualize your own success and enables you to focus on the steps you must take in order to achieve it, and the project scored very highly with virtually all of the girls. “The vision boards were really cool!” Jamie said, “not just doing your own but seeing other people’s goals as well.” Charlotte S. said that she enjoyed making a vision board because it got her thinking about what she really wanted. “It was a lot of fun to think about the things that I wanted to put on my board.”
Some of the girls found the Spinach Challenge the most interesting part of the day. As part of a demonstration that eating healthy doesn’t have to taste bad, the girls were encouraged to add one leaf of spinach to their berry smoothies during a smoothie making session. Although many were skeptical and a bit skittish at first, those who accepted the challenge were pleasantly surprised to learn that they couldn’t taste the spinach at all. Says Lily H., “I put in four big leaves, and it was delicious!” The Spinach Challenge was also part of a session entitled Not Just Any Body, Your Body conducted by LCSW Randi Zimmerman. “We learned that it’s really important to love yourself however you are, and that being fit and healthy doesn’t mean you have to look a certain way.” said Jamie F. Added Charlotte S., “She used an example of not liking your nose. She told us to think about all of the things we do with our nose, like smell, and to ask ourselves what we would do without our nose. She told us that when there is a part of our body that we don’t like, we should say to ourselves, ‘My_______makes me unique.’”
The day also included a circuit training fitness session with Camp Starlight’s own very popular and much beloved Head of Fitness
Richelle, which also scored high marks with the girls. It wasn’t just the campers who gave the day two enthusiastic thumbs up either. “I think it’s great that they [Oh My Girls] came,” Upper Inters Division Leader Janelle said, “It was a fun, informative day for the girls, and I think they really enjoyed it. Many of them had never done anything like that before.”
Later in the day, the Upper Deb Girls enjoyed a panel with all three of the Oh My Girls Specialists during which many of the ideas presented to the Upper Inter and Lower Deb Girls were discussed in an open forum.
Oh My Girls was founded by Lisa Rosen and Claire Lieber-Saul, both professional mothers of young girls, in order to “create an environment that aims to put the fun back in girlhood while guiding its members toward healthful and successful living in a most challenging time.” In addition to workshops, All My Girls also offers cooking and fitness classes as well as party packages for birthdays and special events. If you would like to learn more about Oh My Girls and the services they offer, visit their website www.ohmygirls.com.
The Visiting Day Dust Has Settled
Tuesday, July 16th, 2013
Another great and truly pleasurable Visiting Day has come and gone. Thank you, everyone! Inevitably, some of your goodbyes were a little wet. That always happens. But something else that always happens is: camp begins again. For one day, the action stops for families to be reunited for a fun afternoon. Then, goodbyes (for a few more weeks) are said, parents and grandparents drive away, and activities start again. In fact, since Visiting Day we’ve enjoyed a show, Upper Camp took on two evenings of amazing challenges, many of our girls competed in the Camp Starlight Dance Competition, several Wayne County games have been played, and—oh yeah, as part of the daily regular camp program, campers have been enjoying 
tennis, baseball, softball, boating, swimming, cooking, soccer, basketball, flag football, circus, magic, sports broadcasting, digital photography, fitness, dance, fishing, outdoor adventure, gymnastics, creative writing, arts & crafts, ceramics, woodworking, and the list seems nearly endless these days…In other words, what we’re trying to tell you is, don’t worry that the children are still crying. They’re fine. In fact, they’re better than fine because once the dust from Visiting Day settles, campers begin to focus what’s still ahead during the next few weeks—and for good reason. Some of the best parts of camp happen over the next few weeks.
The Senior and All Camp shows, MTV Night, divisional trips, the Anniversary Party, Carnival, Olympics, Banquet, and did we mention Olympics? Oh, how about just one more time: Olympics. We have to mention a few times because the buzz starts early and the anticipation grows for several weeks before the big break. In fact, one of the saddest aspects of the last few weeks of camp is that they pass every bit as quickly—sometimes it seems even more so—as the first few weeks leading up to Visiting Day, and we know that all too soon, we’ll all be saying goodbye for another ten months. But…
Let’s not jump too far ahead ourselves. For now, parents, we hope the Visiting Day
dust has settled for you as well, and that you’re as focused on having a few more great weeks of summer as we are. That you enjoy the photos, blogs, and Facebook posts. And that you get the pleasure of enjoying lots of great camp stories in just a few weeks.
Thanks once again for a great Visiting Day 2013!
