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Featured Article in Forest Hills Living

Camp directors are out promoting SUMMER camp at camp fairs, school events, community events and other family friendly venues already…but why do we start so early?

Of course, it is to our advantage for planning and budgeting purposes, but it is also to YOUR advantage as a parent to think about your child’s summer plans early on.

Campers Acclimate to Camp Staff and the Camp Property

Camps tend to host events throughout the year for their campers and prospective campers to attend. Some camps host these events on the camp property, and others will take over bowling alleys, arcades, etc. to hold camp reunions and open houses.

Each time the camper steps on the campgrounds or interacts with a veteran staff member, they are taking one step closer to a smooth transition on day one. It is extremely valuable for the child to know and recognize what the camp looks like, where their bunk or meeting area is and who they can ask for help when they need it.

Parents/Guardians and Camp Leadership Build Relationships

It is important that parents/guardians have complete trust in the camp staff responsible for keeping their children safe. Off-season events are excellent opportunities to meet veteran camp staff and leadership in-person and observe how they interact with your children. These interactions will reinforce your choice of program.

Enrolling early also allows you to complete camper profiles and medical information as soon as they are released by the camp. This gives camp leadership and the health care team time to read forms thoroughly and reach out to gather more information, as necessary.

Get a Head Start on Swimming

Camps that offer swimming will open or have access to their pools a few weeks before camp begins for training and inspections. Some will also offer pre-camp lessons on weekends so children who are new to swimming or nervous or just eager to improve their swimming skills can swim with camp lifeguards before camp begins.

Early Bird & Sibling Discounts

It is common for camps and summer programs to offer early bird discounts. Depending on the program, time of enrollment and age of children, camps can offer savings of up to $1000 or more per child. It is also typical for camps to offer discounts if multiple siblings attend. A later sign-up may mean one age group is available, but a second or third child’s age group may already be sold out.

Space is Limited

Many top-quality camps and summer programs sell out immediately upon opening registration or shortly after new families are invited to enroll. The demand is high, and families will recommend their favorite programs to their close friends leaving little room for new families to grab a spot for their child. Do your research now so if enrollment is not already open, you know when it will begin, and you do not miss out on your program of choice.

The more time you and your child can spend within the camp environment and around the camp staff before summer, the more prepared they (and you) will be for opening day.

We are happy to tell you about some updates to our year-round team:

Hayley Burrows is now Assistant Director at Shibley Day Camp. Hayley started at Shibley as a group leader in 2019 and became Junior Camp Director in 2021. She joined us full-time after that summer and hasn’t looked back. Hayley will continue to direct all aspects of Junior Camp. In addition, Hayley coordinates our incredible staff training, speaks and meets with new families, plans dynamic programming for our youngest campers and so much more! We are lucky to have her in this role!

Melissa Slansky, who happened to spend her first summer working together closely with Hayley as group leaders in our 1^st grade division, is now our Full-Time Program Director. Melissa was invited to be Hayley’s assistant director in Junior Camp for Summer 2022. She excelled and was invaluable in a part-time administrative role throughout the off seasons that followed. In this new role Melissa will direct our daily camp program, special events, off-season events and Shibley “street team” as we spread Shibley cheer throughout the local communities.

We are thrilled to have Melissa and Hayley working with us in these roles, and we hope you’ll congratulate them! (hayley@shibleydaycamp.com & melissa@shibleydaycamp.com)

Sincerely,

Heath & Randi

It is a true joy spending the summers of my life working at a summer camp. The challenges and rewards of working with children and making lifelong positive impressions and memories on a younger generation are enormous. To this end, there are many layers involved in creating our camp community. Many of these layers include marketing, programming, upgrading our campgrounds, recruiting, and hiring the most talented staff out there. While the summer season is 8 weeks, it takes the other 10 months of the year to plan every day of the summer.

During the off season, I spend a lot of my time recruiting new staff as well as communicating with seasonal staff that will return for another summer. Staff members who are able to return for another summer understand the magical nature of our community and the benefits of working with children in our beautiful shaded outdoor environment. In my interviews with new recruits, who never experienced camp as a child, I always get the same question: “what it is like to work at camp?” I enjoy sharing many of my own fond experiences along with those of my colleagues.

Make no mistake, working at summer camp is a very hard job. At the end of the day, you are often exhausted and sometimes frustrated. In my experience, I’ve learned that if you allow yourself to put everything you have into each day, it doesn’t feel like a job at all. Rather, you come to realize that you have found yourself a second home. You will spend your day with children, co-counselors and experienced supervisors laughing, learning and bonding together. Everyone will enjoy their usual favorite activities, but the reward of exposing the children to new and exciting activities is exhilarating. Helping a child realize they can do something they never believed they could accomplish is an extraordinary feeling.

You are going to get very close with your campers and take on the role of big brother or big sister; you become their role model. If you’re really great, you’ll feel like a rock star, who is greeted daily with much love, excitement, and a million questions. “What are we doing today?” “What is the snack of the day?” “Is Adventure Park on the schedule?!” “Can we go to Arts & Crafts for lanyard?”

