The centerpiece of the in-camp program at Nebagamon is the project board, and this morning following breakfast, as always, that was the place to be. This morning, I stationed myself next to the project board to serve as the information kiosk/help desk. I anticipated many campers would have questions about activities, where to sign up for things, what different things mean on the project board, and the question I am asked the most out of any at Camp: “what time is dinner?”
Now, on your average day of Camp once the summer is chugging along, a helpful project board concierge isn’t really necessary, as campers have more practice with using the board. But today was the second day of activities for second session, and the first day when all of our campers got to choose their activities. Here is where I reveal a tiny white lie we tell when talking about Camp: technically, we don’t allow all campers to choose their own projects every single day of the summer… the very first day of Camp, our 2nd-5th grade cabins are assigned a few project periods to attend with their cabin for a day of orientation. The aim is for campers to understand the rhythm of the day, moving from one project to another, and to help our campers bond with their cabin group a little bit more on their first day together. So this morning after breakfast on the second day of projects, all our campers ran out of the meal to see the offerings on the project board and make their choices. As I stood ready to serve as the helpful clerk, I was absolutely right. Plenty of campers had questions for me.
At C.N.O.C. (our campcraft project), all day today they worked on the basic rank campers need to attain to go on a trip, called the Tripper rank. A camper who’s heading out on a trip with his cabin in two weeks wanted to know if this was the only time they’d offer that rank. It isn’t, and he’ll have a chance to get his required tripping ranks closer to his cabin trip, so he opted to save that for later and try fishing for the first time. Naturally, he asked if he would actually be able to catch a fish today! I reassured him that the conditions were looking pretty good: it was partly cloudy this morning, and if he got out there first period and dropped in a line he’d have a great shot.
Today at M.O.C.A., our cooking program, they cooked coconut mango curry. A vegetarian camper asked if he could eat the curry and was excited to know it wouldn’t contain meat. He scurried off to line-up for the signup to see if he could secure a spot, and he and his buddies got to go as a group second period this morning. At lunch, he reported to me that the curry was delicious!
One Swamper camper wanted to know if Big Tripper was the second rank in our orienteering project. I remarked that it was only his second morning as a camper here, so I pointed him to third period when orienteering was offering instruction on the first rank, Tripper. Nope! He informed me he achieved his Tripper with his cabin yesterday. They were assigned to orienteering, and even though he didn’t have a clue how to use a compass when he arrived at Camp, in just one hour-long project period with his cabin he crossed off the Tripper rank and was ready to move on to the next. Sometimes I get a little nervous that on orientation day assigned projects could frustrate new campers after we promise so much freedom, but for this camper, he discovered he had a knack for navigation!
Another camper asked where to sign-up for swimming, and I got to inform him he didn’t need to, he could just show up. He looked shocked, and then asked what other projects were sign-up only. I pointed them out to him, and he was thrilled to see how many options he had that didn’t require planning. After he spent a few minutes looking at the project board, I asked him what his plan was for the afternoon and he informed me that he’s going to go play soccer at athletics, but that it might change if some of his friends want to try for their swim test this afternoon! He seemed to revel in the ability to change his mind.
As the crowd dispersed toward their cabins for cleanup, a few older campers who are totally new to Camp were still huddled around the project board. I assumed they were having trouble parsing all their options, or with making decisions about their day, so I let them know I was there to assist if they had any questions. Well, wrong again; they had made their plans for the day and were just chatting about how excited they were to take out the Hobie Cat, our catamaran sailboat, with some of their cabinmates who are experienced sailors. They had their plan all set for the day and just got caught up in the hubbub of activity following the meal. I guided them back to their cabin to make their beds, and returned to the project board just to make sure there weren’t any other stragglers.
Walking around Camp this afternoon, it was all working smoothly. Campers knew where they were headed, having made choices they were excited about this morning and living out those choices throughout our 20 project areas. Campers at the waterfront were preparing for canoe trips, learning how to balance on a windsurfing board, and casting lines out into Lake Nebagamon. C.N.O.C. was packed full of campers learning to tie knots and build fires in anticipation of trips leaving soon. The craft shop is throwing pottery this afternoon, at Music they’re starting to put together a band for our talent show next week, and the tennis courts are full of beginners and experts alike for some serving practice. Tomorrow, the questions will die down as campers seize their autonomy and get the hang of making choices every single morning at Camp. They’ll understand the rank systems, know where the signups are, and my role as the helpful project board attendant will be unnecessary soon enough. Just like that… Camp is chugging along.