It’s important to realize at an early age that people from different places may see things slightly differently than we do. It’s also nice to discover that when we share a unified vision for our camp community, it’s easy to work together towards a common goal and together create a community that fosters a culture of kindness, inclusion and respect.

There is a big wedding at Camp this weekend and on June 4, lifeguard training begins for our counselors.  We do still have a few places left this summer. Please tell your friends. We can’t wait to see you!

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We are excited for you to meet our counselor team on opening day. You can read their biographies HERE.  Our senior leadership team is featured HERE.  Lifeguard training and leadership team orientation begin June 4th while the rest of our counselors arrive June 9th for 11 days of pre-summer training. We are eager for folks to arrive.

We still have more to do, but the new slide is a whole lot of fun! Grand opening - June 20!

Despite 32 inches of rain so far this year, we hear from old timers that camp looks “the best it has in 25 years.” and to this we eagerly reply. “And you haven’t seen anything, yet!”  Nick, Tom and Alaska, our core maintenance team, have been joined by several Adventure Treks instructors who are busy painting, building, mowing and painting some more as we prepare for opening day on June 20. We just completed new changing rooms by the gym (so you can spend more time swimming and less time walking to your cabin to change) and we are busy building a new porch complex in Boys’ World. We had a water slide test party Friday and we saw a lot of smiles on young faces! No one complained that the slide was too slow!

This week Urban Outfitters will be at camp filming for their online catalog.  On Sunday, May 19th at 1 Pm we will host the rescheduled Gnarliest Kids Adventure Race Ever.  Over 200 kids will compete in an obstacle course race through nine different activities.  There are still a few spaces left.  You can sign up HERE. This will be so much fun.

New this summer is our Activities Book.  We have made a huge push to improve the quality of our instruction in activities and this new book (which you get to take home at the end of the summer) helps you track all that you have learned over the summer.  In addition, counselors are equipped with an upgraded field manual that reinforces their teaching skills. Activities Director Maggie Allen gets credit for an outstanding job creating this state of the art system.

We hope you too are counting the days until camp begins.  See you soon!

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No one should deny that digital media is fun! The good news is that despite the obvious distraction of video games, most kids are still doing the same amount of homework (albeit frequently multi-tasking while studying) and still playing plenty of organized sports. It’s the time spent outdoors in nature in the company of friends that is getting displaced. Research shows that this collaborative play outside is the very activity that boosts kids’ creativity, collaboration and communication skills.

A recent post on our Facebook page from a kid we’ve never met gave us cause for distress.  “I don’t see the point of going outside to hike and look at mountains. I can see everything I want to see on the internet…and that’s why we have the internet!” While this is not a typical kid in 2013, do we need to worry that it could be in 2020?

At Camp Pinnacle, we get to watch the benefits outdoor experiences bring to digital-age children every day. The cognitive and social benefits of time spent in nature are now well documented.The physical benefits are obvious; others are more subtle. Research shows that children have better brain development, and are both mentally and physically healthier if they play outside frequently. Nature experiences significantly reduce children’s stress, (and we are currently raising the most stressed out generation in history) while enhancing cognitive flexibility, problem-solving ability, self-esteem, and self-discipline. A 2012 British study on the restorative effects of nature demonstrates how time spent in nature can improve both executive function and creativity skills.

Camp Pinnacle is one of the very few places where kids will voluntarily give up their electronics and thank their parents for it! Camp Pinnacle is a reward, and providing a reward as an alternative to technology is always an easier parenting strategy than simply taking electronics away.

Camp Pinnacle unplugs us from the electronic umbilical cord.  All communication is face to face and there are numerous opportunities to develop creativity and improve social competence and cohesion.  At Pinnacle, kids get to practice interpersonal interactions 15 hours a day and they get better at it.  This refinement happens naturally and in a fun and exciting environment. Perhaps the best thing is that they make new friends and learn from great counselor mentors who facilitate the process.

Another benefit is a more nuanced one, when students actually unplug from electronics, they learn how that feels.  Unlike their parents, many kids have never experienced life before Google, video games or a smart phone. When they experience firsthand the benefits of cultivating the interpersonal skills that their peers may be neglecting, they develop a new framework that helps them keep their technology in perspective.  When they return to electronics at the end of a two – week session, they are able to observe first- hand the fundamental changes in both behavior and communication styles that comes from leaving a technology free world and reentering a world powered by the I-pad.  While a return to electronics is always thrilling, kids also realize that there were also benefits to a world without technology.  They now feel more empowered to make decisions about how they think technology should fit into their own lives. They now know that technology need not be all consuming. They realize they have a choice… And sometimes just giving them that power (age-appropriate) is all they need.
By Steve Baskin and John Dockendorf, Executive Directors

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In Homesick and Happy, renowned child psychologist Michael Thompson, PhD, shares a strong argument for, and a vital guide on how to raise an independent child.  A great champion of summer camp, Thompson explains how camp ushers children into a thrilling world offering an environment that most of us at home cannot: an electronics-free zone, a multi-generational community, meaningful daily rituals and a place where time simply slows down. Through outdoor adventures, children have emotionally significant and character-building experiences; and often grow in ways that surprise even themselves.  Dr. Thompson and Steve Baskin are good friends and Steve is featured prominently in the book!