During lunch, you will ensure your kids are refueling and hydrating amidst the giggles and chatter. When it’s pool time, you will help them apply suntan lotion and change into bathing suits. For your younger campers, you will tie their shoelaces at least six times a day, singing a catchy tune along the way. You will also find yourself at the “lost and found,” where inevitably your campers have misplaced their precious “things” that you warned them not to bring to camp in the first place. Your patience will be tested multiple times daily! When they excel at an activity, you will cheer their name and celebrate alongside them. At the same token, you will empathize with their hardships and guide them through disappointing moments when they’re struggling.

Friendship is such a significant puzzle piece to the summer camp experience. You will help foster relationships among each of your campers. While some children are born with the gift of making friends easily, others are not and will need your help. A camp friend is priceless and insurmountable to other friendships we have. It has always been my goal to have campers make one meaningful bond that lasts well beyond the two months we are physically together at camp.

You will sing and laugh with your campers and co-counselors as you walk from activity to activity. You’ll find yourself singing these tunes, even when you are alone. You’ll comfort your campers and dry their tears when they scrape their knees or find out they haven’t been chosen to be the lead in the camp play. You will channel your inner patience as you mediate arguments among campers. Most importantly, your job is to create an aura of comradery by sharing the positive values your camp holds dear.

Spending every moment of the day with your co-workers lends itself to discovering the small things that make them who they are. It is only natural to develop these unique bonds at an expedited pace and feel as if you have known your co-counselors for far longer. All of a sudden, you’ll realize that you too have made meaningful relationships that continue long after camp ends. This is the magic of summer camp.

CLICK TO READ A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE SHIBLEY DAY CAMP COMMUNITY

We don’t have to live 10 for 2! This popular camp term (Living 10 for 2) references spending the “other” ten months of the year longing for the two months of summer camp. We get it! Nothing is like actual camp…but at Shibley you don’t have to wait ten months to get back to camp each year. We host year-round activities for our families and prospective families nearly every month between each summer.

Why do we host these events? Mostly, it’s because we miss our camp friends during the year, and we know that the children and staff do also. It makes us so happy to bring camp friends together during the winter, fall and spring and to watch them reconnect as if they had just seen each other the previous day. It’s also a great way for new campers to get comfortable within our camp environment.

Children who attend our off-season events meet other campers and interact with camp staff.  Having this opportunity eases the anxiety that many young children have when boarding the bus for the first time.  They are familiar with both the physical environment and the friendly faces waiting for them when the bus arrives at camp. It makes a big difference!

These events are also great for new camp parents who may have their own anxiety about putting a child on the bus. Each event provides opportunity for the parent to feel the camp vibe and to make their own friends with other camp parents. We often find that parents will reconnect with old friends and/or make stronger connections with local families who already may be familiar acquaintances but not yet friends.

One of my favorite off-season events takes place outside of camp. Each spring we take a trip to Citi Field for an afternoon at the ballpark.  This is yet another opportunity for families and staff to connect before the summer begins. This outing usually attracts 100-150 participants. Let’s go Mets!

CLICK FOR MORE ABOUT OFF-SEASON EVENTS AND PARTIES

by Alanna Schaefer

It had been fifteen years since I last stepped onto the beautiful green oasis called Shibley Day Camp, home to some of the most special and formative childhood memories I have. Time’s a funny thing: when I returned to interview for a group leader position before last summer, everything felt exactly the same and yet very different at the same time. I parked at 50 Pool Drive, walked up the steps to the summer office, and I was home.

The nursery bunks where I began my camp journey nearly 25 years ago stands tall. The Dining Hall, the Junior Adventure Park where the Golden Gate Bridge once stood, the pools, the fields – it’s all there but somehow better and more beautiful than I ever remembered it. 

In the wake of Camp Jacobson’s abrupt closure after summer 2022, I found myself back at Shibley where I had grown up. I had spent eleven summers away, and so it was a no-brainer that I would come back to Shibley to find comfort, solace; and a home and family for this summer and beyond.

Randi Chase was my group leader in 2002 and so it was fitting for her to be the person who hired me back, and who made my homecoming official. She was our great matriarch during my favorite camp summer going into second grade and now I would have the same privilege as group leader for the second grade boys…21 years later. Shibley, both frozen in time and perfectly contemporary, has a way of transcending the time-space continuum, and it all felt just right. 

There are no words that can accurately capture what it felt like to return to this magical place and there are no words that can accurately capture what it felt like to rejoin this summer family and return to my original summer home…our GREEN galaxy among the trees. Shibley is filled with some of the best humans I’ve met and the rest of the world melts away while we are at camp. Nothing else is as joyous or as important from late June through August.

With some of my very best camp friends in tow, I look forward to continuing this second chapter at Shibley. There is no place like Shibley, and there is no place like home. It is nothing short of magical to be back where my love of camp began and where I found my passion for working with children developed. It is nothing short of magical to be able to do this work alongside the people I love and value most. 

So yes, if it wasn’t abundantly clear, come Summer 2024, I’ll be again with you, Shibley Camp.