As campers roll through their first full day at Discover, they face several exciting challenges. The first is waking up for breakfast. After an evening of icebreakers, moving in their belongings, and orienting themselves with campus on Sunday, campers go to breakfast at 8:00 a.m. There, they have their pick of eggs, bacon, pancakes, cereal, bagels, yogurt, and more – all buffet style.
At 8:30 a.m., it’s off to class! This year classes include yoga, mock trials, geometry, drumming, engineering, storytelling, and many others. Discover campers are placed into four of their classes based on their preferences, with each running 90 minutes. In between their studies, they have time to play outside with our counselors or relax and talk with new friends.
At noon, it’s lunch time. Just like breakfast, many options are available, with menus that change daily. Staples include a sandwich bar, rice bowls, soups, salads, and (of course) pizza. After 45 minutes of eating, it’s time to go to the final two classes of the day.
At 4:15 p.m., the campers return to Florence Schneider Hall. Each afternoon, counselors ask each camper a question of the day. I asked my kids which counselor was the oldest today (I got some hilarious responses). Then, the kids are into the dorms for hall meetings, where we go over the evening schedule.
We had our first day of Optionals on Monday. Optionals are activities planned by counselors, and despite the name, every camper participates. Optionals for the first day were friendship bracelet making, game room, a campus tour, soccer, pool noodle fencing, tag, and basketball. I did the campus tour with counselor Jack C., where we explained some of Western Kentucky University’s history. During the tour, we had our campers roll down one of our campus hills. While the campers may be rolling down, we are certainly not wrapping up. We are just getting started here at Camp Discover!
– Evie E., counselor
