My name is Thomas Lynch and I am the health coordinator R.N.
this summer at Swift Nature Camp. I have been an RN for 15+
years, trained in Chicago. I have had experience in medical/
surgical, emergency, and pediatric care. My wife and I .......
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in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with our son, Colin who is
under way on the USS Jimmy Carter, and our daughter, Frankie,
who will spend her summer as a counselor in training at Swift
Nature Camp. I'm sending out this letter to let you know I
have dedicated myself to keeping our campers healthy and
safe while having a fun, rewarding experience of their childhood.
A camper's enjoyment at camp can be increased with preparation, and this is the intent and focus of my letter.
First and foremost I wish to encourage children to come to me when they have a pain, scrape or just not feeling well. It’s best to take care of these situations quickly so campers can get back with their group and go have fun. Although injuries at camps are 25% less than organized sports, unfortunately, illness at camp is consistent with general population.
The same practices that increase health at home increase health at camp. We ask you to go over these with your children before they leave and we will be reinforcing them with their stay at camp:
1. Avoid fatigue. Take naps, sleep at night.
2. Hydrate. Drinks lots of water.
3. Nutrition. Eat, eat, eat.
4. Wash hands frequently and use hand sanitizer when available.
5. Sneeze and cough into elbows or sleeve.
During Orientation Day I will do a brief health screening to ensure that all campers are healthy and isolate any potentially communal diseases. This is just smart for everyone.
Absence of family, group living, and inability for campers to have mental privacy can also be factors that lead to a child's increased stress. Discuss how your child may deal with loneliness, tolerating annoyances, and inability to just chill and be left alone. One of the best things campers find to do is talk with their counselor- after all they are like a big brother or sister that want to help. From there they can work on issues together and come up with workable plans. If that does not work please have your children come see me or Jeff & Lonnie.
I love to meditate and do yoga and I plan on offering classes to help campers learn life long skills that can reduce stress. So be sure to encourage your child to join one of these classes if they are having a difficult time with stress or anger.
Counselors will encourage children to try new things but never push children to do things that they may feel uncomfortable with. So it’s important that if your child feels unsafe in an activity they talk with the leader and express their concerns so we can address these and help your child take safe new risks.
Finally, I realize that the health form is a pain and not much fun to complete. However, every piece of information you put on this form only helps us better care for your child's physical and mental health. We need helpful hints in every aspect of your child, how they deal with others, how to encourage, how they eat, severe allergies, sleeping habits, how they deal with anger, how they relax, any and all information is confidential and can only help your child have a better time at camp.
My goal is to help each camper have a safe, happy camp experience. I will be moving to camp in early June and you can call me at 715-466-5666 to further discuss your child’s needs.
Thank you,
Thomas Lynch, RN.
Big Uncle
Introducing an All-New Tele-Seminar Series For Parents
Begins November 2nd
Learn How To:
Defuse conflict and tension in your home ... establish high-quality, open communication leading to transparency and trust between you and your child |
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Create a home life that is a sanctuary from the chaos of the world, one your kids will always want to bring friends to
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Why knowing what an obscure professor of Social Psychology found out about values is essential to improving your relationship with your son or daughter ... and how using this information will allow you to instill the values, ethics and morals as guiding principals you most want for your child to have in their life.
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Learn to spot the signs of change and growth that are a normal part of your child's natural development ... and know exactly what it means and what to do about it when these signs appear.
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Replays Of All Calls On Demand
- personally hand-selected by Jeff - (This is essential reading for parents and will save your hundreds of hours of trying to read everything that comes out about how to raise your son or daughter in just one year ... remember Jeff is at the cutting-edge in this field so you'll only have to read what's absolutely necessary to get the very best advice out there.)
