GATA Webinar – January 13

Happy New Year! Kick off the new year by attending the first Gold Arrow Teacher Academy (GATA) webinar of 2021 on Wednesday, January 13 at 5pm PT/8pm ET. This month’s webinar looks at Creating a Strengths-Focused Classroom.

Parents and teachers tend to be more focused on children’s weaknesses and spend the majority of time and focus on skills and traits that are areas of deficit or lack. A more effective way to bring out the best in students is to focus on strengths and guide students to use their strengths to be successful in school, in relationships, and in life. In this webinar, we’ll provide resources and guidance on the language and activities that will make your classroom more positive and strengths-focused and a place where students learn to embrace their best qualities.

This webinar is free for all GATA members! If you are not yet a GATA member, you can join here or register just for the webinar here. Even if you’re not able to attend the live webinar on Wednesday, you’ll be able to access the recorded webinar and the accompanying resources.

Please share this information with the educators in your life!

JOIN NOW

 

Be You! Self Reflection for 2020

We’ve really enjoyed sharing our 2020 Summer Theme with you: Be You!  As this year comes to a close and we embark on a new year in just a few weeks, take some time to reflect on the weekly Be You challenge questions below. 

Hopefully, you jotted down some notes throughout the series, or perhaps you finally have time to dig into these now. Either way, this is a great exercise to finish out the year and get started on narrowing down your One Word for 2021. 

As we all know, 2020 has been quite a year of challenges, cancellations, and distanced everything. Through it all, being your truly authentic self can set you up to bring positive changes to the world, help you find the silver linings, and be your best self. 

Bonus!

Our 2020 and 2021 campers will receive a downloadable Be You journal this month! Keep an eye out for the journal and printable inspirational posters in parent and camper email inboxes.

 

Get Cozy With GAC Pajamas!

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived! GAC pajamas are on sale now! Show your green and gold GAC spirit while wearing a pair of cozy, comfy GAC jammies. These limited edition pjs make a perfect gift for the GAC fans in your family or for GAC super fans, order your whole family matching holiday jammies. 

The long sleeve pajama set has an “all-over” Gold Arrow Camp starry chipmunk print and is made of super soft, 100% cotton with rib cuffs on sleeves and pants.

These jammies are being made to order especially for you, so we can only fill orders through November 8.  After the order window ends, there will not be another opportunity to order these one-of-a-kind snuggle enhancers. We anticipate orders will be mailed to you in mid-December. 

With production limits, there is a cap on the number of jammies to be produced, so we cannot guarantee availability throughout the entire order window.  If you know you want a set, then order now. 

Whadda you waiting for…order your one-of-a-kind GAC jammies today!!

 

Mark Your Calendar for the November GATA Webinar!

Our Gold Arrow Teacher Academy (GATA) has provided members with valuable resources, webinars, and connection over the past few months. With a new and often challenging learning environment for teachers and students, having access to strategies that promote friendships, fun, and character growth in classrooms can be transformative.

If you are an educator or have an educator in your circle of family and friends, please consider joining GATA! New members have access to our past webinars, a library of resources, and all upcoming webinars and Teacher Talks. If you’d prefer to purchase access to the November 11th webinar only, that’s an option here.

Join us for next month’s webinar, Coaching Students to Autonomy & Problem Solving on November 11 at 5pm PT/8pm ET. How often do you find yourself dealing with student and parent issues that they can handle on their own? Would you like a framework for guiding your students and parents to know what to deal with themselves and when to seek your guidance? Many students (and parents) do not know how to appropriately assess the seriousness of their challenges and discern when it’s necessary to seek your assistance, so they contact you about every problem, no matter how small. Teaching students (and parents) how to assess the size of their problem, and discern whether your intervention is needed, is an important life skill for your students and a time saving strategy for you. 

Being a part of GATA right when the school year started mid-August was amazing for my self confidence! I have struggled with the little community-building things, but the no-prep conversational-type activities helped me on the first few days of school. Since I also teach Leadership, the camp roots of GATA are perfect for that group of kids especially. 

