Parkdale Secondary College Camp Blog

On Wednesday the 21st of April we welcomed 200 beautiful year 12 students from Parkdale Secondary College. What a great way to start the first week back for term two. As soon as the year 12 students got off the bus, The Summit crew knew it was going to be a fun-filled three days. Once the students unpacked and got settled in it was time to get into it. To kick start camp all the students made their way down to the lodge. In the lodge, we shared our 5 Keys. We share these keys with every group that joins us at The Summit. We believe that in order to unleash inner greatness one must do at least one or more of our 5 Keys.

1. HAVE FUN.

2. PLAY ALL IN.

3. MAKE LOTS OF MISTAKES.

4. GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE.

5. DON’T GO HOME WONDERING WHAT IF.

We also shared a goal-setting technique called Target, Stretch, and Super Stretch. It’s important to be clear with your goals, so you get the most out of what you want to achieve. This is a way the kids could break down activities or things they found challenging into three manageable steps. Now that all of the talking was out of the way, it was time to make our way out into the park and have all the fun. The activities started by partaking in a few initiatives. Each group had to come up with a group name throughout their first challenge. So after that, they were now known as the following names.

1. Warriors

2. Crumpets

3. Brad Cross

4. Cony

5. Sand Eaters

6. Big Dogs

7. 7 UP

8. Just Jump

9. Super Shane’s

10. Tim Ten

11. The Big Holton’s

12. Whale Watchers

13. Lucky 13

14. The Champions

The students then had two rotations of activities. They were; Laser Tag, The grand old Bush Challenge, navigating through our dark narrow Cave, The Summit Window leaning back and trusting a rope with a 23 meters drop below. The students had the chance to lean back from the platform letting go with both hands and also 1 leg. But it doesn’t stop there, they also got to fly 26 meters in the air on the tallest Giant Swing in Victoria, walking over a bed of Nails and holding our pet Python Mitch, Abseiling 20 meters down a tower, The Rock Wall - congratulations to those who made it to the top. High Wire, Inflatable World, Stress Management that was run by a Parkdale staff member, Orienteering and we can’t forget our incredible Leap Of Faith. The students climbed 15 meters in the air onto a small platform where they then jumped for a bar. If they were successful in grabbing the bar they were able to hang upside down. From there they let go of the bar and were lowered onto a safety mat, talk about pushing themselves out of their comfort zones. Well done everyone! As the day came to a close The summit crew shared a little something called Great Moments In Camp (GMIC’S) throughout the Year 12’s time at The Summit we got them to write down all the great things they saw someone else do, then we shared them over meal times and free time. Great way to support and get around each other especially in the final year of school. ‘People don’t remember what you say, people remember how you make them feel’. Some of the GMIC’S were;

· Josie - for always being an incredible support for the team thought the whole camp.

· Own - endless encouragement and engagement for every single activity with his group, a true standout.

· Bella - for always playing all in and giving it her best.

· Jarlie - for being an incredible leader throughout the Bush Challenge.

· Frosty - for always doing his very best and always having all the FUN.

· Marnie - incredible leadership, thank you for always supporting the team and cheering us on.

· Jemima - what an incredible presence, always smiling and willing to give everything a go.·

After Dinner, the Year 12’s did a few rounds of trivia before calling it a night for another full-on day to follow.

On the first morning, the students joined us in setting Morning Intention. As the saying goes, win the morning win the day. We believe if you set your morning up with clear goals and direction you are more likely to get the most out of your day. The Year 12’s took a moment to reflect on their own intention before sharing a few within the room. Some examples where;

> To give everything a go

> Embrace every opportunity

> Do my best

> Don’t have any regrets

> Be supportive to my friends

Now that we had considered and set our intentions for the day, it was time to go make it real out in the park. The students continued with their activities from the day before. It was great to see many students push themselves beyond their limits, and achieve things they didn’t think they could would or could. Thank you to all the students who got comfortable being uncomfortable and for playing all in, especially when it came to partaking in our EPIC Monster Course in the afternoon. Were they completed the course not once but twice. This is a timed event. The first time, to see how fast they can run the course, and the second to see their team’s improvement time. The reason why - we like the students to have a reference of them thinking they having nothing left to give and then doing better than what they thought they could. It shows a lot about a team that shows up when it’s challenging. Anyone can show up on a good day, it’s how you show up on the hard days that matters the most. Every team had a great improvement time on their second laps. GO TEAM! Great to see you all giving it your very best.

To start off our last morning, we started with a session on Gratitude; we got the kids to think about all the things and people they were grateful for in their lives. And how the presence of our actions can have a positive effect on those around us. A few things to be grateful for where;

> Family and Friends

> Mum and Dad

> Grateful for opportunities

> Education

> Connecting with others

With gratitude on the radar, we hit the park running one last time. To get the students' bodies moving we played a game called Evolution before splitting off one last time to complete the last two rotations of the day. Once again incredible efforts for all the year 12’s even though most of them were pooped from a long three days, they all did a fantastic effort to stay tuned for the last few hours. It was evident many of the year 12’s didn’t want to be going home wondering what if. Before we knew it lunchtime rolled around. After lunch it was time to say goodbye.

To all the Parkdale year 12’s that joined us at The Summit, we wish you nothing but the best for the rest of the year. Thank you for joining us it was great to meet you all. Do your best and ‘fake it until you make it’.

Thank you from all The Summit FAMILY!!

Ash, Jac, Cam, Liam, Timmay, Ella, Sarah, Steph, Logan, Matt, Maddi, Soph, Centauri, Steph

Activity Results

Bush Challenge

8. 22.11 3rd PLACE

9. 13.28 1st PLACE

10. 14.30 2nd PLACE

11. 32.42

12. 27.40

13. 22.30

14. 27.58

Monster Challenge results

1. 15.01 1st PLACE

2. 8.32

3. 7.50

4. 5.72

5. 5.16

6. 8.22

7. 9.02

8. 9.05

9. 3.50

10. 7.45

11. 13.32 2nd PLACE

12 .10.00

13. 8.38

14. 11.33 3rd PLACE

In our last de-brief, the students were asked to vote for one person in their team who lived by our 5 Keys and gave everything a good hot crack. These students were;

VALUES WINNERS

1. Owen

2. Deon

3. Lara

4. Steph

5. Lauren

6. Jessie

7. Lily

8. Sage

9. Tahlia

10. Anthony

11. Darbi

12. Wendy

13. Bella

14. Aaron

Congratulations to our Values winners - you were all a true stand-out in your teams. Keep crushing it! All the best for the rest of 2021.