News Archives - Gold Arrow Camp - California Summer Camp and Traditional Sleepaway Camps for Children

Welcome Session 2 Campers!

We’re so excited to welcome our Session 2 campers to camp! This session we have campers here from all over the United States, and even France, Spain, and Mexico! Of these campers…

95 are 1st time campers at GAC

210 are returning campers

38 are 3-year campers

27 are 5-year campers

and 1 are 10-year campers!

We are so excited for the next two weeks that will be spent hiking, singing songs, waterskiing, campfires and so much more! Make sure to keep up with everything going on at camp through our News section and the Campanion App!

What are we eating this week? Check out the week’s menu!

Episode 90: The GAC Experience with Punkie

Paige “Punkie” McKee reflects on her five years as a camper and five years (including this summer) on staff at Gold Arrow Camp. She reflects on the impact of her camp experiences and how the independence and adventure she experienced at camp has helped her pursue an equally adventurous adulthood. This summer, Punkie is leading the Media Team (photographers and videographer). We talk about some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into posting all those great photos parents get to see while their camper is at GAC!

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Teaching Teamwork

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” -H.E. Luccock

In this competitive, self-focused era, learning to be part of a team is a valuable skill that is not often taught to children (or adults!). Kids participate on many sports teams, but often that experience does not end up being a lesson in teamwork. Instead, sports teams often become a competitive experience of trying to get the position or play time they want as an individual.

One reason for our focus on non-competitive activities at GAC is so that kids can learn new skills without feeling the pressure to win or be the best. We also want kids to learn to be part of a team (their cabin group) and be better team members. The experience of living with a group of diverse people in a cabin group is the first lesson in teamwork that campers learn. Campers learn to work together to keep their living area organized, do daily clean up, and get to where they need to be (meals, activities, etc.). They also learn to support and encourage each other and help each cabin member do their best at each activity.

During the first few days of camp, each of our cabin groups goes through a “Team Building” program led by our trained ropes course staff. During a variety of games and activities, the campers learn to work together to accomplish tasks that they can only perform as a group. They learn about listening, leadership, and how to work through conflicts. The communication skills they learn at Team Building are used throughout camp. Lessons like taking turns when talking, sharing leadership, and planning before doing are all teamwork skills that campers can take home with them.

To help them see how they contribute to their team and what special skills they bring to the group.
To teach them to communicate well as a team, including how to brainstorm without judgment, listen to others’ ideas, and work through conflicts.
To focus on how they can be good friends to their cabin mates.

Episode 89: WOWs with Bravo

Writing “WOW”s, or positive notes and affirmations, is a habit we practice daily at Gold Arrow Camp. In this episode, Sunshine and Bravo talk about how we do WOWs, why we do WOWs, the magic relationship ratio, and the power of positive words!

Give meaningful WOWs by using this formula: Person’s Name + Quality + Evidence (what they did and/or how it made you feel).

The Magic Relationship Ratio, John Gottman (article)

The Magic Relationship Ratio, Sunshine Parenting (video)

Filling Buckets: Our 2019 Theme (article)

The Most Meaningful Words You’ll Say this Summer, Camping Magazine (article)

3 Reasons to Give Your Kid a “WOW” Today, Sunshine Parenting (article)

The Power of Positive Words, Sunshine Parenting (article)

Catch them Doing the Right Thing (article)

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Session 1 Outpost & Events Schedule

There’s always something going on at camp, whether that’s Jers-day Thursday, a backpacking trip or a visit to Shaver Island! Check out the outpost schedule below to see where each cabin is going this session.

Welcome Session 1 Campers!

Session 1 starts now! We’re so excited to welcome our Session 1 campers to camp today! This session we have campers coming from as far away as Mexico, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates as well as representing many states! Of these campers…

93 are 1st-time campers at GAC

205 are returning campers

36 are 3-year campers

35 are 5-year campers

and 2 are 10-year campers!

We are so excited for the next 2 weeks that will be spent hiking, singing songs, waterskiing, campfires and so much more! Make sure to keep up with everything going on at camp through our News section and the Campanion App!