-Ashley Platt, GATA Member

 

Parent Survey – How Can GAC Help?

What do your kids need this school year? How can GAC help?

We have always been committed to providing our families with much more than just a few weeks of fun and friendship during the summer. Our mission has always been much bigger. Our vision is that the experiences and relationships that our campers and staff have at GAC will prepare them for life’s challenges and equip them to positively influence the world.

While we did not operate our in-person camp this summer, we have not slowed down in researching, planning, and developing programs for the year-round well-being of our campers and staff, specifically in the areas of social and emotional well-being and character growth. The growth you witness in your kids after their time at camp is due to the research-backed practices we’ve trained our counselors to utilize in their leadership and guidance.

This summer, we had over 100 campers and 20 counselors participate in GALA, our online leadership and character-building program. The feedback from participants has been extremely positive, and we have been reminded that while what we offer in-person at GAC is not deliverable online, some aspects of what we offer are not tied to our summer sessions in Lakeshore:

        • Friendship Skills Practice
        • Community/Belonging/Friendships
        • Character Growth

To support teachers in building positive class communities and fostering connections, we offer resources, webinars, and community discussions for educators through the Gold Arrow Teacher Academy (GATA).

Now, it’s time to check in with our camp families to find out what you and your child need from GAC!

During this school year, we’d like to continue offering programs that promote our campers’ social and emotional health and provide the fun, friendships, and growth kids need more than ever. We have amazing counselors ready to work to serve our campers.

Before we move forward on implementing any new programs we’d like to hear from our camp families to determine your interest level. For families who have plenty of support and resources with your school and community and aren’t interested in additional offerings from GAC, we want to hear that too!

When you receive the survey link via email, please take a few minutes to give us your feedback as we plan programs for the 2020-2021 school year and beyond. We’re also offering a live online forum on October 8 at 5pm PT if you would prefer to share and discuss your ideas with the GAC directors. The links to the survey and live online chat will be sent to camp families via email early this week!

2021 Enrollment Coming Soon!

The entire Gold Arrow Camp team is looking forward to connecting with new and returning camp families throughout the fall, winter, and spring as we gear up for an awesome summer of fun, friendship, and growth! We could all use a little camp magic next summer, right?

Soon, registration will open for Summer 2021 and you may have questions about summer dates and programs, session availability, finalizing your camper’s enrollment if you rolled over your tuition from 2020, how we’re preparing for a healthy summer, and other important information. Most of the answers can be found by visiting the 2021 Enrollment FAQ page. If you don’t find the answer you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to contact us at mail@goldarrowcamp.com or by phone at 800-554-2267 x. 0.

In order to best serve our camp community and new families who are excited to join the GAC family, we will be reaching out to everyone via email to notify you of the date and time that registration will open. Registration will open first to siblings of campers who rolled their tuition from 2020 to 2021. Next, we will open enrollment to families who were on our Summer 2020 waiting list. Shortly after, enrollment will open for all families!

All of us at GAC are really excited for Summer 2021 and getting back to fun on the lake, gathering around a campfire, and sleeping under the stars!

Happy Campers at Home

Happy Campers: 9 Secrets That May Help You Get Through This Challenging Year

 

Audrey “Sunshine” Monke, GAC’s Chief Visionary Officer, wrote Happy Campers to give parents encouragement and share research-backed ideas for creating some camp “magic” at home. With most camps and other programs not operating this summer, and many vacation plans canceled, we’ll be with our kids a lot this summer.

Why not try some simple strategies for creating more connection and fun at home? Sign up to get weekly emails (10 total) with tips from the book plus BONUS research and ideas Sunshine has learned since writing Happy Campers.

If you’re on Facebook, Join the Happy Campers Group for more discussion of the topics covered in the book.

