St Michael’s School - Traralgon Blog

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to welcome a bunch of legends from St Michael’s. The Summit Team where so excited to see so many beautiful smiling faces. Upon the arrival of the students, we also had some pretty crazy weather. However, we didn’t let that get in the way of us having all the FUN. Once the kiddies were settled into their accommodation it was time to layer up in our waterproofs, to officially start camp we shared our 5 KEYS with the grade 6’s.

We believe these keys will help you truly unleash your inner greatness when you are here. The keys are:

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

It didn’t take long for the students to take these keys on board with one of our first games we played called Shoe Bowling. Two teams, two shoes, and one pin. First team to knock the pin over wins. The students were definitely playing all in and having so much fun. Two teams went neck to neck, the energy was off the chain. Now it was time to hit the park running. The students were split into five groups. Before we knew it we had all formed a team name each.

1. Brave Banana

2. Bob’s Uncle

3. ICE

4. Legendary Potato

5. Supersonic Unicorns

The students had 10 different activities scattered over their three days at The Summit. Some activities had the students setting some fast times of our Inflatable World, doing some crazy tricks up in the Lodge whilst playing Laser Skirmish, climbing over walls, balancing over logs, walking over the nail walk, holding our pet Python Mitch, climbing a 12 meter and letting go with both hands and one foot. Wow! Talk about getting comfortable being uncomfortable. Well done to everyone who hit their Targets, Stretches, andSsuper Stretches. After a fun-filled afternoon, it was time to have some free time and get ready for dinner. As the day came to a close The Summit crew shared a little something called Great Moments In Camp (GMIC’S). Throughout the grade 6’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. It’s a great way to support and get around each other. ‘People don’t remember what you say, people remember how you make them feel’.

On the first morning, the students joined us in setting a 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 Grade 6’s took a moment to reflect on their own intention before sharing a few within the room. Some examples where;

· To do my best

· Be a supportive friend

· Give everything a go

· Don’t get home wondering what if

· Have lots of fun

· Encourage my teammates

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 and also had 5 new activities to tackle throughout the afternoon. These activities yet again encouraged everyone to step outside their comfort zones. The students found themselves navigating through our dark manmade Cave, climbing a tree and balancing over a tight wire connected to a tree (with a harness on), racking up the points whilst completing The Summit's very own Scavenger Hunt, Orienteering and how could we forget The Summit Window. The Summit Window involves 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. What a great way to expand your comfort zones. After yet another fun filled day it was time to get muddy. The sunshine joined us yet again for the afternoon which was marvelous.

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. The students 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 who 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 and still bringing incredible energy.

The students were very grateful to wash off all the mud and get a good night's rest. Ready for their final day with us.

The final morning had soon greeted us. To start off our mornings we took a moment to think about all the people and things we were grateful for. When you start your day from a place of love and joy you begin to be more grateful for all the little things we sometimes take for granted. A few moments of gratitude that were shared:

· Family

· School

· Pets

· Sport

· Holidays

· Warm showers

· Drinking water

With gratitude on the radar, we hit the park running one last time. To get the students' bodies moving we played a game called Everybody Is It Tiggy in the Lodge before splitting off one last time to complete the last two rotations of the day. Once again incredible efforts for all the grade 6’s who stayed tuned and present for the last few hours despite how tired some of them were. It was evident many of the grade 6’s didn’t want to be going home wondering what if. As they played all in and gave everything a good hot crack. Before we knew it lunchtime rolled around. After lunch, it was time to say goodbye. However, before this happened in the students' last rotation they were asked to vote for someone in their team who has taken our 5 Keys on and really done their absolute best whilst at The Summit. These people where

1. Finn

2. Will

3. Ellie

4. Willow

5. Quinn

Congratulations to these 5 lucky Value WINNERS. These awesome legends got to take a hot lap in our WW2 army tank and crushed a car for their incredible efforts.

The Summit crew loved having you all join us over the past three days. We all wish you nothing but the best for the rest of the year. Keep SMILING!

SNOWY RIVER CHALLENGE

1. Brave Banana 36.10 1st PLACE

2. Bob’s Uncle 43.31

3. ICE 47.32

4. Legendary Potato 37.39 2nd PLACE

5. Supersonic Unicorns 42.35 3rd PLACE

SCAV HUNT

1. Brave Banana 520 2nd PLACE

2. Legendary Potato550 1st PLACE

3. Supersonic Unicorns 310 3rd PLACE

MONSTER TIMES:

1. Brave Banana 6.15

2. Bob’s Uncle 3.58

3. ICE 9.30 1st PLACE

4. Legendary Potato 7.00 3rd PLACE

5. Supersonic Unicorns 9.17 2nd PLACE