By Sara Rastoder
Sunday, June 11th was the day campers and counselors alike had been waiting for – it was SCATS move-in day! While check-in can be a both exciting and nerve-wracking time for the incoming campers, everything went smoothly and they immediately reunited with old friends and began meeting new ones. After unpacking their belongings and meeting with their counselors about rules and expectations, the camp headed to Downing University Center for dinner. The campers sat with their halls and counselors during dinner to get to know one other. I loved getting to talk to all of my campers and listening to them make connections with one another, from the tests they have to take in school to how there (thankfully!) isn’t homework they have to do at camp.
After dinner, we all headed to Gary Ransdell Hall where SCATS orientation was held. Dr. Roberts introduced the campers to all of the counselors and went over important things to keep in mind at camp, like being respectful to everyone they meet on campus and the precautions we must take to stay safe during their time here. Once orientation was over, the halls took a campus tour to learn where their classes would be. The campers were relieved that three of the four classroom buildings were all right next to each other!
After showing the campers all of the important building we will use during camp, the counselors took them to the South Lawn where we held icebreakers! I helped run the Animal Name Game icebreaker, where campers must think of an animal that’s first letter starts with the same letter as their name, as well as recite everyone else’s name and animal before their own. Campers really got creative with the animal names, picking interesting animals like “mongoose” or “newt,” and one camper took the mythical route and picked “sphinx!” Other icebreakers included Telephone (where they whisper a phrase to one another in a circle and see how it changed based on how others heard it) and a game where they had the name of a celebrity on a Post-It note put on their head and others had to give them hints about who they are, among other fun games.
After the campers hit each of the seven icebreaker stations, we came back to Florence Schneider Hall where we had hall time (where campers can interact with their hall and other halls on their wing) until the 9:30 room time call. All of the campers seemed tired from an eventful day but very excited for the two weeks ahead and all that it holds!