Checking in at the Camp Starlight Lacrosse Field
Sunday, July 14th, 2013
Few realize that lacrosse, which is finally hitting its stride among youth sports in America, is actually the oldest sport in America. In fact, it’s believed to have been invented by Native Americans. For the past decade, though, lacrosse has been number one on the list of fastest growing high school sports in America, and the lacrosse program at Camp Starlight has very much mirrored that trend. Just a few short summers ago, lacrosse was a sport enjoyed primarily by Upper Camp boys at Starlight. Within the past few years, however, it has exploded in popularity and is now very enthusiastically enjoyed by Upper and Lower Camp as well as boys and girls alike. In fact, some of
Camp Starlight’s most powerful teams are Girls Camp teams. We talked to Starlight’s new Head of Lacrosse, Georgia State University Head Coach Billy McCullough, about the program, and he had some really positive things to say about his staff and the program.
Billy came into the summer hoping to improve the skills of his specialists as young coaches and turn campers onto a great sport. So far things on right on track. In fact, if he had to pick just one word to describe how things are going at lacrosse this summer, it’s “great”—as in “great games, great kids, and building some great friendships.”
In particular, Billy is proud of the amount of growth he is seeing in the skills of the younger campers, to which he credits the assistance of his great staff and instructors. In fact, he can’t help but brag about them. “Taylor is the best! A great instructor and learner with a positive attitude everyday. And Jordan has done a wonderful job with the boys. He’s a great young coach with a bright future.”
Billy himself is a very enthusiastic former football player. In fact, he played four years of college football at
his alma mater, Valdosta State University in Georgia. After college, he coached youth, high school, and college football and lacrosse before transitioning full time into his current head coaching role at Georgia State.
As for looking ahead, Billy says he hopes to take away great memories from the summer and for each camper to take his or her experiences home and apply the skills they learned here at camp.
Camp Starlight Tennis
Friday, July 12th, 2013
With Wimbledon just behind us, tennis has been a big focus in the world of sports as of late. Here at Camp Starlight, tennis is a big deal too. Everyday, our courts are busy from sun-up to sundown. Campers can also be spotted trying to improve their game during free time, such as shower hour and, recently, many of our more passionate tennis players got to spend two days focusing on their skills during the Tennis StarCamp. With so much enthusiasm about tennis here at Camp Starlight, we decided to check in with Starlight Tennis Director Gary Donnelley to talk tennis, and he was eager to brag about the immense popularity that tennis enjoys here at Camp Starlight.
Gary estimates that “at least 20% of campers are putting in a lot of time and effort to improve their tennis game this year.” Those are some serious numbers for Gary, who says that his goals coming into this summerwere to attract and maintain large numbers of campers to Option and Super 6th. So far, the numbers are exceeding his expectations.
Gary credits a good deal of the success of the Tennis program this summer to his amazing staff, whom he says is very high energy and
vocal, both effective qualities in good tennis coaching. And Gary knows good coaching. He’s a former professional player and Wimbledon finalist who has spent the past twenty-two years as a coach. Back in his home state of Arizona, he owns a tennis camp that he runs during the winter months.
Even though we’re still in the first half of the summer, Gary says his proudest moment as a Program Head so far this summer was seeing the Senior Boys win their first match. As focused on the details of seeing individual campers and divisions succeed, he’s also very focused on the big picture. He says that he ultimately hopes to take away many of the same things at the end of this summer that he took away from last summer; to continue having a great time while building the program and positioning both Boys and Girls Tennis to springboard into next year.
Meet Camp Starlight’s New Gymnastics Head
Tuesday, July 9th, 2013Upper Debs Madelyn F. and Dani S. recently caught up with Camp Starlight’s new Head of Gymnastics Kelly Gurney to find out a little bit more about her.
Madelyn and Dani: Where are you from?
Kelly: Malibu, California
Madelyn and Dani: What college did you attend?
Kelly: Auburn
Madelyn and Dani: What was your college major?
Kelly: Sociology
Madelyn and Dani: What are your career aspirations?
Kelly: To run a natural healing/surfing/gymnastics camp.
Madelyn and Dani: How many years have you worked at camp?
Kelly: This is my first summer.
Madelyn and Dani: Why did you decide to work at a summer camp?
Kelly: I went to camp as a kid.
Madelyn and Dani: What made you choose Camp Starlight?
Kelly: I really enjoyed the passion that the Millers and Alyson Lee had about the camp when I spoke with them.
