Camp

Hi Everyone!   It's not in my nature to go all political on you, but hearing the constant barrage of uncooperativeness in Washington of late, I began to wonder if these people had ever had a camp experience, would they be behaving this way?   Frankly (which I always am!), I think a summer at camp would do them and this country a whole lotta good!   To that end, I've put together a list of reasons why I think all of our Representatives, Senators and even the President should go to camp and why we would be better off!

Recess is much more than a break between classes or subjects at the elementary level.   And now the American Academy of Pediatrics has an official stance advocating that recess remain or be reinstated in our schools.   Thos of us in the camping world who constantly see the endless benefits of an outside physical experience could not agree more!

Recess has rapidly disappeared from the scheduling of many of our elementary schools for a variety of reason - security concerns, bullying events, equipment safety questions - but primarily to free up more time for academic classroom work and perhaps test preparation under the pressures of the No Child Left Behind protocol.   Many of us in the youth development arean of camping have suggested that the No Child Left Behind elements have really translated into a no child allowed outside mentality.

Each year as we gear up for another great summer at WeHaKee, we often hear the unfortunate lament from some of our older girls that they really want to return to camp, but feel they can't because of the need to enroll in summer pre-AP (advanced placement) or IB (international baccalaureate) classes and activities that will improve the chances of getting into a college of their choice.   One recent article explores the rate of diminishing returns countering the push to take more & more AP ir IB classes! Another article suggests that this is a significant misconception as the continued summer camp experience provides a comprehensive set of opportunities to help girls and young women be much better prepared on the whole for the college community experience!   

Diversity can come in a multitude of forms.   Of course we can think of diversity in terms of culture, race, ethnicity, socio-economic, geographic and so much more.   Today we are visiting diversity in a more micro sense or from the internal perspective ~ diversity from within!

FOTO FRIDAY continues with some more great shots from our WeHaKee family!   Congratulations to those who submitted the photos we selected for this week ~ Thank You!

If you none of your shared photos have been selected yet, don’t be discouraged! We keep all your photos and there is a good chance one or more may be selected in the future.   AND, we will soon be announcing some twists to our contest for future weeks, such as Friendship Week (featuring photos of camp friends), Nature Week (photos of the natural setting around WeHaKee), and WWW (Where in the World is WeHaKee – featuring photos of WeHaKee clothing being worn in different locations throughout the world!).   So stay connected!

Please continue to submit your photos no matter if you have done so already or not!   If you have photos on Facebook or other locations we can access, let us know and we will consider those as well!

Well, here are our FOTO FRIDAY  pics for Friday, October 28th ~ Enjoy!

We came across a couple of interesting articles this past week that has us thinking of summer jobs!   Already?   It’s only October!   It’s never to early to think summer and in this tight economy, thinking summer work is not a bad idea at all!   Consider this:

WELCOME to our first installment of FOTO FRIDAY!   We have had a great initial response, but what we have received so far makes us want even more of your pics!   If you haven’t shared any photos, now is the time!   If you have already shared some of your photos, you can always share more. And if one of your photos has already been selected for FOTO FRIDAY you can still enter more!

To maintain a broad outlook, we follow a number of writers who post online and elsewhere.   One particular set of writers, Marc and Angel Hack, provide a unique and refreshingly positive view on how one can personally lead a more positive and productive life.   They recently wrote a piece on creating your own good luck which seemed in line with much of what we try to instill at WeHaKee (click HERE to read their article). We thought we would reflect on their thoughts.   Enjoy!