A List Of Carefully Chosen Reading Materials
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Intentional Parenting Forum Private Membership for one year
Having a child that is a complete animal lover, I knew that I wanted to choose a animal summer camp that had a nature focus besides just being located in the woods. I am happy to say that Swift satisfied my daughter’s never-ending desire to be outside, explore, play with animals, and just learn through experience. When we dropped her off at camp, I visited the nature center, and I could tell that she would love it - all sorts of animals to interact with, and lots of things to learn and explore with, not just look at. Though her letters home were short, they were filled with descriptions of the exploring that I hoped that she would be able to do - catching frogs, exploring the outdoors, hiking, learning about wildlife, and exploring different ecosystems. (She ‘retaught’ me that one - there are lots of areas for the campers to explore with the staff - woods, a bog, a pond, a lake, and more brushy areas.) But in addition to that, we’ve noticed such progress in her personal responsibility since she came home - camp taught her to be more self sufficient. She’ll clear her plates after dinner, and while she doesn’t do the laundry on her own, she at least untangles her clothes before she throws them in the basket now. It was hard having her away from us for three whole weeks, but knowing how great a time she had and how much she grew as a young person, I can’t wait for her to be able to return next summer.
I’m happy to share that next summer will be my son’s 4th year at SNC - he’s still so excited and happy from this past summer that I’m surprised he let me unpack his suitcase. Though he’s been to camp for three years now, every summer he learns something new and improves his skills - he’s never complained about being bored at camp, which is much more than I can say about being at home. He gets to learn to do things that he would never get the opportunity to do living in the city - and he’s learning to do them safely. I really wanted my son to be able to have experiences that he wouldn’t be able to have at home - going on camping trips, canoeing, learning to cook over a fire, and a little bit of learning to fend for himself - with adequate supervision of course. One of his favorite things are the trips that the cabins get to go on - they get to spend time bonding with their group, and experiencing new challenges each year. I cannot recommend SNC highly enough to other families. Not only do the campers have a great time, but they continue to be entertained, excited, and challenged year after year.
Both my son and daughter have attended SNC over the past 5 years, and it has been a pivotal force in their development into responsible young adults. At the end of every summer, they come home full of enough stories and memories to keep them talking for days. My daughter’s favorite activities at camp have always been arts and crafts and archery, and I was really surprised this past summer when she really took a liking to riflery. She brought home several of her targets, and you could see her improvement - she showed them off to all of our family members. My son was an intermediate, but not very strong swimmer when he started camp, and he was proud to have made it to be a blue swimmer by the end of the session - the staff really worked with him to improve his swimming skills. His favorites from camp were the nature center, and of course, swimming. Every summer, they come home more self-reliant and self confident. We’re already planning for next summer, when my daughter will be a counselor in training, and my son will be back for his third summer. I can’t imagine how different my children would be if they hadn’t had Swift in their lives.
I was nervous about sending my daughter to summer camp for the first time, but I was excited when Jeff and Lonnie told me that Swift Nature Camp has a program just for first time campers. That way I knew that she wouldn’t be overwhelmed or feel out of place - everyone would be starting on the same page as her, so she could be more comfortable. I think that it was harder for me than it was for her - she followed the friendly counselor right on to the camp bus, but I was a little more hesitant about her being away from home the first time. But it seemed that everyone at camp went out of their way to soothe my ‘mommy worries’ - Lonnie called to let me know that the bus had gotten to camp safely, I received a handwritten postcard from my daughter’s counselors during her first week at camp, and the office staff was always helpful and willing to talk when I called just to check on her. She loved all the activities at camp, as well as the ‘field trips’ to the Lumberjack show and the ice cream shop in town. She can’t wait to go back next summer, and while I’ll miss her while she’s at camp, I’m confident that Jeff and Lonnie will make sure that she is safe, happy, and cared for the whole time that she is there.
SNC is the best summer camp! There are so many activities that you can choose from, and the counselors are really nice. My favorite activity is going tubing with Jeff - it is the most fun when he drives the boat really fast so that you have to hold on tight to stay on. I wasn’t sure about swimming in a lake at first, but seeing Wally (the water trampoline) changed my mind. The waterfront is so much fun and you can go swimming everyday at free time if you want. The food was really good, especially Taco Tuesdays. I learned a lot of new things at Swift this summer, and I can’t wait to go back next year to see my friends.