Madelyn and Dani: What is your favorite thing about camp so far?
Kelly: The campers’ love of life and the individuality of the staff.
Madelyn and Dani: What is your favorite evening activity so far?
Kelly: The Topsy Turvy Dance Party
Madelyn and Dani: What is your favorite camp meal?
Kelly: Cookout
Madelyn and Dani: What do you hope to bring away from the summer?
Kelly: A new outlook on gymnastics
Madelyn and Dani: What are the top five things on your bucket list?
Kelly: 1.) to see the pyramids in Egypt 2.) attend a U.N. peace conference 3.) surf the biggest wave in Australia 4.) sail around the
world 5.) give love to everyone I come in contact with
Madelyn and Dani: What is something that most people here at camp probably don’t know about you?
Kelly: I got 52 bee stings once because I kicked a hornet’s nest doing a handstand.
Kindness: A Summer Theme
Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
Kindness is a theme at Camp Starlight this summer. The term is an interesting one. This blog writer was an English major and a fun hobby is breaking down words and their meanings. Kindness is often erroneously interpreted as an adjective, a way for people to describe themselves in job interviews or during icebreaker sessions. Kindness is not an adjective, though. Adjectives describe a person, place, or thing. Kindness is a noun. It is a thing. A thing that specifically refers to “the act of being kind.” That’s a verb. An action. It’s something a person must demonstrate. One of the definitions of “kind” is “uniting by common traits or interests.” Although this is not the popular definition for kind, it’s actually the most accurate. One demonstrates kindness by giving of oneself, without the expectation of something in return, in order to lift or raise another. In it’s simplest essence, it’s a physical expression of empathy.
There is a famous quote that says ‘no kind deed goes unpunished.’ The quote refers to the
notion that the act of being kind is not only often thankless but requires some level of sacrifice in the form of pain, inconvenience, and, yes, glory. Unfortunately, this is true. People give up luxuries, time, effort, money, and countless other aspects of comfort in the name of being kind, often not even receiving so much as a ‘thank you’ in return. But sacrifice and the lack of recognition for it does not deter those who understand that the true reward of a kind deed is in the act.
Expressing kindness is not always easy and the reward seldom comes in the form of reciprocation but rather the self-realization that you have been able to translate your own life experiences in a way that allows you to raise up someone else. An individual who recently delivered a message about kindness to the entire camp emphasized recognizing the difference between a nice person and a friend. Similarly, being “nice” is not synonymous with being kind. Nice is something you choose to be in order to establish yourself as someone who is pleasant. Your motivation for being pleasant is that others will be pleasant, thus, “nice” in return. Being nice rather than kind places expectations on others. But a truly kind deed is an expression of compassion driven by empathy. It does not expect kindness in return but appreciates the opportunity to show others that you, in some way, understand and identify with a challenge in their lives and, because of that, are not only willing but wanting to alleviate the burden in some way.
“So what does this have to do with camp?” you might be asking yourself by now. Quite simply, that the concept of kindness, like camp, though it
may on the surface seem complicated and, at times, chaotic, is really quite simple at its core. It’s saying ‘hi’ to an individual every day, regardless of whether they ever say ‘hi,’ in return. It’s paying a compliment to a fellow staff member or camper without expecting one in return. It’s helping a friend, bunkmate, or maybe someone you don’t even know when they seem discouraged or down, without judgment and without the expectation of a favor in return. Kindness is not a loan. It’s a gift…a gift of yourself. And perhaps the most encouraging aspect of Camp Starlight is how well so many people here seem to understand that. You hear campers encouraging each other as you stroll by fields and courts. Campers and staff support each other in overcoming fears and challenges. Maybe the camp environment promotes the development of “kind” skills, just as it promotes the development of the ability to kick a soccer ball, serve a tennis ball, or dribble a basketball. Or maybe it’s telling of the values of Camp Starlight as a whole that kindness is so precious it has been made a theme for an entire summer so that it’s population and extended family may contemplate it’s worth in our lives as well as the lives of others.
