2-Day Tribals, Ultra Leagues, Frozen the Musical, and a Silent Disco Celebration!!

What an incredible week we’ve had in The 12123! The past 7 days have seen 2-Day Tribals fever take over the camp. We had the cast and crew of Frozen the Musical take the stage to put on an amazing show and we even finished out the week with our First Session Celebration, featuring a SILENT DISCO!

In addition to these special events, there have been activities, private sports lessons, Ultra-Leagues championship matches, and at the time of writing this intro, the whole camp is making their way to the Amphitheater for the first portion of the second leg of the Triple Crown – Lip Sync!

We really do pack so much into every minute here at Schodack, that sometimes it can be easy to overlook all the amazing moments that take place every day…All the camper choice competitions, all the high fives and cheers in the Dining Hall, the daily announcements from the Birthday King & Queen and everything in between that makes Schodack so special to all of us who get to live here each summer.

This newsletter is our way of sharing a little of that magic with all of you at home. We hope you like it!

2-Day Tribals!

Our annual 2-Day Tribals event took place this week and it kicked off with a Ghostbusters-themed ‘Break’ that involved, ghosts, ghostbusting, marshmallows, dancing LTs, and even an epic foam party!

Finally, Eli The SPEC, brought the hatchet down into the wood and announced that Tribals had begun! 2 Days of games, challenges and special events followed including Hatchet Hunt, Bucket Brigade, the Dashes, the Medleys, and finally, Rope Burning!

*The generals in ‘The Pit’ for Hatchet Hunt*

*The Generals, Captains, and Head Lieutenants in ‘The Pit’ after the event*

*Team spirit was high both days of the event*

Frozen The Musical

Led by our fantastic Drama Director, Rob, many of our campers came together after weeks of prep and rehearsals to put on a truly wonderful showing of Frozen the Musical. With an afternoon matinee for Upper Camp and the LTs followed by an evening showing to the rest of camp, we were all left spellbound by the performances and set design.

It may have been hot outside, but in the Playhouse this past week it was…FROZEN!

*Elsa (Brielle Goldman) singing ‘Let It Go’*

*Some of the backstage crew responsible for sound, light and set design*

Division Spotlight – Upper Camp

Senior Boys

It has been an amazing week for the Senior Boys with one of the highlights being 2 Day Tribals! The Ghostbusters were out in full effect to save us from the ghosts taking away camp spirit and cheer. The ghostbusters had an epic battle with a ghost who was soaring down the zipline. They tried to trap us in the hockey courts with their ectoplasm (foam party), but thankfully we all recharged with some ghost cookies. The Ghostbusters saved our camp spirit and cheer and 2 day tribals broke on Friday Night. They were split up in two teams – Green and White – to compete in a variety of events including the hatchet hunt, the medleys, plaque making, and much more! After 2 full days of competing, the White team came out victorious! We then finished 2 day by all coming together and singing ‘Friends’ to mark the end of a great weekend.

Another highlight of the week was a fun day trip to the Movies! The boys loaded up on all the popcorn, candy, and drinks to watch ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ in our own private theater! We then had a yummy picnic lunch before we headed back to camp for some fun in the sun. All of the upper camp enjoyed some time on our water slide, had a huge water fight in the quad, and had plenty of pick-up basketball games in the garden. It was such a fun and beautiful day!

We have also been having a lot of fun during our normal activity periods. Senior 1 boys have been spending a lot of time in the garden playing pick-up basketball and of course their favorite game of ‘2 ball’. The Senior 2 boys were just telling me of an epic euro handball game they had during one of their rec periods. Senior 3 boys have been looking like they’re ready to try out for the next fast and furious movie as they have been having a blast at Scho-Karts. Lastly, our Senior 4 boys were dialing in their shots at archery where even a few of the campers competed in the Golden Arrow event!

The Senior Boys have been hard at work preparing for another amazing triple crown event, Lip Sync! They have been spending a lot of time creating different mashups, working on new choreography, and even finding new costumes and props for the show! The boys are very excited for the event and to show everyone what they have been working on!

Senior Girls

The Senior Girls have had a brilliant time this week at Schodack! Packed with fun-filled activities and some glorious weather.

