A staff member and camper greet eachother with a big hug

Summer 2022 – The Start of Camp!!

07.01.2022

Camp Has Begun And So Have Our Newsletters!

It doesn’t feel like summer until you’re at 40 Krouner Rd!! Two days ago, the season officially kicked off when campers began to trail in through the front gates. In an instant, a sleepy morning warmed into a spirited assortment of  ‘welcome backs’ and huge hugs. Everyone, new or returning, could feel the Warmth, Tradition, and Spirit radiating from all our staff. It was officially the OPENING DAY OF CAMP!

My name is Amir Alexander, I am the Communications Coordinator here at camp. This is my first year in THE 12123 and I couldn’t be happier to be here! I am overjoyed to keep you updated on all of the AMAZING things happening at camp every week. Each blog will feature photos and videos captured by members of our Communications Team, Tolú (photo) and Freya (video)

We will send out email reminders each week on Friday with a link to our blog so you can get the latest updates on everything Schodack.

Staff and campers are holding up a sign that reads Senior 3 boys

Here is what you should expect every week…

  • Overviews, recaps, and details about one-of-a-kind Schodack events, activities, tournaments, and more!
  • Excerpts from the Schodack Scoop, Camp’s own daily newspaper written by the Communications Coordinator (me!) Our campers and staff love beginning their day with the only daily, breakfast-table newspaper in Nassau, New York!
  • Mini-blog posts from each Division Head, featuring a glimpse of what their division did that week!
  • We will also have a Division Spotlight focusing on one Division with something awesome they did each week – Starting with Junior Camp next week!

Each of our weekly newsletters will also feature a video round-up of all the fun here at camp.

Video of the First 24 Hours

Special Events

As always, we rounded off the first night of camp with the Counselor Show! Campers and staff gathered in The Playhouse for a night of laughs, dances, and a big surprise musical reveal. There was a special rendition of  “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from The Krouner Family Band, Sketches, and Stand-up acts from our counselors. Junior Camp Counselors came clad in their cowboy best and danced to Cotton Eye Joe.

There were music videos and title sequences, and dazzling dance troops. There was even a surprise appearance from the Queen of England… in cardboard form! It was also revealed that the musical this summer will be FROZEN! This story of sisterhood, singing snowmen, and magical ice powers will be sure to cool us off a bit! The entire event was organized by our excellent SPEC, Eli Wasserman!

The Next Day…

Yesterday, camp was in full swing. At Camper Choice, first-year campers got to meet their ‘bigs’ and spent part of the afternoon bonding with their older ‘camp siblings’. Stay tuned at the end for photos of some of our bigs and littles! After a fun day of activities and a delicious dinner, the 12th Annual Night at The Races was held. Each division took part in relay races! It was the best way to round off the first full day at camp.

 

Division Write-Ups

Junior Boys

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Acorn Boys
Beech Boys
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Cypress Boys
Dogwood Boys
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Hickory Boys

Junior camp has had an AMAZING first 48 hours! Here are some highlights:

The Counselor Show on our first night had us laughing out of our seats, and smiling watching our counselors on stage.

We went down to the lake and the banana boat was so much fun in the sun.
The Dogwood Boys in B are shooting hoops on the JCP (Junior Camp Playground)
The Acorns boys loved creating and decorating chocolate chip cookies with the Acorn girls in cooking.
The Cypress Boys of B1a expressed such great teamwork at low ropes!
The Beech Boys, weren’t surfin’ USA but were running around the Garden at Night at the Races, our first night activity.
The Hickory boys had amazing skills at baseball and were teaching their Australian DH all the rules.

– Gooi

Junior Boys are off to a fun start to the summer, excited for all the 2022 camp adventures we have in store!

Junior Girls

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Acorn Girls
Beech Girls
Cypress Girls
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Dogwood Girls
Hickory Girls

The first 48 hours back in the 12123 has exceeded all possible expectations. Watching the Junior girls start their time at camp has been such an incredible sight filled with lots of cheers and laughs.

All five of the bunks (Acorn, Beech, Cypress, Hickory, and Dogwood) have been having a blast. They have all already been to the lake and had an amazing time waterskiing, kneeboarding, wakeboarding, and using the ‘small’ boats.

  • The Acorns have been having lots of nail painting parties along with flipping around at gymnastics.

  • The Beech girls are filled with energy and have been having so much fun running around and trading Jibbitz.

  • The Cypress girls are always dancing around the bunk (also around camp)!

  • The Hickory girls had so much fun at their gymnastics activity period and can’t wait to go back for campers’ choice!

  • The Dogwood girls had so much fun at the pool playing with the giant beach ball and noodles!

Overall, we have had such an amazing first couple of days of camp. We are ready to have the best summer and continue to make more memories each day!

xoxo, Morgan

Middle Boys

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Mahogany Boys
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Redwood Boys
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Sequoia Boys

The Middle Boys are SO excited to finally be at their second home after waiting ten long months! The summer has only just begun and here are some of the fun things the Middle Boys have done so far!

-All Middle Boys enjoyed the counselor show – the middle boys’ staff performed an awesome dance to a catchy pop song!
-We have loved the night snack of yummy cookies on one night and candy canteen on the other. While enjoying the snacks, the boys got to share their “highs” of the day.
-All Super Junior boys have enjoyed playing with each other both in their bunks in addition to the Junior Camp Playground—which is right next door!
-The Redwood Boys really enjoyed the first days of activities and got to try out the climbing tower! A lot of them even made it to the top!
-The Mahogany Boys got to enjoy gymnastics! The staff there were teaching the boys how to do flips on the trampoline!
-The Sequoia Boys have had such a fun time doing activities. Some favorites of theirs have been tennis, arts and crafts, and archery!