Swift is my favorite place on earth. I have made some of my best friends at camp, I keep in touch with them all year long, and none of us can wait to get on the bus to go to camp in the summer. The counselors come up with really crazy fun things to do in the cabin, and all of the regular activities are really exciting too. My favorite thing at camp is the trips, because you get to go out with just your counselors and cabin friends and do fun things like canoeing and swimming. Of course the BEST part of camping trips is when you get to make S’mores. I miss camp so much when I’m at home that sometimes I even get ‘campsick’!
Next summer will be my 3rd year as a camper at Swift Nature Camp, and I can’t wait to go back. I’m so excited to see all the friends from my cabin for another year, and get to see the counselors again. The best thing about camp is going up to the Nature Center, where you can play with the animals and do cool nature activities. We caught the BIGGEST frog, and got to keep it up in the nature center for a couple of days so that everyone could come and look at it. It was huge! There is lots of other fun things to do at camp too. My favorite things beside the nature center are fishing, archery, and swimming in the lake. The counselors are really nice and are good at teaching you new things and helping you to work on your achievement awards. I’d never done archery before I came to camp, and next summer I want to get my Level 2 Achievement award. I hope that lots of kids will want to come to Swift so that I can make new friends this summer!
I’ll admit that when I showed up at Swift Nature Camp for my first day of orientation, I was nervous. I knew that I loved camp, I had attended several different camps as a child, and had even worked at another summer camp during the previous summer. And while I loved my time at that camp, I never really felt like I fit in as part of the camp family. I am happy to say that Swift is 100% where my camp family is. As a staff member, I always felt like my input was valued and respected, and help was available whenever I needed it - even when all that I needed was someone to listen for a few minutes. After my first summer at Swift, I returned as a staff member for four more years - and I would be lying if I did not admit that I’m still looking for a way to get my summers off so that I could go back as a staff member again. I’ve gone back to visit since my summers working, and getting to lead activities with the campers, and see them learn new things and succeed is so exciting. Swift is my summer home...having spent a significant amount of time there, and having seen everything up front and behind the scenes, I can say that I hope that when I have children, it can be their summer home as well.
Being an Elementary Education major, I knew that I wanted to spend my summer getting new experiences working with children. While I’d volunteered at extracurricular programs and worked with youth groups, I had never worked at a summer camp before. SNC’s two week staff orientation really eased my worries before the first day of camp. The administrative and returning staff members went over everything that we needed to know in depth: how to teach activities, leading trips, building cabin bonds, managing behaviors, and all sorts of tips and tricks to really make sure that the campers had a great time at camp. Being able to teach the campers skills was great - it’s amazing to see the look on their face when they first really ‘get it’ - learn just how to steer a canoe, perfect their archery shot, or light a ‘one match’ fire. At the end of my first summer as a camp counselor I’m proud to say that I knew that I had made a positive impact on all the campers that I came into contact with, and made friends that I will keep in contact with far into the future.
Wisconsin Green & Healthy Schools Program
Schools across Wisconsin are demonstrating their commitment to a more sustainable Earth, stronger communities and healthier, more productive learning environments for students by choosing to join the Wisconsin Green and Healthy Schools program. The Wisconsin Green and Healthy Schools program is a web-based, self-paced and voluntary program available to all Wisconsin public and private elementary, middle and high schools. The program is designed to support and encourage schools in their quest for a healthy, safe, and environmentally-friendly learning environment.
