Homesick To Happy

Friday is here and we can’t believe that we are already to the weekend here in Session 4. Last evening’s NA (night activity) was the famous, famous, MOST FAMOUS Talent Show. Campers took to the stage to show off their one-of-a-kind gifts. Last night’s show saw everything from ninja skits to monologues to fantastic gymnastics.

One story in particular stood out that I wanted to share with you. We have one camper who has been pretty homesick this session. Last night was a turning point for him. This camper was not planning on doing anything for the talent show, until one of our directors, Juanse, encouraged him to try. Juanse had noticed in this child one of his giftings— rapping. On a whim, Juanse encouraged the camper to get on stage and share his gift with all of Camp. The camper challenged Sarah P. (counselor) to a battle rap, and in the last talent of the night, this camper shined and beat Sarah in this epic rap duel. The rest of the story is that this camper, once homesick, is now in the flow of camp and happy. When I asked him what he was feeling on stage in front of all of Camp, he replied by saying, “I felt calm.” He went from homesick to happy! It was encouraging seeing him and so many other campers last night stepping out of their comfort zones. These kids are literally growing up in front of us this week.

Today marks what we call the turn, as we turn up the amps a bit tonight with our first Tribal Competition event in Huawni Soccer. Tomorrow we will slow things down a bit as we’ll take the 1/2 mile hike to the Carving Trees. Once there, we’ll feast on ice-cold watermelon after a thorough mud bath in the Pinson Creek.

Your campers are really starting to grow close this session and we are all excited about the weekend!

Tribal Competition Teams Announced!

Last evening we hosted our Tribal Competition Team Announcement Ceremony. First-time two weeker campers were inducted onto one of our two tribes— Caddo and Tejas. Without further ado, here is a list of our new Caddo and Tejas members!!

Caddo

• Penny M.
• Sloane W.
• Diane R.
• Payton B.
• Sydney D.
• Caia M.
• Colin L.
• Weston R.
• Dylan K.
• Evan C.
• Gavin K.
• Walker W.

Tejas

• Leah C.
• Etta H.
• Cynthia Z.
• Ella S.
• Vanessa C.
• Auggie H.
• Ryan H.
• Stanley W.
• Wyatt R.
• Colton M.
• Max E.
• Chris W.
• Diego R.
• Evan D.
• Ryland K.
• Sterling K.
• Carlos J.
• Harmaz K.