Random Acts of Kindness
The work to create a kinder world never ends. There is no limit on the amount of goodness we can put into the world, but we need your help! We invite you to join the annual Random Acts of Kindness Day (RAK DAY) celebration on Friday, February 17, 2023 and help #MakeKindnesstheNorm.
Random Acts of Kindness Day is Friday, February 17, 2023!
Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 12-18, 2023!
Click here for more ways to get inspired and for more information about the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation!
National Day of Unplugging
We invite all of our friends and family to join Gold Arrow Camp in participating in the National Day of Unplugging from sundown on March 3 to sundown on March 4. This time of being unplugged is a movement to encourage people to get a “24-hour respite from technology.” If you have experienced a summer at GAC then you know the importance of unplugging and connecting face-to-face, which is why we don’t allow cell phones at camp.
The National Day of Unplugging encourages people to use 24 hours free from technology to connect with “ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.” Wow. That sounds an awful lot like camp! We love the idea of unplugging (just for a little bit) at home so that we can reforge the kind of connections there that we forge at camp, where we’re totally free from the burden of technology.
You can join us in celebrating by pledging to #unplug on social media, sharing this news story, or even planning an unplugged event with your family! You could have an old-fashioned dinner party, spend that Saturday working on puzzles or playing board games. If you need more ideas, check out the NDU 2023 Ideas List and sign up to become a FREE member!
If you have plans to unplug, please tag us in those on your social media. We’d love to share your plans (and what you did, after the fact, of course) on our social media!
2023 Theme: Count on Me!
This year’s summer theme, chosen to help guide campers to be trustworthy and dependable friends, cabin mates, and family members, is “Count on Me.”
Our first summer theme was in 2012 when we chose the theme of gratitude. We followed that theme with kindness (Cool 2B Kind), relationship building (Creating Connections), helpfulness (Give a Hand), grit (Growing Grit), positivity (The Energy Bus), a focus on friendship (Find-a-Friend), building up others (Filling Buckets), being our best selves (Be You ), appreciating our community (Better Together), and Choosing Kindness (2022).
An important character trait of a good friend is being reliable, dependable, and trustworthy. We know that it’s important that our campers develop these traits. This year at Gold Arrow Camp, we will be learning how to be people our friends can count on.
We’re thrilled to make our GAC community stronger by helping campers understand the importance of being a person their cabin mates, friends, and family can count on. There are many opportunities at camp to be dependable and reliable. “Counting on Me” means using our words and actions to show others they can count on us:
- Count on me to be a trustworthy friend
- Count on me to be a dependable cabin mate
- Count on me to be a responsible community member
- Count on me to challenge myself to grow at camp
- Count on me to show gratitude for others
- Count on me to be kind
- Count on me live healthy
- Count on me to stay unplugged and connect with others
- Count on me to be there when you need me
The pinwheel represents our 2023 theme. No matter which of its blades catches the smallest breeze first, it turns the whole wheel together. It takes less effort to spin as each individual part gathers more of the wind. Without all of its blades, it cannot spin evenly and efficiently. Each blade relies on the others. Working together, the pinwheel creates a mesmerizing display of beauty. It reacts to the gusts that blow its way then it gently returns to rest, ready for what the day may bring.
“Count on Me” builds on the work we’ve done in the areas of positivity, friendship, and kindness. The friendships we forge at camp are special for many reasons, and we know that keeping the focus on being someone others can count on will add depth and richness to our connections. It is our sincere hope that 2023’s GAC campers will take this theme home and continue to be people others can count on in their communities by being trustworthy, reliable, and dependable. You can count on me!
Do Camp Experiences Improve Academic Performance?
In all probability, the educationist of the year 2000 AD will look back upon us and wonder why we, the school people of 1938, failed to include the camp as an integral unit of our educational system.
– The Kappan Magazine, the official magazine of Phi Delta Kappa – 1938
If you ever have the opportunity to visit us at camp, you’ll have the opportunity to sing the GAC Song. While many people love the “wadda-ing” that takes place in the chorus, my favorite part comes in the final verse. We sing, “I sure did learn much more here than I ever did at school.”