Our Mission
Meadowbrook Students Recycling
The Wisconsin Green and Healthy Schools program aims to increase the students’ knowledge and awareness of Wisconsin’s natural resources and the environmental, health, and safety concerns and challenges that face our schools, our communities, and our Earth. The Green and Healthy Schools program will help students develop the necessary skills and expertise to address these challenges, and to foster life-long attitudes, behaviors, and commitments in order to make informed decisions and to encourage students to become active participants in their communities*. Furthermore, by completing the steps of the program schools will discover ways that their individual school can provide a safe, clean, and green school that promotes a productive learning environment and in doing so will help to conserve and protect our valuable natural resources.
(*Portions of the Green and Healthy Mission were taken from UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1977).
Awards and Recognitions
The journey to becoming a Wisconsin Green and Healthy School requires hard work, active participation, and a strong commitment to attaining a healthy and environmentally responsible school. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction want to recognize your school’s achievements at every step of the program through a succession of awards and recognitions [PDF 125KB]. Your school is encouraged to display these awards around your school building to inform staff, students, parents, and the community of your continued commitment to providing students and staff with a healthier and greener learning environment.
Teens claim that 1/5 have been Cyber Bullied. In response, Facebook has launched an anti-bullying campaign and other programs,have been started that that aim to empower kids to promote kindness.
Swift Nature Camp has long promoted fairness and kindness with our children and has lead the way in being non-tollerent towards those children that physically pick on other. Once back home its hard for us as camp directors to know what is going on...so if you find yourself being cyberbullied please reach out to us, your counselor or your parents so we can stop this type of bullying.
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center and released Wednesday teases out these complex, often painful threads of teen life on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Two-thirds of the teenagers surveyed said people were “mostly kind” to each other on these networks, even as 88 percent said they had witnessed “people being mean or cruel.” One in five admitted to having joined in on the cruelty.
Notably, one in five teens surveyed said they had been “bullied,” but of those, the largest share said they had been bullied in person, not online. Indeed, online and offline sentiments often merge: one in four said an online squabble resulted in a face-to-face argument or worse.
What do they do when they see or feel the brunt of cruelty online?
The vast majority say they ignore it. Girls are more likely to seek advice than boys. And when they do seek advice, teenagers are more likely to turn to their peers than their parents. Parents are not entirely useless. The survey found that 86 percent of teens said parents advised them on “how to use the Internet responsibly and safely.”
Those surveyed expressed a certain savvy in manipulating their online profiles: Close to half lied about their age in order to access a site off limits to children under 13. Most said they tweaked their privacy settings so their posts were not widely visible.
The survey also revealed some of the new anxieties that parents experience. Three out of four parents said they “checked which Web sites their child visited.” Pew researchers said that could have been as simple as checking the browsing history on their computers. And among parents who have a Facebook account, 80 percent were on their children’s list of friends.
The survey was conducted by phone earlier this year on 799 children, aged 12 to 17, and their parents or guardians. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points. Nearly all kids in that age group are online, and among them, four out of five use a social network like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. The report aptly calls them “spaces where much of the social activity of teen life is echoed and amplified—in both good and bad ways.”
Signing up far ahead of time is important. The first thing to do when selecting a kid summer camp is to look at your child’s needs and wants. Will they thrive in a sports camp or a general camp. What do they want from their summer? Skill building or building friendships?
Summer camps
Should be a complete departure away from teachers and a time for mentors to step in. The essence of the best camps are imaginative, experienced and quick witted people who staff them. These mentors shape up the milieu of the camp so that every camper brings life lessons learned when he or she returns home. The experience which is gained and the knowledge acquired in every case go a long way in shaping up the overall persona of the person a camper becomes.
Kids Summer Camp
Is a resource with more focus on arts and crafts with special regard to environmental consciousness. Kids go on from camp refreshed, delighted and full of experience when they return to regular classes in the fall. The exposure that summer camps offer a child will stay with the camper for the rest of a life as the wisdom that can only come from experience. How can parents with a good grasp of what is good for their kids find the right camp? The best place to search for obtaining precise information is of course the World Wide Web.
