News

Homesick and Happy Book Discussion Guide

May 6, 2021

Every child has to practice being independent and every parent has to practice letting his or her child be independent. -Michael Thompson, Ph.D., Homesick & Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow

Most kids feel some apprehension before going on their first adventure away from home without parents. Many parents are also nervous about the separation from their child, especially if your camper is expressing anxiety about going away to camp. The biggest source of parental concern is often how your child will handle the separation from you and if they will experience negative emotions, often referred to as “homesickness,” while at camp. While most kids do not feel extreme symptoms of homesickness at camp, many experience emotional challenges during their first (and subsequent) experiences at summer camp and other away-from-parent experiences. These feelings are normal and are something that we have helped many campers work through. Campers feel a great sense of accomplishment when they successfully overcome the challenge of homesickness, and we encourage you to view this experience through the lens of the long-term positive outcomes for your child. One of our favorite resources for first-time camp parents is Michael Thompson, Ph.D.'s book Homesick and Happy.  Parents will find this book helpful not only as you prepare to send your child to GAC this summer, but also as you think about and prepare your child for other future adventures away from you (like college!). We know many ... Read more

Sleepaway Camps Permitted to Open in CA!

March 12, 2021

We received good news this week. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has included "sleepaway camps" (resident camps like GAC) in businesses that are permitted to open (with COVID restrictions in place) this summer in counties that are in red, orange, or yellow tiers. The Director of CDPH also told a group of camp leaders that we can expect guidelines for resident camps by the end of this month. Unless an unlikely shift occurs in COVID-19 transmission rates in Fresno County, Gold Arrow Camp will be permitted to operate this summer. However, until we receive the state guidelines for sleepaway camps, we still don’t know the specific procedures we will need to follow this summer, and we won’t have all those details until the guidelines are released.  We are encouraged by reports of increased vaccine availability and the dramatic drop in COVID-19 transmission rates across California. We are optimistic that these trends will continue and will lead to eased restrictions and a return to more normalcy for all. Our US summer camp staff have been included in the CDC tier with education and childcare workers, and most of our staff will be fully vaccinated before camp starts.  We appreciate your continued patience and flexibility. While we would love to provide you with all the details about modifications we will be required to make this summer, we cannot do so until ... Read more

March GATA Webinar

March 4, 2021

For this month's Gold Arrow Teacher Academy (GATA) webinar on Wednesday, March 10 at 5pm PT/8pm ET, we are focusing on Growing Grit! Grit, which is another word to describe the important character trait of "resilience," is predictive of student well-being and success. In this webinar, we'll cover ideas and strategies for helping students grow the grit muscles they need to thrive both in and out of school. We know from decades of research that one of the most useful predictors of student success is how persistent they are when faced with a problem. This was catapulted into the public conversation by Angela Duckworth and her groundbreaking research on grit. Many of you have probably seen her TED talk in a professional development meeting! In this webinar, we'll share what we've learned about teaching kids to develop grit at camp and share ideas for how you can help kids develop grit and how you can recognize kids for using grit in your classroom. 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.

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Soy’s Well-Deserved Recognition

March 2, 2021

We are so lucky to have such amazing staff at Gold Arrow Camp, and every so often they are recognized for their incredible work outside of GAC. We want to take this opportunity to congratulate our very own Andy "Soy" Moeschberger on being awarded not one, not two, but three awards this year! He has worked so hard on many projects, especially legislative work to keep camps running and at the forefront of discussions amongst our political leaders. His work does not go unnoticed and we are so glad that it was noticed on a national level! Grant Gerson Service Award - WAIC (Western Association of Independent Camps) -The Grant Gerson WAIC Service Award pays tribute to those who make an extraordinary contribution to WAIC and to the advancement of the camp movement, and who have played an important role in the success of the association. Southern California/Hawaii Service Award - ACA SoCal/Hawaii (American Camp Association) -The Service Award is given as recognition to exceptional service to camping and the local area. National Service Award - ACA (American Camp Association) -This Service Award is designed to recognize continued and increasing service beyond the field/affiliate office level.