2 Day Tribals was upon us and after several fakes had already taken place, it was finally time for the break! All of camp enjoyed some special Tribals cookies after we all ran from night activity to the rec hall steps to see 2 Day break and the color war begin. The first day of Tribals was packed with so much excitement. The Senior 1 girls gained some serious points with a thrilling game of steal the bacon. The Senior 2 Girls showed off their immense skills at Basketball. With the Senior 3 girls putting up an incredible display in Volleyball.

Next up we had the dashes which saw Allie Richman show off an incredible run for the Senior girls. Nothing was left as the girls sprinted over the line. A super fun afternoon was had by all, with a Senior 2 and 3 girls’ game of water basketball. All the girls loved it and played hard, earning points for their teams. At the end of the night we all sang friends and said goodbye to another year of 2 day.

Monday morning saw a fresh week here at Schodack, the sun was shining, and the senior girls were ready for the day. The morning started with rec periods, Kickball, Triple Crown, and Dance. All the senior girls enjoyed a Tennis period in the sun, playing some intense games as well as some super fun games of jail. The Senior 1 girls had Team Handball and really got into it. The Senior 2 girls had an intense game of Gaga and the Senior 3 girls had a fun climbing period.

To finish off our fun week, the girls all went on trip day. We watched the new Minions movie, enjoying candy and popcorn. Then we headed back to camp for a water fight and time on the water slide to cool off in the Schodack sun. For night activity we had spec viewing and showed off how well our lip sync ideas were coming along.

Wednesday all the senior girls had a fun day in the sun and practicing hard for lip sync. They had some exciting activity periods and then ended the day with flashlight sing. We had the best time singing songs on a certain topic. We all had such a fun day and the best week here at camp. I can’t wait for lip sync and whatever else next week has in store.

Division Write-Ups

Junior Boys

This week was a doozy!

So many fun activity periods and many more camper choices. With the sun in the sky and smiles on our faces, we steered ourselves in any direction we chose.

The Acorn boys loved the warm weather and were splish-splashing in the pool during blister day!

The Beech Boys bowled so many strikes on our trip day bowling and loved the new Minion’s movie!

The Cypress Boys had a whirl at the lake this week, with many rounds on the banana boat.

The Dogwood Boys tore up the dance floor at The Celebration at our cool silent disco and feasted on the sweet treats after.

The Hickory Boys enjoyed their last week of camp, from arts and crafts to archery, doing all the activities one last time. They just could not wait to see how their tie-dye t-shirts turned out. See you all next summer boys!

Can’t wait to see all of you perform in Lip Sync!

How is the summer halfway through already?

So excited to welcome all our new friends this Sunday!

Junior Girls

The Acorn and Junior Girls had an amazing week to round out the first session of camp! The week started with lots of Schodack cheers during two-day tribals, even though the bunks were split into two we all came together and had so much fun.

The trip day this week was movies and bowling, all of Junior camp was ecstatic to watch the new minions movie that just came out. We filled out bellies with lots of popcorn and candy 🙂

The Acorn girls have been getting ready to perform the Fight Song for Lip Sync. They had a lot of fun flipping around at gymnastics and making it all the way to the top of the climbing tower.

The Beech girls had so much fun at the celebration last night and then got to play hide and seek in the bunk before the lights went out. They are taking the stage this afternoon to the song Uptown Girl!

The Cypress girls are taking the role of Shrek characters and doing one of the songs for Lip Sync. Their counselors choreographed such a good performance and they have been hard at work, extremely excited to show the camp.

The Dogwood girls have been loving flashlight time, being able to hang out in the bunk on each other’s beds with some occasional dance parties is always lots of fun. They are more than ready to perform their song from Austin & Ally today for Lip Sync.

You can usually find the Hickory girls outside their bunk at the tetherball courts, but this week they have been practicing for Lip Sync. They are doing a song from Zombies 2 and have shown great excitement to show the camp what they’ve been working on.

The first session ended in a blink of an eye, we are sad to say farewell to all of our friends who are only first half, but so happy we had the best time ever! We can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds!

Middle Boys

A Big Hello from the Middle Boys here at Schodack! This has been a hot yet fun-filled week with so many exciting things happening!

