Emerson School Year 8 to 12 Camp Blog

On November 13th, students from Emerson School arrived at The Summit's Bungalow Village. They met in the Blue Room with their coaches and watched an intro video on the Five Keys (Have Fun, Play All In, Make Mistakes, Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable, and Don’t Go Home Wondering What If) our very own formula for a successful camp. After discussing the goal-setting strategy called 'Target, Stretch, and Super Stretch', they headed down to the park/activity hub before beginning their icebreaker challenge called "Where is George?" where they had to rescue George from the coach who had kidnapped him on the other side of the volleyball court. They then did the Snowy River Challenge and the Rock Wall. Before they had free time, they were told about GMICs (Great Moments in Camp), where students get the opportunity to give and get a compliment through written forms of affirmation.

On day two, they had breakfast and attended an Intentions session led by Spinks. They then headed to the park for activity rotations, including crossing the nail board and encountering/interacting with The Summit's friendly snake Hercules. They also completed the Flying Fox that stretches across The Summit's Lake. After morning tea, they completed the Summit Window and The Cave. The students had the opportunity to experience two distinct activities. The first one involved soaring above the ground with a harness and helmet while admiring the breathtaking view. The second activity, called The Cave, required the participants to wear helmets and navigate through an underground cave without any torches. The goal was to reach a room where they could reflect in silence and work through their thoughts.

After lunch, the participants completed a rotation of activities and were ready for the Monster Course. The course involved getting muddy and wet, but the teams were up to the challenge. They completed the course once, and then Coaches Spinks and Mim surprised them by asking them to do it again. The Young Lads created a targeted super stretch to beat their previous time, while the 12-pack group was content with having fun and enjoying the togetherness. Both teams impressively improved their times by more than 10 minutes.

The teams were all muddy but satisfied with their performance. They had time to relax before dinner and watch a movie. On the last day of camp, the group participated in a gratitude session led by Spinks. They shared compliments with each other through a video and sat in a circle to reflect on their experiences. Participants were asked to reflect on their gratitude towards people and things in their lives in an exercise. They were provided with green and blue sticky notes and instructed to write down what they were grateful for on the green ones and who they were most grateful for on the blue ones. After writing down their thoughts, they placed the sticky notes on a bigger piece of butcher paper and shared their gratitude with each other. The participants then set an intention and completed the final activities Sky Bridge and Leap of Faith - crossing an 84-step bridge or taking a leap of faith to achieve something they wanted. In the end, they reflected on their experiences in the camp, shared memorable moments, and voted for two people in their groups who represented the hero and the heart of the group.