6th/7th Grade Camp 2023

Photos and a short blog post will be posted here daily. 

Thursday

February 9th, 2023

This morning we had a great morning lesson on sustainability and talked about ways in which we can be better stewards of the environment. They have a huge composting system here at Camp Stevens that students have learned about and learned how to separate their waste at the ends of meals. After morning lesson, Father Mike joined us for a wonderful mass. It was so nice to have a familiar face and the students enjoyed having time to ask Father Mike questions. This afternoon we will be having a cookout on the trail and making stir fry over the fire. For our last night we will have a campfire and s'mores to celebrate our time here.

Wednesday

February 8th, 2023

We have had another fun-filled day. We started off the morning with a lesson on life cycles and the fire cycle. The students learned about the impact of a fire in 2007 on the trees at Camp Stevens. We got the opportunity to try out the rock wall. Students set their own goals for how much they wanted to challenge themselves. It was great to see them cheering each other on and encouraging their classmates to accomplish their goals, even if that just meant climbing up one rock. We spent more time outside hiking and playing fun games in nature. We saw 3 deer and some wild turkey while hiking around today. 

Tuesday

February 7th, 2023

Today we had a great breakfast then packed up lunches to take with us on the trails. Before going out on the trails, we had a morning lesson on habitats and adaptations. After morning lesson, we hiked, got to learn about and interact with the animals at camp, and do archery. This evening we will have a fun class bonding activity and do community gathering around the fire again. We had such a fun time singing songs by the fire last night. 

Monday

February 6th, 2023

We have had a wonderful arrival day. We got settled into our cabins before having a nice lunch together. The food here has already been amazing and the students are learning our community norms for the week. They have worked together to set up the tables for meals, clean up after themselves, and compost. After lunch we had a great time playing basketball and their famous “baseball” game. We broke off into trail groups and spent the afternoon outside doing team bonding games and learning more about nature. This evening we look forward to some down time and a sunset hike. 

Monday 

February 7th, 2022

We have arrived safely to camp and the energy has been high! We have explored our surroundings, created group expectations for the week, and started team bonding. Tonight we will be doing a short sunset hike after dinner and having campfire time where we will make make s'mores. I will post more photos tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm rotating between the different groups each day so if you don't see many pictures of your child on a particular day that's because I'm with a different group. 

Tuesday

February 8th, 2022

Day two has been wonderful so far! We fueled up this morning with amazing breakfast burritos before having a morning lesson on habitats and adaptations. We packed ourselves a sack lunch to take with us out on the trails today. Each group did different activities that included: archery, learning about compost, bouldering, feeding goats and pigs, exploring the garden and eating veggies straight from the garden. Last night at campfire, we talked about openness and trying to things. I was very proud of how excited everyone was to take on the adventures of the day and try things they hadn't done before. In the evening, the 6th graders did skits while the 7th graders looked at the stars and talked about constellations. 

Boldering 

Night time skits with 6th grade 

Wednesday

February 9th, 2022

Today has been another full day of activities! After breakfast, we had a lesson on life cycles before getting the opportunity to celebrate mass in the outdoor chapel with Father Mike. Mass was a really special time of reflection on what the students have learned this week, sharing our appreciation for getting to be in God's creation, and getting to see Father Mike. After mass, students broke off into their trail groups to continue adventuring. Archery has been a huge highlight of the week for many. 

Mass with Father Mike 

7th Grade Skit Night 

Thursday

February 10th, 2022

The students are having a great time but also excited to come home and see their families and sleep in their own beds. This morning we had a lesson on environmental stewardship and sustainability. We talked about best practices in composting and recycling (be ready, your kids might come home asking you to start composting at home). Today, we got to climb the rock wall. This was great practice in goal setting and respecting our own limitations and desires. This afternoon we will be out on the trails and doing a cookout where we will make our dinner over a fire.