Two day tribals broke after the campers helped save some ghostbusters from the ghosts who were trying to take away all of the fun! During night activity, all of the campers ran to the welcome center where they ate delicious cookies with a ghost design on it. And then made their way to the hockey court, where they were able to play in a soapy foam party! They were then escorted to the Well, where they were made aware of what team they were placed on. During tribals, the Middle Boys enjoyed playing basketball, tennis, archery, a water fight and much more!

We also had a great time during our second trip day! The boys went to the bowling ally and watched the new Minions movie. Many strikes were scored, prizes won at the mini arcade and laughs were made throughout the movie! It was a great day for all of us here at camp!

The play Frozen was such an entertaining show! A few of middle boys performed in it and it was awesome coming down to support friends and fellow campers. Although the outside temps were scorching hot, the playhouse sure was FROZEN, adorned with snowflakes and white treetops!

All bunks have had a wonderful time in the Art Shack this week tye-dying shirts! They had so many different colors to choose from and their final designs are all so creative and unique.

The Sequoia Boys have been enjoying all activities. They’ve been hard at work with the next event of Triple Crown…Lip Sync! They are trying to bring home another first place dub with their terrific act! They are showing great teamwork by putting their heads together to create a fun show.

The Redwood Boys love spending their time at various activities and their bunk playing all sorts of games! They also enjoy heading beautiful horsesup the Coral Hill to ride the b. They’re loving the lake and have had such a fun blast riding on the banana boat.

The Mahogany Boys have had a blast in all activities. They are always balling out on the Junior Camp Playground and vibing with each other. They had a fun time at the night activity ‘Just A Minute’ where they had to speak about a niche topic for a whole minute, without taking any pauses.

We can’t believe this week is already coming to a close! We know that more fun is up ahead and are soaking in each and every moment!

Warmly,

Jeremy Schmelkin

Middle Girls

The Middle Girls had a brilliant time this week at Schodack! Packed with fun filled activities and some super sunny weather.

2-Day Tribals was upon us and after several fakes had already taken place, it was finally time for the break! The whole camp helped the Ghost Busters to defeat the ghostly villains with the help of a foam machine, and then 2-day had begun! The first day of Tribals was packed with so much excitement, with the favourite of the challenges being the Bucket Brigade which became an impromptu water fight which all of the girls enjoyed!

The fun didn’t stop there! The Middle girls were amazing in the Medley’s, and we saw Cami Elkin from the Redwood Girls take home the win for her division! The fun continued into the week, with an amazing trip day where we went bowling and then to the movies!

The Mahogany girls have had an exciting week getting prepared for Lip Sync, and we can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with! Not only that, but they also won the Cleanliness Cup this week, winning the prize of pouring water all over their Division Head (me!)

The Redwood Girls are sad to be saying goodbye to some of their bunkmates as the end of first session draws in, but have cherished their time together this week enjoying all of the activities that Camp has had on offer! Many Redwood Girls received awards this week for their participation and skills in their favourite activities!

The Sequoia girls too are saying farewell to some dear friends this week, but have been making the most of their time together this week. Highlights have included pool time, and Becca Lehman and Mia Barahona winning awards for their skill and dedication in cooking class!

The Willow Girls have had an amazing week getting ready for the next leg of triple crown, and have been excited to welcome some additional members at the start of 2^nd session! They are excited to show the camp what they’ve worked on and are hoping for a win!

We had the best week here at camp and can’t wait to for lip sync and whatever else next week has in store.

– Linzy!

LTs

The LTs have had another amazing week here at camp. 2-Day Tribals was an incredible event with the highlights perhaps Waiter Handball and the now legendary CIT Water Basketball. The latter in particular was as hard fought and thrilling as any in living memory.

The LTs were seen to full effect on Tuesday and Thursday – when our staff takes their day off. They are learning at a rapid rate and the reports from campers, staff and head staff alike have been overwhelmingly positive. The second year LTs just received their ‘permanent’ assignments this morning – just before Lip Sync began – campers and LTs are equally excited.

The LTs will next be ‘on parade’ this weekend organizing the arrival, welcome and unpacking of the Second Session Campers on Sunday. Before that we will undertake the grandest task in our long history on Saturday – full details to come next week as we go on in our pursuit of Sunsets and Wins!

Either way, the long-awaited trip to Lake Placid is set for Monday and Tuesday – we emailed parents details this morning – please check, as there is also a waiver to be signed and returned!