– Jeremy

Middle Girls

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Mahogany Girls
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Redwood Girls
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Sequoia Girls
Willow Girls

 

After waiting all year to be back at camp, the Middle Girls had the best time catching up with friends and making new ones. All four bunks have settled into camp beautifully!

  • All four Middle Girls bunks; Sequoia, Mahogany, Redwood and Willow took part in ice breakers to get to know each other that much better.
  • We had our first letter writing day of the summer…so look forward to getting those letters through the post soon!
  • All four bunks had a day full of activities, armed with our water bottles and sunscreen. We have been blessed with some beautiful sunshine!
  • The Sequoia Girls took part in a really fun Tennis period followed by a classic game of GaGa which was a hit!
  • The Redwood Girls showed off some of their best and creative artwork in the art shack and in their Camper Choice periods by braiding all kinds of friendship bracelets!
  • The Willow Girls have enjoyed their first activity period on the climbing wall and impressed Andrew our Activity Counsellor Supervisor at their softball session today!
  • The Mahogany Girls have already began planning their sketch for the upcoming talent show and are excited to begin rehearsals!
  • All the girls had their swim tests and enjoyed some free swim after, splashing around with pool noodles and playing ‘keep it up.
  • To end their first full day at camp, the Middle Girls had an awesome night activity called ‘A Night at the Races’. Each bunk participated in relay races, including the bunk staff, and the Mahogany Girls won the night!

We’ve had such a great opening and first day of camp, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for the Middle Girls.

Linzy Harte, Middle Girls DH

Upper Camp

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Senior 1 Boys
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Senior 2 Boys
Senior 3 Boys
Senior 4 Boys

Upper Camp Boys

The senior boys are excited for another summer at the 12123 and have already had a jam-packed first 48 hours! Here are a few of the highlights:

  • Once everyone was settled into their bunks and met with their counselors, all of the senior boys met in the quad for “Quad Time” where we had spike ball tournaments, dodgeball, and card games on the porch. 
  • All senior boys enjoyed the counselor show – One of the senior counselors even performed an original dance from the one and only “dance crew.”
  • We loved the night snack of JUMBO cookies where all the boys got to share their highs of the day with their bunk. 
  • Senior 1 boys had a very active first full day of camp with soccer, flag football, and an intense basketball game where even the bunk counselors joined in!
  • Senior 2 boys got a little groovy in their first activity starting with dance, then making some cookies in cooking, then made it all the way to the diamond for some baseball.
  • Senior 3 boys started the day off with lacrosse, then made their way to our new fitness facility for the gym, and finally made their way to baseball.
  • Senior 4 boys started the day off at volleyball, played some basketball with the counselors, and learned a new dance during our dance activity period.
  • All of the Senior boys finished the day at our LAKE!!! Everyone got to try and wakeboard or use the banana boat, lots of swimming, and we even brought out our new mega paddleboard! 

Upper Camp Girls

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Senior 1 Girls
Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
Senior 2 Girls
Senior 3 Girls

After waiting so long to be back at camp, the Senior girls had the best time catching up with friends and making new ones. All three bunks settled back into their summer home.

  • All three Senior girls’ bunks all took part in ice breakers to get to know each other that bit better. As well as putting up their ‘camp walls’ and fairy lights, making the bunk look all cozy.
  • We had our first letter-writing day of the summer – so look forward to getting those letters through the post very soon!
  • All three bunks had a day full of activities, armed with our water bottles and sunscreen ready for a fun day in the sun.
  • All the girls had their swim tests and look forward to going to the lake this weekend.
  • The Senior 2 girls had their first cooking session of the summer, making some really tasty-looking cookies.
  • The Senior 3 girls showed off some of their best and most creative artwork in the art shack.
  • The Senior 1 girls had their first swim period of the summer. Showing off their impressive swimming skills in a top bunk v bottom bunk relay race.
  • To end their first full day at camp, the Senior girls had a fun night activity called Night at the Races. Each bunk took part in some intense relay races and had so much fun.

We’ve had such a great opening and first day of camp, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for the Upper girls – Jess

LTs

Group of campers and their counselors gathered for a photo. They are seated on a bench and a forest is in the background.
CITS
Waiters

The LTs have had an excellent start to camp. The first bus pulled into camp at 11:03 AM. By 12:15 PM the dining hall had been transformed by the second-year LTs to be ready for the hungry campers.

At 1:00 PM precisely they opened the doors and welcomed in the diners for the first meal – the traditional grilled cheese, timed to perfection by Chefs Gary and Michal – with tomato soup and orzo! The LTs absolutely dominated the service providing ‘stomp-clap’ accompaniment to the overall noisy decibels!

You could have walked into the dining hall five minutes into the lunch and thought that we were midsummer already! Credit to LTCs Jayna and Braden and a committed, dedicated staff – but really it was the second years who performed.

Picking up the baton in smooth fashion, the first years performed brilliantly on debut with a fully effective all-for-one attitude. This segues neatly into the first big all-camp event of the summer this Sunday – All For One, a special event for the whole camp, run exclusively by the first years and in which the second years try to inspire the rest of camp into great feats of skill and stamina!

Tonight, the eponymous LT Shirts were handed out; summer bucket list items written down and, rumor has it, Talent Show scripts began to be written. Second years are debuting in the bunks as we send this Newsletter to you. We are all very excited for the summer!

Big/Little Meet-ups!

First-time campers loved spending time with their Big Brothers and Sisters during a Camper Choice!

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And with that, you are all caught up on everything that happened on the first day of camp! We are so excited for the summer ahead. The Communications Team and I will be around all summer to capture all the great things that happen here at Schodack.