Camp: Making the Connection
YMCA Camp Pinewood Outdoor Education Center
Your teachers have already met with Camp Pinewood Director, Eric Bengston, to plan your end of the year camp trip. All Grandville 6th grade classes will be attending a 2 night 3 day camp experience this coming May. Cummings 6th grade will attend with East 6th grade on May 9th – 11th. Besides some of the below listed activities, we will be incorporating our ecology science standard and having the Eco Bus come to camp with us! What an amazing experience this will be. Our students will be able to meet fellow 2018 classmates for the first time which will help to ease nerves about moving on to 7th grade and we will be out in nature for 2 1/2 days experiencing the various ecosystems in a thorough way through hands on experiments!
The cost for 6 meals + snacks, all the activities and facilities (really nice cabins with showers) is $85.00 per student. After putting the money that the PTC has given us for the year towards that, the cost for each of the 65 students is brought down to $70.00 per student. We are hoping to have a parent/student fundraising committee to help bring that cost down even lower. Also, it would be good to have your student do odd jobs to earn some of their way towards camp; as they earn money, stick it away to be pad mid-April. We would like to have the final cost down to $40.00 per camper. However, if there is a student whose family cannot afford the the final cost is deducted from the total, we will have some scholarships available to him or her. We will make sure that all students will be able to go.
If you would like to be apart of the fundraising committee, please contact your student’s homeroom teacher.
We will need parents (or others 21 or older that have filled out a background check with Grandville Public) to chaperon groups and cabins. We have had some parents share chaperoning a cabin with one parent coming 1 1/2 days and the other the second 1 1/2 days. We have some come after work, stay for the night, and leave the next morning. Others have come just for the day. Adult chaperon space is limited. Adult chaperons only have to pay for the camp meals they eat. These cost $8.00 per meal. So, if a chaperon comes for the entire time and eats 6 meals, that would cost a total of $48.00. Please, contact your student’s homeroom teacher if you have any questions. (We will need approximately 10 chaperons from Cummings and another 10 from East.)
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 ecology science standard into our 3 days with the Eco bus coming to us at camp! Contact your student’s homeroom teacher if you have any questions.
Below are some of the possible 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.
Fishing/Archery
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!
Check out our last year’s camp video!