HERE ARE SOME FREE DOWNLOADS TO GET YOU STARTED ON YOUR HAPPY CAMPERS JOURNEY:

Free Chapter: Camp Secret #1: Connection Comes First

9-week Reading Schedule

Workbook & Discussion Guide

Sign up for your weekly emails here!

 

Parent Debrief

Following the announcement of our heartbreaking decision to cancel our 2020 GAC sessions, we have set up an online meeting for parents next week to debrief, offer support to one another, and find out how we can help you and your family moving forward.

A link to join our parent community on Tuesday, May 19 at 12pm PT, was sent in our announcement email on May 13 and again in a resource email sent May 14.  If you need the details to access the parent debrief next week, please contact us at mail@goldarrowcamp.com or (800) 554-2267.

Clothing Labels

One FAQ that parents (especially first year families!) ask as they prepare for camp is, “How do I label everything for camp?”  This is a great question and an important one.  At GAC, we ask that all items (clothing, water bottles, toothpaste, etc.) are labeled prior to your camper’s arrival.  If a camper misplaces something or an item is mixed up in the laundry, if it’s labeled, it will most likely end up back with the camper.

Label types have varied over the years: iron-on, marked by hand, and stick-on.  All of the GAC directors have children who attend camp and have firsthand knowledge of the different label types and techniques and can commiserate with the frustration of discovering 10 labels (2o+ if they have siblings!) stuck to the inside of the washing machine!  Based on experience, we are recommending the following label options in order of preference:

  1.  Use a permanent marker (aka “Sharpie”) to write the camper’s first initial and last name.  This is an easy and cost effective method.  Be sure to be consistent with the labeling and avoid the use of initials only.  Tip: use a silver marker for dark clothing!
  2. Iron-on labels work well.  It’s a time consuming task but those pre-made labels tend to stay on longer than stick-on labels and won’t damage items that don’t have clothing tags.
  3. Stick-on labels are great for non-clothing items such as toiletries, shoes, and flashlights.  Even the youngest campers can help with this labeling task!

Which ever method you choose, just remember to label everything, even socks and undies!

 

 

A Graduating Camper’s Story

Gold Arrow campers who have completed the 9th grade take part in a special celebration at the end of their camp session.  These campers and their counselor gather around a magical campfire created just for them when the rest of camp is settling into their sleeping bags.  This is a milestone and tradition that campers both look forward to and have feelings of trepidation about because it signals the beginning of something new and the end of their time as a carefree camper. Each camper receives a paddle inscribed with their name and a special word selected by their counselor.  Notches on the wood represent the years spent at GAC.  For our graduating campers, this paddle is more than wood and inscriptions, it’s the hope of what lies ahead after the many lessons learned as a camper.

Rachel Huntley, a long-time GAC camper, had this very experience last summer.  Here’s what she shared about camp and the graduating camper experience…

It was the night of the paddle ceremony, session 2. I didn’t really know what to expect, besides me getting my paddle that night. Walking to the waterfront from the dance with my cabin and seeing Soy with a burning fire already had my eyes watery. As everyone took a seat I calmed myself down and told myself, “you’ll be ok, just hold yourself together.”

As soon as Soy started talking about why they use a paddle and not an anchor had me bawling my eyes out. It really showed me how throughout these past 7 years at camp I’ve used my paddle that didn’t even exist. When the counselors were calling campers up to get their paddles, it was such an amazing moment, because every counselor said things about their camper and who they are as a person and everything that’s beautiful about them. As soon as my name was called I completely lost it. I was in tears crying and trying to control myself. My counselor told me all the things that were great about my personality and what they hope I wish to peruse in the future.

At the end of the ceremony, Soy gave the star speech. I will never forget that speech. Every summer for the rest of my life when I’m not at camp I will think about how I’m still looking at the same sky that camp’s looking at. I already knew from the moment I walked into GAC in 2012 I was apart of the GAC family, but from that moment on I knew that I had made my mark there and I was/am never going to leave my home away from home. I cannot wait for my adventures that hold in these next years!