On Your Mark, Get Set, Let’s GO!

It has been a crazy start to 2019. Our directors and interns have been busy out on the road recruiting counselors, reconnecting with old staff, conducting merit parties, and traveling to camp conferences. The atmosphere at camp has been very much a “LET’S GO!” mentality. As we approach this couple of months before summer camp, it is nice to sit and contemplate how we, as a year-round staff, prepare for a summer.

Before we get to the “LET’S GO” of summer, we put two other vital steps first. ON YOUR MARK! Or rather, on our marks! At camp, we strive to hit the highest marks set for our industry as well as the marks we have set for ourselves. This means that when we are going from conference to conference and campus to campus, we are listening to what speakers have to say and implementing these new methods and ideas into our overall program. We are interviewing our counselors thoroughly and doing the necessary background checks because we want the best counselors for your kids, our campers. We are proud to be accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA). We have voluntarily chosen to go the extra mile and be accredited because ACA sets the best standards for the camping industry in terms of safety protocols and excellence. Camp Olympia also makes sure our counselors and staff get the necessary certifications to lifeguard, drive boats, belay at our ropes course, or even fly a drone (nicknamed Pegasus!) for photos and videos. We go to each merit party and camp fair ready to field questions from parents and campers regarding summer camp, our retreats program, special event weekends, and our Outdoor Education Center. We are prepared and ON OUR MARKS!

GET SET! is the phase we are entering now. We are continuing to hire, develop our summer leadership team, and getting ready for our annual Leadership Retreat. We are planning things for the summer, like our newest activity (Textile Arts) and making the existing facility and activities even better with new equipment and new ideas. We are planning big things for all of our new dances and programs and getting our staff excited to join us. Campers and parents will be getting parent packets soon, which means the countdown to YOUR term begins. We bring our staff in a week before campers arrive to go through our Counselor Training School (CTS). It is here that our Counselors “GET SET” with the knowledge about Olympia and our mission. We are here to have fun together and to help your children grow in body, mind, and spirit.

LET’S GO! is what you will see once the other steps are complete and you arrive on opening day. The counselors will come running like they have been shot from a cannon and will be so excited to see those cars full of campers. It is the intensity that everyone brings to the field of Spartan/Athenian, the joy of rocketing and Blobbing at the Point, the laughter and thrills that only come from a Camp Olympia Talent Show that gives our theme meaning. The “LET’S GO!” feeling is the amazing community that you get when you experience time at camp. For Summer 2019, get “ON YOUR MARK”, “GET SET”, AND “LET’S GO!” to CAMP OLYMPIA!

By: Carey Faber, Assistant Director at Camp Olympia