What are we eating this week? Check out the Session 1, Week 1 Menu

Episode 88: Razz Talks about Camp

Sunshine talks with experienced Gold Arrow Camp camper and counselor, Lucy ‘Razz” Mahlmeister, in this episode of the podcast. Razz talks about her time at GAC, which started in 2010 when she was an eight-year-old first time camper. Razz spent eight years as a camper, one year as a Junior Counselor, and has now been on staff for five years, primarily as a watersports activity counselor, teaching campers kneeboarding, wakeboarding, waterskiing, and wakesurfing.

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Episode 87: Experienced Campers Talk about Camp

For parents and campers who are new to Gold Arrow Camp, you won’t want to miss this episode! A group of Junior Counselors (16 & 17 year old experienced campers) join Sunshine for a chat about their experiences and growth over their summers at camp. This was recorded in 2018 but their insights are still as relevant today!

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Episode 86: Thrivers with Dr. Michele Borba

This episode was originally published on Sunshine Parenting and is geared towards parents, staff, and older campers. There are mentions of youth mental health issues, including suicide, so parents please listen before deciding whether to share with your younger kids.

Join Sunshine for her conversation with Dr. Michele Borba about her phenomenal, must-read book THRIVERS: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine – 7 Teachable skills of heart, mind, & will that set happy, healthy, high-performing kids apart.

At GAC, our vision is Creating a happier world, one camper at a time. Our mission – what we specifically focus on – is building positive habits and character traits for a thriving life. We follow the research about what kids need to thrive now and into adulthood. The book Thrivers is a great resource for all of our staff and parents.

About Dr. Michele Borba

Dr. Michele Borba is an educational psychologist, best-selling author, and TODAY show contributor who has spoken to over one million participants on five continents and to countless media about child development issues.

She blends 40 years of teaching and consulting experience with latest science to offer sound, realistic advice to parents teachers and child advocates about helping children thrive.

Sunshine’s Amazon Review

Dr. Michele Borba’s latest book – THRIVERS: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Other Shine – is perhaps her most important book yet – and the timing couldn’t be better. She’s researched seven specific character traits that parents and educators can focus on teaching kids to help them be resilient “thrivers” in a time when many children and adolescents are NOT thriving. The book is divided into three parts (Nurturing Heart, Developing Mind, and Cultivating Will) and each section has two or three specific character traits outlined in detail. Not only does Dr. Borba shares stories and research backing the importance of teaching kids the trait, but she also provides specific age-by-age ideas about how to instill each trait. This book needs to be on every parent and educator’s bookshelf and can be read one chapter at a time (if you want to focus on one trait) or all at once. With youth mental health and suicide rates rising, we all need to stop and reflect on what’s most important to teach our kids. And it’s not math or grammar or athletic skills. Instead, it’s the specific character traits that will help kids excel in all areas. Pick up Thrivers and learn how to teach kids self-confidence, empathy, self-control, integrity, curiosity, perseverance, and optimism — all traits that are teachable and lead to a thriving life.

Dr. Michele Borba’s Website

7 Essential Character Traits PDF

Thrivers book info & video series

[ENCORE] Ep. 138: Unselfie with Dr. Michele Borba

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Episode 85: Unplug to Connect

Unplug to Connect

One of our core values at GAC is Unplugging to Connect. Why are we so passionate about the importance of getting off our screens and spending more time in face-to-face interactions? Because it’s good for all of our well-being to improve the quality of our relationships and connection to our families, friends, and communities. We want our campers and staff to experience the positive difference it makes being in a screen-free environment, so that they are compelled to change their own screen habits. The big dream – the one that serves our vision of creating a happier world, is that we go out from our camp community and help bring positive collective action and change to how we all prioritize face-to-face connection outside of camp.

There is now a lot of research-backed evidence about the negative impact excessive screen time is having on people across all generations. Excessive screen time is linked to negative impacts on mental and physical health, with children and teens particularly vulnerable. These impacts include increased anxiety and depression, sleep disturbances, obesity, and reduced cognitive function. The effects can also include behavioral problems, difficulty with social skills, and issues with academic performance.