True North presents a concrete and comprehensive program for Leadership success. The book offers interviews with 125 of today’s top leaders along with a comprehensive plan to help young leaders follow their internal compass and become authentic leaders. I have read dozens of books on leadership over the years and this is one of the better ones and will be featured in our leadership blocks at counselor orientation.

Generation iY: Our last Chance to Save Their Future. This is a fascinating book and a call to action about some of the general characteristics of the current generation and the potential train wreck they may be headed for.  Generation iY: documents how self-esteem parenting, the digital ghetto, and a sugar coated world view may be harming our children. Unlike many books of this sort, Dr Elmore offers some practical solutions in what is an engaging and practical though sometimes disturbing read. Definitely worth reading if you want to make sure your child doesn’t return from college to make a permanent home in your basement!

 
Hamlet’s Blackberry by William Powers draws on some of history’s most brilliant thinkers, from Plato to Shakespeare to Thoreau, to demonstrate that digital connectedness serves us best when it’s balanced by its opposite, disconnectedness.  Time spent outside in nature is of course the ultimate disconnect! Power’s examines other times in history when we have gone through periods of dramatic changes in communication and translates these lessons from the past into life in our current digital world.

We love Wendy Mogel! The Blessing of a B- is a follow up to her wonderful The Blessing of a Skinned Knee and focuses on the challenges of parenting adolescents.  During the teenage years, a child’s sense of entitlement and independence grows, the pressure to compete skyrockets, and communication becomes fraught with obstacles. Mogel emphasizes empathy and guidance over micromanaging teens’ lives and overreacting to missteps.  She reveals that emotional outbursts, rudeness, rule-breaking, staying up late, and other worrisome teen behaviors are in fact normal and necessary steps in psychological growth and character development to be met with thoughtful care, not worry.  She brilliantly translates ancient Jewish teachings into modern parenting techniques. This is a reassuring and thoughtful read for any parent of young teenagers or tweens.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  OK – we aren’t using many of the themes from this trilogy in counselor orientation but it would be pretty hard to relate to today’s kids without knowing all about the Hunger Games! The fact that parts of the movie were filmed just 15 minutes from Camp Pinnacle makes it easy to be big fans! Are you on Team Peeta or Team Gale?

By John Dockendorf

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How much fun is this? Bringing this great camp back to life is so much more fun than if we were starting our own. It’s an absolute joy to see the smiles on alumnae’s faces and hear the laughs in their voices when they discover that the institution that meant so much to them and helped them become the person they are today is once again helping youth become their best selves.

The community of Flat Rock is also ecstatic for this amazing parcel of land to once again be educating children rather than slated for development (complete with bulldozers and undoubtedly the obligatory gate.  It lets neighbors and friends sleep easier. People are coming out of the woodwork to help us work on the property. They just want to be involved in bringing this great institution back to life.  This is a time when people want desperately to believe in something good, and our goal at Camp Pinnacle is to recreate such a place. Here, campers can believe in their potential, believe in the loyalty of friends, believe in the integrity of their role models, and believe in the power and magic of nature.

We are ecstatic about the families who are entrusting us with their kids.  For many who know our reputation through Adventure Treks, the decision is easy. They can now give their younger children the magic they once had to wait until age 12 or 13 to receive.  We also have second and third generation Pinnacle campers signing up, eager to carry on their family tradition.  Universally, the alumni know that the old Camp Pinnacle needs to be updated to remain relevant and all seem excited as we leap into the 21st Century together. And many new families are joining us, too. Some from word of mouth others out of the blue, excited to be part of a program that understands kids, knows what they need to be happy and successful in the 21st Century (it begins with a lot of time outdoors) and eager for a new approach to summer camp! Early enrollment is exceeding our expectations and we can already tell the quality of our campers is amazing.  I am excited for my own kids who get to be part of the Pinnacle experience this summer.

The 2012 staff is lining up nicely.  Pinnacle icon Charlie Kendrick will be back in a leadership capacity. It only took one email and we had over 20 staff applications from the best and brightest of our former Adventure Treks students.  We are currently doing staff interviews and are excited about the tremendous and highly skilled role models who will be joining our team this summer. They are attending some of the nation’s best colleges.

The New Gaga Pit

What once was dirt is now a grassy soccer field!

The facility renovation is going well. The warm weather this winter is keeping us ahead of schedule.  The Gaga Pit is in and has been the scene of some exciting Saturday afternoon contests.  What a fun game! The riding ring is now being converted to a  bike park for campers to build their mountain biking skills.  We are making a new mountain biking trail that better fits the contours of the land for successful first biking experiences.  We were told we could never get grass to grow on the formerly sandy ball field. Well these folks have never met Rodney our former golf course pro!  The ball field is now green and soccer goals will be up before too long.  What a difference!  The kitchen is undergoing a renovation to exceed required health standards and we lowered the outside wall in the dining room so campers can now see the lake while they are eating.  Next month we take on the bathrooms.  They are going to go from grungy and buggy to a fun place for a temporary visit – just wait and see!

This is only the beginning. Spread the word – Camp Pinnacle is back and this will be that “most memorable” summer people will be talking about 50 years from now! Visit our office and you will find the energy and excitement to be contagious! There is a lot going on. This sure is fun!

John Dockendorf

Executive Director, Camp Pinnacle

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