My love of this line comes from my teaching before I came to work for Gold Arrow full time; I was a high school social science teacher for 14 years.
It may seem odd that a teacher would love a line about learning more at camp than we did at school. But I do because camp and school operate symbiotically. While those of us in camping and education have known this anecdotally for many years, there is an increasing body of evidence that supports that belief with data.
Some of that research has been supported by the American Camp Association, and I was privileged to hear one of the leaders in the field, Lance W. Ozier Ed.D. speak on this at a recent conference. He has written on the history of camps and schools (you can read it here). In that article, Dr. Ozier lays out the reasons that camp blossomed in America after the Civil War. As people moved to the cities, adults began to worry that their children were losing touch with nature, and so they sent them to live in nature. How familiar does that refrain sound to us today?
And yet the challenges for young people are even greater now than they were then. The rise of computers, social media, and cell phones has had as great a social impact as urbanization a hundred years ago. Today, camp serves not just as a way to re-engage children with nature, but as a way to help them learn vital social skills in a systematic way. We are fortunate that one of our camp owners and directors, Audrey “Sunshine” Monke, has studied the impact of camp on building social skills. Her research shows that a significant majority of campers report having improved social skills because of camp. She believes that this is because camp counselors are specifically trained in helping campers to improve skills like making friends and listening to others.
It isn’t just Sunshine that has found these results. According to research conducted by the American Camp Association, campers and their parents report that campers have more social skills, higher self-esteem, and more independence. When a child returns to school more comfortable socially, they have more confidence and are more likely to sit up front, ask questions, and ignore distractions. When they do that, they are setting themselves up for more academic success.
But wait, there’s more! Camp also provides an opportunity for children to struggle in a safe and supporting environment. At camp, we talk a lot about growing grit, a concept that has been moved into the public discussion about education by Angela Duckworth’s research. We think that grit is so important we made it our theme for an entire summer! But there is increasing research that shows how struggling actually changes the way the brain grows. This research in neuroplasticity shows that the brain grows much more when it is engaged in something difficult. So every time a camper tries to waterski another time, or climbs the rock wall, their brains are growing!
(Interestingly, that same research shows that the brain also grows more and stronger synapses, in mice at least, when they are allowed to roam openly in nature.)
None of this is news to people who send their kids to camp, or those of us who work at camp. We can see anecdotally that kids are more confident and more “alive” after camp. But this research simply confirms what so many educational researchers knew in the early 1900s: going to camp when you’re not in school will help your education.
GAC Virtual Assemblies are Back!
Summer seems so far away so we thought we would bring some GAC to you now with our virtual assemblies! If you’re new to GAC or need a refresher, most days (unless on outpost), campers will attend Morning Assembly at our beautiful outdoor amphitheater. After breakfast, the entire camp community gathers for announcements, games, songs, and fun before heading off to their first activity for the day. For cabins who arrive early, an optional dance party on stage is always a camper favorite.
From February through June, campers, parents, and staff are welcome to join us on the first Wednesday of each month at 4pm for a GAC Virtual Assembly. A reminder and link will be emailed to camp families prior to each assembly. We hope you’ll join us!
I Heart Camp Day is February 1st!
We invite our GAC families and friends to join us in celebrating I Heart Camp Day on Wednesday, February 1st! If you’re nervous that you don’t have any I Heart Camp decorations and haven’t been invited to a big I Heart Camp Day block party, don’t worry! Celebrating this day doesn’t require a trip to the party store. It just requires you to love camp and to be willing to share that love.
Just take a picture of yourself holding a sign that says “I Heart Camp” (you could use the picture at the top of this story if you need inspiration) and then post it on your favorite social media on February 1st. Tag us (@goldarrowcamp) and use the hashtag #IHeartCamp. We’ll share yours on our social media accounts! We love seeing everyone from staff to campers to alumni to parents getting involved!
Canceled: GAC Holiday Party & Christmas Parade
We are sad to inform you that the Clovis Christmas Parade, planned for this weekend, has been canceled due to the predicted inclement weather on Saturday. The weather is predicted to bring heavy rains and possible strong winds to the area, so we we have decided to cancel the GAC Holiday Party that was planned to follow the parade. We are already looking forward to next year and we hope you will join us on December 2, 2023. Mark your calendars now and get the jingle bells ready!
