Camp: East/Cummings Connection
YMCA Camp Pinewood Outdoor Education Center
This year, our team will be joining East Elementary 6th graders at Camp Pinewood on May 24th through the 25th. We will leave first thing when students arrive at school and return before buses leave on the 25th. We are very excited about our stay.
Please mark your calendars; more information to come as we get closer. There will be a meeting on April 20th at 6:30 in the Cummings’ gym for students and parents led by Bill Rankin, Camp Pinewood’s director. He will get into more details of what to expect. We will need approximately 10 chaperons from Cummings and another 10 from East. Adult chaperones will have to pay $21.00 for meals. We hope to get the cost down to $20.00 through conference sub sales and our PTC budgeted money for field trips. The $20.00 fee will pay for the camp staff who led activities, use of their cabins and other facilities, and a breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Currently, we have the cost down from $57.00 per student to $25.00 per student. With our spring sub-sales, we will need to earn $400.00 profit to get the cost down to $20.00 for all 80 students.
Our focus at camp is two-fold. We will have the theme of “I can face new challenges with a little help from my friends”. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to get to know other students in their 7th grade class, to say good-bye to their 6th grade experience, and to be prepared to take on new challenges. Also, we will tie in the science standard of ecosystems into some of our activities. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend the April Student/Parent meeting. Contact your student’s homeroom teacher if you have any questions.
Below are some of the activities that we will participate in:
TEAM BUILDING: Team Building initiatives at Camp Pinewood provide participants with the opportunity to explore their communication and cooperation skills while solving problems with a group in a controlled setting. Our Team Building initiatives are readily adapted to the specific needs of each group of participants, and are great tools for developing leadership, followership, and breaking down established cliques. The lessons learned on Camp Pinewood’s Team Building Course transfer easily to classroom, work, and social settings. Physical exertion can be adjusted based on needs or limitations of each group.
LOW ROPES: Before entering the Low Ropes Course at Camp Pinewood each participant must complete what we call our “trust sequence”, consisting of different trust leans, falls, etc. Developing trust with your teammates is a key to this activity, as each person’s safety will be dependent on those around them. The course itself consists of ten separate ropes elements, or obstacles, that connect two trees together. As one participant navigates the element, their peers move alongside in the “spotter’s position” to protect the climber from a fall. While developing trust in teammates, this activity also helps to build personal confidence as participants successfully complete each climb.
ADVENTURE HIKE: Camp Pinewood provides a beautiful backdrop for this wilderness adventure program. Our trained staff guide participants on a walk alongside Lake Echo, to swamps, marshes, creeks, and springs. Along the way campers learn hands-on about the woodland environment, with our lessons meeting Michigan State Science Standards. We also take the time to get our hands and feet a little dirty, crossing over logs, jumping streams, and going on salamander hunts! Pack an old pair of shoes for this trip!
CLIMBING TOWER: Pine Mountain is Camp Pinewood’s thirty foot climbing tower, and the setting for our climbing program. Climbers begin this class with lessons on climbing equipment, technique, and verbal commands. Once this background information has been taught, it’s up the wall you go! At Pine Mountain climbers are encouraged to set their own goals, and success does not always mean getting to the top. As with all of our activities, climbing is a “challenge by choice” program, meaning that while encouragement will be offered, no climber will be forced to go further then they wish to go.
CANOEING: Canoeing is a classic camp activity, teaching both teamwork and communication while opening up a world of adventure for young paddlers. Camp Pinewood’s trained staff will teach canoeing basics like parts, terminology, and paddle strokes while still on land, leaving ample time to practice on Lake Echo, our forty-five acre, spring fed lake. Life jackets are provided, and everyone looks great in orange!
SURVIVAL: If you were lost in the woods, what would you do? Camp Pinewood’s survival program hopes to answer that question for our campers, while giving our participants a chance to continue their teambuilding skills in a unique survival situation. Resourcefulness and planning will be key lessons learned, as well as valuable information on fire building, water purification, and shelter construction.
ARCHERY: Archery has been a part of Camp Pinewood’s outdoor programs for over eighty years, and we continue that tradition with our archery program today. Bow and arrow safety will be covered as a part of this basic lesson, as well as parts and terminology. Each participant will then have the opportunity to find out if they are a “Robin Hood” archer as they set their sights on one of our three standing targets.
FISHING: Lake Echo is home to perch, blue gill, and large-mouth bass, and a great setting for both beginner and advanced fishermen. Our staff will lead instruction on parts of the rod and reel, appropriate bait, casting technique, and studies of the lake in general. By the end of this class, most of our participants will have the opportunity to take photos with the fish they catch, and all of them will have some wonderful “fish stories” to tell!
MID-LEVEL ROPES: At twelve feet high, Camp Pinewood’s Mid-Level Ropes Course gives participants ages ten and up the opportunity to step outside of their comfort zones, and into their challenge zone! Led by two certified staff members, each camper is given individual attention as they navigate through the obstacles of this circuit course. As a “challenge by choice” activity, each participant chooses their own level of difficulty, but all are guaranteed to come away feeling challenged in some way. A great empowerment tool!
NIGHT HIKE: One of our favorite activities! During Night Hikes Pinewood staff members lead groups of participants down woodland trails after nightfall. Using no flashlights to see, Night Hikes give campers the opportunity to be receptive to what the rest of their senses have to show them. A great deal of environmental education is shared along the hike, as well as myths, stories, and astronomy. A great way to end a wonderful day!