A Fishing Break at Camp Starlight
Saturday, July 6th, 2013
There is an activity here at Camp Starlight that affords some of the best views anywhere on camp. For campers, it’s a great way to cap off or break up a sunny, sports filled day. The mere act of casting a line out into the lake is, itself, an exercise in tranquility. The activity in question, of course, is fishing and it’s extraordinarily popular here at camp. Campers sign up in droves for the opportunity to take advantage of some of the great fish stock in the Starlight Lake while looking out onto camp and contemplating their day or even their summer. Any big catches are, of course, released back into the water, but there campers still find joy in the excitement of a big catch. Older campers enjoy fishing because it seems so deceptively simple. Many sign up with the mindset that there can’t be much involved in baiting a line and casting it out into the lake. They soon learn, however, that fishing requires a great deal of patience. Although they initially start out wondering why it takes so long, they eventually come to understand that one of the most fulfilling aspects of fishing is in the waiting. It’s easy to unwind, catch up on one’s thoughts, tally goals, reflect on experiences as a camper, and enjoy friendships while waiting for that tell-tale tug on the line. The satisfaction that comes from those small, but significant moments at camp is what makes fishing a timeless camp activity.
8 Things about Camp that Will Change Your Child’s Life
Tuesday, July 2nd, 20138 Qualities of Summer Camp that Will Change Your Child’s Life
1.) Opportunities to try to new things
While opportunities to try new things certainly exist outside of the summer camp realm, camps facilitate the opportunities to try new things and foster environments that encourages campers to venture outside their comfort zones. Many a former camper attributes acquiring a new interest or hobby at summer camp.
2.) Traditions
Tradition is the foundation of summer camp. Summer camp itself is an American tradition. Beyond that, however, individual camps have unique traditions that have been passed down through generations of campers. Not only do campers gain an appreciation for the observation of tradition at summer camp, but they learn to understand the lifelong bonds that are created through shared traditions.
3.) A View of Life beyond electronics
There is no doubt that we live in a society that values any and every gadget or gizmo that simplifies life and makes living convenient. 
Children are constantly surrounded by smart phones, gaming consoles, tablets, electronic readers, etc. Two months at camp without technology overexposure not only reminds campers that life is possible without constantly being surrounded by electronics, it can be fun without them as well.
4.) Solidarity
Whether it’s as a bunk or as a camp, campers learn how to co-exist with others in a harmonious manner. They also learn to value the talents and skills that each person contributes to the success of the group and that shared successes can help people form connections that last long beyond their camp years.
5.) Independence
Spending time away from Mom and Dad for several weeks every summer helps children learn how to function as individuals. Campers make decisions every day that develop social, problem solving, and living skills.
6.) Goal Setting
Whether it’s a goal to pass a swim test, reach the top of a climbing wall, stand up on water skis, do a cartwheel on the balance beam, or earn a solo in a camp show, campers often come to camp with goals. Counselors and camp staff are eager each summer to tune into those goals and provide encouragement that helps campers focus on achieving them.
7.) Open Mindedness
At camp, campers are encouraged to keep open minds about activities and each other. Camps go to great lengths to provide positive
programs that help campers understand and deal with many of the more challenging aspects of being adolescents and teenagers. They also de-emphasize the aspects of tween and teen culture that promote social exclusivity.
8.) Lifelong Connections
It’s no coincidence that a lot of camp staff members and parents who send their children to summer camp are former campers themselves. Former campers understand and value the connections that are made at summer camp. Such connections are more than just friendships. The people at summer camp become a second family for campers and associations through camp have helped many a former camper gain admission to college with the help of reference letters, obtain employment, and establish a social circle that extends far beyond their school years.
Meet the Staff…
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
For this installment of Meet the Staff, Griffin M. of Boys bunk 19 caught up with Rocketry Specialist Michael F. Here is what Griffin learned about Michael:
Griffin: Where are you from?
Michael: Marlboro, New Jersey
Griffin: What college do you attend?
Michael: Tulane
Griffin: What is your college major?
Michael: Accounting
Griffin: What are your career aspirations?
Michael: Agent
Griffin: How many years have you worked at camp?
Michael: 3
Griffin: Why did you decide to work at a summer camp?
Michael: I loved camp growing up.
Griffin: What made you choose Camp Starlight?
Michael: I grew up as a camper here.
Griffin: What is your favorite things about camp?
Michael: Olympics, FNS, Interfaith
Griffin: What is your favorite evening activity so far?
Michael: FNS
Griffin: What is your favorite camp meal?
Michael: Cookouts
Griffin: What do you hope to bring away from the summer?
Michael: Fun
Griffin: What are the top three things on your bucket list?
Michael: 1.) Go to the Superbowl 2.) Live to be 100 3.) Own a sports team
Griffin: What is your favorite professional sports team?
Michael: Knicks
Griffin: What is something that most people here at camp probably don’t know about you?
Michael: I am color blind