With a bit of patient research on the internet, you can easily lay your hands on some resourceful data. Parents might assume that if they are paying a higher rate for the kid summer camp that the child will return home with more education. They disregard the fact that the true meaning of summer camps is all about the experience. With the guided presentations of web program directors, the best traditional camps included have woken up to the archetypes involved in the whole process.
Parents ought to seek the best professionalism from persons representing summer camps. There is always a lot of apprehension and questioning for parents in terms of pros and cons their child will face in every social situation life brings. But the right kid summer camp is a good opportunity for every camper to socialize at a level which encompasses every facet of life.
Read More
•General interest or specialty camp?
•Private or nonprofit camp?
•Affiliated with a church/synagogue or secular?
•Full summer program or shorter sections?
There are also certain standards, such as those that have to do with safety or camper to counselor ratios, which you should not compromise on. However, many other issues are a matter or personal choice. While reading about camps, you should create a checklist of the qualities that you want to find in a camp, prioritizing them so that you can select a program that will meet at least the most important items on your list.
You may decide, after much thought, that the quality of a particular program is so outstanding that you are willing to set aside certain criteria. While you might want to send your child to a religiously affiliated camp, you may discover a secular program that is a better match. You may also find that a program that is perfect for one child may be not as good as a fit for another. It is important to select a camp that is compatible with both your own child-rearing philosophy and the needs of your child. You want your child to hear the same messages at home and at camp, and this will avoid confusing your child and facilitate parent-camp communication.
What can my child learn at sleepaway camp?
Camp can be just as educational as school, with children learning through experience. Through activities and play, children learn a wide range of skills and develop physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. At camp, children learn by doing, living, and experiencing things for themselves. It’s one thing to watch a program on television, but quite another to experience it in real life.
At camp, children are given the choice to take risks and try new things. This voluntary nature makes children more open to new experiences, with personal satisfaction as their motivation. Not only are there opportunities to try new things, but camp offers many areas for children to excel in. At a good general interest camp, the non-athlete can shine at arts and crafts, woodworking, or dramatic programs, while the athlete can also find many outlets for their skills. Perhaps most importantly, the two campers learn to live together and become friends despite their varied interests.
Enhanced Self-Esteem
Camp offers children many opportunities to become competent. Practicing both new and old skills on a regular basis, it makes sense that there will be improvement. Novices have chances to learn, while those who are more experienced can improve. Learning new skills and improving on old ones builds self-esteem. Children become more independent and self-reliant at camp with their new-found skills.
Trying New Things
Sending your child to camp is giving them an opportunity to try something new. No matter how many after-school programs or lessons a child takes, its likely they will never have the opportunity to try all that is offered at summer camp. In a supportive environment, the child can try at something new. The interesting twist to these activities is that, since campers often don’t know anyone else at camp before they go, they are more willing to try activities that their friends at home might not expect them to. The athlete can try out for the camp play, while the artist may dabble in sports. At camp, children can try new things and set their own goals for success.
Life Skills
Though years later, your child may not remember capture the flag games or the words to a camp song, the life lessons learned at camp will remain. At camp, a child learns how to take responsibility. The child who has never before made a bed, will learn how to smooth out sheets and blankets and tidy up a cubby. Though counselors will remind and encourage, campers quickly take responsibility for personal hygiene, and for more minor health issues, a camper learns to articulate what hurts and how to get help. All of this personal responsibility further fosters a sense of independence and self-esteem. Camp also improves a child’s social skills by making new friends and learning how to reach out to strangers. At camp, children learn to get along with others, all while living together 24 hours a day, learning about courtesy, compromise, teamwork, and respect.
Hidden Benefits of Camp
The benefits of overnight camp are not limited to children, but extend to parents as well. There is relief in knowing that your child is in a safe, exciting environment for the summer. Even if child care isn’t an issue, it’s often hard to find suitable activities for the summer, as well as finding peers for children to interact with. Camp offers entertainment and constant peer company. For parents that have more than one child, camp can give a younger sibling a chance to shine in the older one’s absence. And if you Homeschool camp is a wonderful way to help your child socialize. For families where all the children go to camp, parents have a chance to do things that would not interest the children. When a child makes it clear how excited he or she to go to camp, these parental excursions are guilt free.
