Weekly Division Update: Junior Girls
By Kelly Godzac (Junior Girls Head Counselor)
My favorite part of the first week of camp (besides the actual arrival of the campers) is watching connections and friendships form. Campers who just a few short days ago stepped off the bus knowing no one have now found a whole new support system. What they don’t even realize yet is they just met some of their lifelong best-friends. Watching the returning Junior Girls reach out to the New Campers has been heartwarming to see. I feel so lucky that every summer I get to learn from the Junior Girl Campers lessons about compassion and empathy. They are a great reminder to me that there is so much kindness in the world. I wish, you, the parents, could witness the moments your child(ren) showed these moments of genuine kindness and lit up as they laughed with their new friend. I am so proud of all of them and know you would be too! Within the first week of camp we are continuing to make the effort to help campers who are still adjusting to a new schedule. We are also focusing on continuing to help campers make connections with their fellow campers and staff.
Some exciting events that happened this week are…
Fairy Tale Theatre
Every Main Camp group was given the challenge to perform a Fairy Tale in less than two minutes on stage. What stood out to me the most about this event was the way every Junior Girl participated. They all beamed as they took the stage and performed for their friends. The FG’s, LJGE’s, and UJG’s all placed first in their division’s category. Most importantly all of the ladies had a ton of fun!
Campfire
The Frosh and LJG’s had their first campfire of the summer led by Laurie Rinke, Brenda Levine, and the Junior Head Counselors (Juan and myself). In the beginning of the campfire the Juniors learned some Echo Lake Trivia. They also sang some of their favorite campfire songs with spirit and enthusiasm. In the middle they participated in “S’morientation” where they learned the proper and safest way to make a S’more. This was of course followed by S’more making! Lastly, the night ended with a reading of the book Bucketfillers in which the campers reflected on ways to fill a counselors or friends bucket. As always, the campfire closed with the singing of “TAPS” and a moment of silence to enjoy the beautiful sounds and view of camp. We cannot wait for our second campfire after Visiting Day!
Girls’ Camp Line-Up
Every morning the Junior and Inter Girls meet at the Girls’ Camp Line-Up area to hear announcements for the day. Every summer the line-up has a different theme. This year’s line-up kicked off on the first full day of camp when the Junior and Inter Girls met the newest detective agency in town called The Best and Determined (B.A.D) Detective Agency led by the characters Edith, Gertrude, and Pearl (played by myself, Ally, and Jayme). Little did they know a crime was about to happen. Rita (the secretary of the detective agency) was stolen by somebody in a tiger suit. Now weird things keep happening on Girls’ Camp and the Junior and Inter Girls are slowly helping us solve the crime! The Junior Girls are so into helping solve the mystery before the end of the summer they are even searching for clues during their own free time! We appreciate all of their help and determination!
Coming up next week we have some awesome special events including Ho-down, fireworks, and even Group Sing! Stay tuned for more updates on the Junior Girls!