According to research by Jean Twenge (iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood):

After 1 h/day of use, more hours of daily screen time were associated with lower psychological well-being, including less curiosity, lower self-control, more distractibility, more difficulty making friends, less emotional stability, being more difficult to care for, and inability to finish tasks. Among 14- to 17-year-olds, high users of screens (7+ h/day vs. low users of 1 h/day) were more than twice as likely to ever have been diagnosed with depression (RR 2.39, 95% CI 1.54, 3.70), ever diagnosed with anxiety (RR 2.26, CI 1.59, 3.22), treated by a mental health professional (RR 2.22, CI 1.62, 3.03) or have taken medication for a psychological or behavioral issue (RR 2.99, CI 1.94, 4.62) in the last 12 months. Moderate use of screens (4 h/day) was also associated with lower psychological well-being.
Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study, Dr. Jean Twenge

”Play-based childhood has been replaced by a screen-based childhood and the outcomes of this experiment are a nightmare – least flourishing generation in history.”
Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024) presents a compelling argument about the rise in youth anxiety and mental health issues, particularly in the United States and other Western countries. He shares the research about how a play-based childhood became replaced by a phone-based childhood and how detrimental the change has been for children’s mental, physical, and social health.

Around 2010–2015, most teens got smartphones and social media became central to their social lives. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are designed to be addictive and encourage social comparison, validation seeking, and fear of missing out (FOMO). Rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide have skyrocketed among teens—especially girls—since the early 2010s. Haidt links this surge directly to increased screen time, especially social media use.

We all feel the difference in how smart phones seemed to have taken over all of our lives. There’s now an eery quiet in places that used to be boisterous (school buses, school lunch/recess at schools where phones are allowed). Many of us notice the lack of eye contact and social connections in places where we used to have chats with strangers, such as while waiting in line for a coffee or passing someone on the sidewalk.

Specific adverse effects of screen use on well-being include:

Mental: social media makes it harder to focus / learn / work – read a book, solve a difficult problem

Emotional: social media/screen time causing increased depression, anxiety

Physical: screen time linked to less sleep, less physical activity, more obesity

Social: isolation/loneliness, less practice with social skills leading to more relational challenges, in new/awkward situations, people all retreat to their phones, lessening the chance of connection

Spiritual: Reduced ability to meditate/pray when attention fragmented

Overall, the biggest issue with screen use is what we’re NOT doing when we’re spending hours on our phones and other screens. We’re not:

Spending time with friends

Doing outdoor activites

Participating in hobbies we enjoy / make us feel good

The good news is that experimental studies show that reducing screen time leads to increased happiness and focus within weeks. That’s where camp comes in.

Benefits of Being Unplugged

Gold Arrow Camp offers a unique experience – to be in a community and among people who are collectively unplugged. Time unplugged at camp gives campers and staff the unique opportunity to experience how good they feel when they’re not stuck in the addictive cycle of phone-use caused by apps that use manipulative algorithms to keep their attention.

At camp, we spend time that was once spent on screens on other things that improve well-being, including:

Building Social Connections

More face-to-face time in real-life relationships gives campers the opportunity to form deeper connections (REALationships) with the people they are with. They experience being present with people who are focused and attentive to them, not distracted by phones. Meals, campfires, walking time, and hang-out time are all opportunities for face-to-face connection.

Getting Great Sleep

We prioritize getting good sleep at GAC with our campers getting a minimum of 9 hours of in-bed time (our oldest campers lights out is 10pm and wake up time is around 7am). Not having screens around allows for great sleep.

Discovering New Skills & Hobbies

In addition to learning and doing many fun recreational outdoor activities, campers learn card games, read, journal, play guitar, make friendship bracelets or other crafts, and make some new best friends…The opportunities for growth and discovery are endless when we’re not distracted by screens! Campers experience improved focus and productivity and the ability to be present and get fully engaged with what they are doing in the moment.