Super Counselors
Once upon a time in a land far far away at Swift Nature Camp, it was a beautiful super Sunday, perfect for a barbecue on Picnic Island. Everyone was having a good time swimming, climbing trees, and sniffing too close to the barbecue.
Then, all of a sudden, everyone heard a splash. Heads turned to see a giant pirate ship with evil robo-pirates with styrofoam heads emerging from the ship where Dah-G-Dah once stood.
Super Tom turned all the counselors into super counselors! They were ready to defend Picnic Island (and protect the campers, of course). Out came Hillary, standing on top of her flying giant chicken and screaming at the top of her lungs.
Asa the vampire was sucking the power out of the robots while Colleen (a.k.a. Triple C, the wrestler) body slammed robots from a tree. Tony and TJ, the amazing archers, finished some off wih flaming arrows. Jeremy transformed into a grizzly who thinks that the pirates are cheese and eats them. Ian Noble used his hypnotic singing powers to control the robots and made them fight for SNC.
If you want to be a super staff member at S.N.C. Camp Counselor Jobs
Aliena, who was friends with aliens, told them in their secret language to
attack the pirates. Because of the battle, many were being injured, so Katie the healing fairy tried to save them all. Kim and Simone, the cavewomen, were pulling tree trunks from the ground and handing them to Maddy, who had super duper strength and used the tree trunks to whack away the pirates.
All that was left was poor little Ian who had no power. Simone, with her koala fingers, was able to throw her magic vegemite to him. He gave it a try and turned into super, tall giant Ian and stepped on the pirates’ ship.
As the battle raged, Super Tom put some special attachments on his cart, the most noticeable being a laser cannon that he had been experimenting with in his secret workshop. He popped out of nowhere and started to blast the pirates with his laser cannon.
Once all the pirates were defeated, Super Tom had some new materials to fix up his new cart and then decided to turn the counselors back to normal as if nothing had happened. However, at the final campfire, there were many skits where pirates had invaded Picnic Island.
MID STATES CAMPING CONFERENCE CAll FOR PRESENTERS
Mid States strives to provide thought provoking presenters and wonderful opportunities to connect camp pros and your peers in an affordable setting. Camps, like SNC bring their whole staff! From owners & directors to first year counselors, there is something for everyone. It is a great place to get revived and armed with fresh ideas and fill your 'bag of tricks' Thursday, March 10th through Saturday, March 12th, 2011 Pheasant Run Conference Center & Resort St. Charles, Illinois (Suburban Chicago)
We need presenters! if you are a SNC past staff member or CIT and....
“Call for Presentations” form and speaker information can be found at:http://www.acamidstates.org/presenters.phpDeadline for submissions is November 1, 2011
If you have questions about becoming a presenter, submitting a proposal, or other topics related to the education sessions, please contact Colette Marquardt, Program Chair at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
You are here because we value your role as a camp professional! We believe you deserve the career-building opportunities offered through ACA membership.
As an ACA member, you receive enhanced professional development resources, including:
- Access to ACA’s Professional Development Center
ACA’s virtual learning community includes diverse tools, services, resources, and courses to help propel your work and your career along the path that you choose. - Camping Magazine and The CampLine
ACA’s premier publications of the industry offer expert perspectives. View digitally. - Discounts on books and educational events, and access to current research.
ACA’s Bookstore is a one-stop shop for counselor resources: activities, leading groups, your responsibilities to camper safety, dealing with difficult campers, youth development, and more. - Student members receive FREE registration to ACA’s national conference.
ACA’s annual national conference offers seminars, keynote addresses from experts in the field, a research symposium, and networking events with emerging professionals in camp. - Access to an online personal portfolio for tracking your professional development