The greatest treat of the summer – we hosted CCPS’s Humble Warriors camp again this June! Thanks to Stephanie Dale for founding the camp and bringing it to ThorpeWood! In the first week of camp, many of last year’s girls returned to be trained as counselors, and get a special couple extra days of camp. It was a true delight to see so many familiar smiles. The brilliance of bringing back last year’s campers really appeals to us farm folk for a few reasons:
First, what a way to empower these girls who need some extra support! Being the older girls, the counselors, the role models is such a boost to the developing self-esteem of these middle school girls.
Second, we know that when kids step off a school bus into an unfamiliar place, they look to each other and their teachers to know how to behave. When the new campers see the older girls feeling at ease, friendly with the farm staff, and engaged in all things camp, they settle in so much faster and with more confidence.
Third, we farm folk really value continued relationships with our program participants. One lone visit to the farm is nice – a beautiful moment in time. But the magic of the farm is best experienced with multiple visits – when visitors start to view the farm as a place to count on, a safe haven, a home-away-from-home. How meaningful it is to know that these new girls will be back again come next June! The relationships we developed during this week of camp will maintain and grow into next year.
To recap our 7 glorious days together, camp was a beautiful smorgasbord of activities centered around knowing yourself better and how to care for that self. These activities were rooted in our homestead barn, the girls’ homebase for camp. Here, they spent their days doing yoga, journaling, painting, and thinking about their identities and futures. Outside of the barn, the girls visited with our farm animals, painted the horses, hiked, played in the stream, rock hunted, cruised down the slip n’ slide, fished, row boated, and more – all nature and animal based activities that are restorative to the soul.
We farm folk so enjoyed our time with these Humble Warriors.
Until next year…
