Hello Hello!
I must first apologize for the tardiness of this post! I
should have posted this end of season report sooner! Personally, adjusting to
the new season has been busy and time consuming, preventing me from sitting
down and writing. However, I still think it is not only important to write
about summer, but also life-giving! And so, let’s reminisce about the previous
season:
To put it simply, camp was awesome. And I mean that in the
total sense of the word. I am still in awe with regard to how well camp ran,
and how our staff worked, how each person loved each other and this place, and
the goodness that God blessed us with. After giving my summer report to the
board, they reminded me that there is truly something incredible about this
statistic: no campers left camp early due to homesickness. It seems that I had
forgotten why we don’t want kids to get homesick. It’s not because we don’t
like dealing with homesickness, but rather because we (camp staff) want every
camper to love Shekinah as much as we do. We want Shekinah to be a second home
for campers the same way it is for us.
And so, our staff that worked towards this goal this year
included 1 kitchen coordinator, 8 full time counsellors, 10 counsellors in
training, and a great deal of support from volunteers. Allison Schmidt was our
kitchen coordinator for the second year in a row, doing a tremendous job with
the menu and kitchen organization. Our returning counselors were Meghan Wiens,
Nora Pederson, Jenae Funk, and Matt Schellenberg. Or new counselors were Brita
Pederson, Ryan Wiens, Dylan Longhurst, and Bandon Janzen. One interesting quirk
about our counselors is their love for travel and service. 6 of our counselors
have travelled to Guatemala either with Rosthern Junior College Alternative Learning
Service Opportunity week or Canadian Mennonite University’s Outta Town program.
Speaking of the Outta Town program, 2 of our male staff have been on the
program previously, and the other 2 are now currently studying with the
program. The 2 staff who did not spend time in Guatemala spent time learning
and serving in Granada. The counselors used their experience with service to
serve the campers, even sharing their stories during our Bible time. This
summer’s curriculum was all about peace; peace with self, peace with others,
world peace, and peace with creation. The counselors took on the responsibly of
leading a full week of bible for our Sr. Teen camp. They used the curriculum as
a basis, but relied on their personal experiences with peace. It was truly
incredible to see the staff enjoy taking such a responsibly.
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| (Left to Right, Top Row: Dylan, Ryan, Matt, Brandon. Bottom Row: Nora, Brita, Meghan, Jenae) |
We also had a superb group of 10 counsellors-in-training:
Adelle Sawatzky, Dannica Funk, Hailey Funk, Jadyn Lennea, Kaitlin Kolbe, Jesse
Neufeld, Zachary Stefanuik, Avery Leblanc, Marcus Kruger, and Conner Friesen.
This group of high school students quickly bonded together and began to care
for and encourage each other. The C.I.T’s loved spending their time at
Shekinah, being a part of the family, and working with the campers. One great
thing about our group of C.I.T’s this summer was that they all returned to be
campers during our Sr. Teens week! Sr. Teen’s landed up being our fullest week
this summer with 33 campers total. Our Jr. Teen’s weeks combined had 40
campers, and our Children’s weeks combined had 30 campers. Our total camper
number ended up at 111, which is a little less than 2014. Of course, there is the long list of volunteers that made
this summer possible, and better than ever. Volunteers can spend time with us,
either in the kitchen, bible tent, or in spirit through our Camp Connections
program. This program just finished it’s 2nd summer running, and has
really begun to grow roots.
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| (Left to Right: Hailey, Adelle, Zachary, Marcus, Jesse, Avery, Connor, Jadyn, Kaitlin, Dannica) |
Already,
I’ve been talking with others and planning for Summer Camp 2016! I’m excited to
begin putting these conversations into action, including searching for a new
nature focused curriculum for our staff and campers. Yes, that does answer the
age-old-question of whether I plan to return for summer 2016 J I’m very excited about
continuing my leadership in the summer camp program. Since we’re still in the
planning stages, unfortunately I can’t announce much else right now, but stay
tuned in to our website, Facebook, and Instagram for updates throughout the
year! Like always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding
summer camp, feel free to contact me.
Take care for now,
Katie Wiebe
Summer Camp Program Director
Katie@shekinahretreatcentre.org