We still hope to see you next weekend at the Fresno Jingle Bell Run! The walk/run will take place on Saturday, December 10 at 9am down Christmas Tree Lane. Please click here for more information. Please let us know if you will be able to join us and we hope to see you there!
We are so excited to participate in the Old Town Clovis Children’s Electric Christmas Parade again this year! We are looking forward to hanging out with new and returning campers and their families during the parade, and afterwards at our holiday party at the GAC office. The parade is tons fun with lots of waving and smiling. After the parade, we will all gather at GACHQ for some much deserved coffee, cider, hot cocoa and cookies! Check out some photos from the event last year and we hope you will join us this year!
This year, the parade will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2022 and will begin at 6:30pm! If you are interested in joining us, please click here so we can send you more information!
Celebrate World Kindness Day!
Join us in celebrating WORLD KINDNESS DAY!
Hi Camp Families & Staff,
With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s a great chance for us to focus on small acts of kindness we can do to bring positive changes to the world. Did you know that people around the world celebrate kindness on November 13? It’s World Kindness Day!
And, for those of you who would like to make kindness a focus for longer than just a day, how about practicing kindness for the next 30 days?
Want to join us for 30 Days of Kindness?
All you need to do is commit to doing 30 kind acts over the next 30 days. You can participate as an individual or as a family!
Here are ideas of what you can do:
• Commit to doing at least ONE daily kindness (DK) each day. These can be small acts of kindness or big ones – an encouraging sticky note to a parent or sibling or a bigger project. You can do the same thing every day – like writing one thank you note or text each day – or you can pick any combo of different kindness acts.
• Consider doing (alone or with your family) a bigger Weekend Kindness Challenge (WKC).
You can find ideas of people to write notes of appreciation to on our printable Kindness “BINGO” board! Keep track of how you’re spreading kindness using our printable Kindness Tracker! Also, here are some printable GACspirations to keep you inspired to spread kindness!
Daily Kindness (DK)
How many acts of kindness can you do this month? There are 30 days in November, so if you do one kind thing each day, that’s 30 ways to make yourself and others happier this month! If you miss a day, you can always do two acts of kindness on another day to catch up. And, if you go over 30 acts, all that means is that you’re spreading even more kindness to the world, which is a good thing.
Weekend Kindness Challenges (WKC)
Since on weekends we tend to have more time, we’ve saved some more time-intensive kindness ideas for the weekends. These are just suggestions. You can come up with your own kindness ideas, too!
WKC #1: Offer to Help Elderly Neighbors or Friends
Ask neighbors who may need assistance how you may help them around the yard or doing other things around the home. Offer to get them supplies from the store when you go with your family to get yours!
WKC #2: Send a Care Package to Someone
Create a care package for someone who you know is working extra hard or could use a bit of surprise happiness — again, this could be someone close to home (maybe your own family member!) or someone across the country.
WKC #3: Write a gratitude letter
Who is someone you really appreciate? Take some time to write them a letter about what you appreciate about them. If you are able, read the letter aloud to them either in person or on the phone. You’ll make their day and your own!
WKC #4: Plan an In-Person or Virtual Celebration
There are many important events that are coming up in your friends’ and family members’ lives that we don’t want to forget. Pick an upcoming event such as someone’s birthday, an anniversary, or a surprise thank you celebration and start planning! One thing that you can do is contact all of the person’s loved ones and ask them to send you a video, a message, or a physical note that you can collect and give to the person all at once on their special day. You can give them guidelines such as “tell them what you love about them” or “tell them a funny memory you have with them” or you can leave it open to the sender of the message. You could also organize all of the person’s loved ones to call them at different times throughout the day and deliver their messages personally. If you had enough time to receive physical letters, you could organize them into a book or a nice box for them to keep. Alternatively, you could plan a “surprise” virtual (via Zoom or something similar) or in-person event where all of the guests knew that it was a party for the special person. It could be fancy or a fun costume theme, the possibilities are endless! Your special person will feel so loved. If this feels overwhelming to you, pick another friend or family member to help you brainstorm and plan what would be best for your special person!
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For Parents: Why is Kindness Important?
Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.
Marian Wright Edelman
Being a considerate, kind person who thinks about others is a character trait that helps children form good relationships and leads to a happier life as an adult.
What does this mean for super competitive parents who want their children to succeed at all costs, even if it means cheating and being mean to others? It could be helpful for parents to know that research has clearly shown that kind people are happier people, and happier people, in turn, are more successful in life. In jobs and in future relationships, kindness will take our children “further in life than any college degree.”
Focusing on kindness needs to be a higher priority for everyone who cares about children.
In our cut-throat, competitive culture, where assertiveness and achievement are glorified and valued, focusing on developing kindness is often overlooked.
There are anti-bullying posters and speakers at most schools, but where is the message about the powerfully positive impact of kindness?
Parents and youth development professionals, including teachers, coaches, and camp staff, know that wording things positively and telling kids what we DO want them to do is far more effective than a list of “don’ts” and “nos.” So, why hasn’t this message translated into how we teach children to treat one another?
We’re talking with children a lot about not bullying each other, but we’re not talking with them enough about what we want them to be doing instead — which is, of course, to treat each other with respect and kindness. I propose that as parents and youth development professionals we flip the “anti-bullying” message into a “pro-kindness” one.
Ways to model and practice kindness
Get kids to focus on kindnesses that they have seen by asking them to point out kind acts they have witnessed or done.
Brainstorm with kids kind things they can do for others and help them follow through. Focus on small, easy kindnesses rather than huge things.
Talk with kids about how they feel after someone has done something kind for them or after they’ve done something kind for another person.
Questions to Ask Kids to Spur Conversations about Kindness
• Share something kind they’ve seen someone else do this past week.
• What’s the kindest thing someone has ever done for you?
• What are kind things we can do for our friends? Siblings? Parents? People we don’t know?
• How do you want to be remembered by your classmates and friends?
“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
— John Wooden
This topic is so important to Gold Arrow Camp and to Sunshine that she dedicated an entire chapter of her book, Happy Campers, to kindness: Camp Secret #8: Make it Cool to be Kind. Each chapter of Happy Campers ends with five different “Bringing Camp Home” activities to consider trying in your family.
More Kindness Ideas
Read (or listen to) Wonder by R.J. Palacio
One of GAC counselors’ favorite read-aloud books is R.J. Palacio’s Wonder. Consider reading (or listening – Audible version is free right now if you sign up for a free Audible trial) to Wonder individually or as a family read-aloud. Get some popcorn and have a family movie night to watch the movie version after you finish reading.
Do you like Pinterest? Check out Sunshine’s Kindness board.
Five Ways to Raise Kind Children, Greater Good Science Center
Being Kind Makes Kids Happy, Greater Good Science Center
The Power of Kindness, American Camp Association
Happiness Tip: Commit to Kindness (Christine Carter, Raising Happiness)
Camp T-Shirt Day
Camp T-Shirt Day is Tuesday, November 8th!
We invite all Gold Arrow families and staff to join us and other camps around the world as we celebrate International Wear Your Summer Camp T-Shirt Day on November 8th. Do you want to take part in the fun? It’s easy, just wear your favorite GAC shirt (or any GAC gear!), take a picture, upload it to social media, and use the hashtag #CampTShirtDay. If you tag us too (@goldarrowcamp), we’ll share some of our favorites on our Instagram. We can’t wait to see your best GAC gear! Learn more about Camp T-Shirt Day here.
Manhattan Beach 10K Highlights
The GAC Runners had another successful year at the Manhattan Beach 10K! Thank you to the campers, parents, staff, and alumni who represented GAC on the course and at the booth! There were lots of smiles from a happy runners crew. Also at this event, the winner of a free week at camp was selected from the many names of parents who completed their 2022 Parent Evaluation by September 10th! And the winner is… The Shallenberger Family. Congratulations!
If your school or town hosts a running event, let us know! We love to be a part of these community events.