Live Out Loud with HYPE Teen Camp!

What’s all the HYPE about?  As your Summer Camp Guru, I’m proud to say that our Teen Camp has been named HYPE, which stands for, “How Youth Pursue Excellence.”  The Y believes in providing somewhere for your teen to discover how great they can be!  We want to help them grow, prepare them for high school, and be ready to handle the things that life will throw at them.  We want them to learn how to LIVE OUT LOUD!  Never underestimate the impact a summer camp program can have.  Centered on service learning projects, leadership skills, self-worth, active lifestyles, and full of fun, your middle school teen can hang out with us and develop character traits that will help make them positive role models.  

 I thought you might want a preview of each week’s theme, so here you go…

 The summer will kick off with what we call “The Y-Factor!”  This week the teens will have a chance to participate in activities and games that will challenge them and help them achieve goals as a team and also as an individual, including a field trip to Bancroft Bible Camp for zip lines, gigantic slide, climbing wall, octaball, and human foosball!  I know what you are thinking…Can I come too? 

Week two will be spent exploring the great outdoors with “The Discovery Channel.”  The teens will share a wide array of activities and games that allow them to question and explore the world around them, complete with a spelunking trip at Appalachian Caverns!

Week three finds us in the world of “Game Shows,” with all your favorites!  From Double Dare to Family Feud, the teens will be challenged in groups and individually testing both their knowledge and skills (which they will need as they attempt the High Ropes Course at Bays Mountain!) 

Week four we enter our “Unsolved Mystery” journey.  This whole week is going to be quite the surprise including our first ever Progressive Mystery Field Trip.  They wouldn’t even tell me where they were going, so you know you won’t want to miss this!

Week five will rival ESPN as we host our own “Sports Center.”  All about sports, they will get into all kinds of games, even some canoeing and archery at Buffalo Mountain to be sure we cover every sport possible around here!

Week six is “TRL”…a total teen choice week!  They will get to have a say in everything we do, even having a say in field trip activities at Steele Creek Park. 

Week seven is our “Wipe Out – Wet, Wild, and Obstacles” week.  Water and mayhem will be taking over camp for the week.  Of course, a wild water week wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Wetlands Water Park! 

Finally, week eight brings an end to the summer so naturally, a “Celebration” week is in order.  We will definitely end with a BANG!  This week we will head to Rascal’s Teen Center to just hang out, dance, and enjoy being with our friends.

As you can see, we have many things planned to keep your teenager not only active but happy.  Sign up for one week, two weeks, or all eight!  I’ve officially been kicked out of Teen Camp, because my time of being cool is over, but it’s not too late for you!

Summer Camp Guru Eases Your Mind

I’m a little excited! Okay, I’m ALOT excited because YMCA Summer Camp starts in just 34 short days…not that I’m keeping track or anything.  Camp registration is in full swing and spots are filling very quickly!  I love looking through the applications and seeing the names of the kids I get to hang out with and get so excited just knowing how much fun each of them are going to have this summer.

So for today’s Summer Camp Guru installment, I’ve decided to address some of the hot topics.  I hope to express why YMCA Summer Camp is not only an option for your child this summer, but the BEST choice for your child.

Let’s talk staff!  One of the biggest differences in our camp is the people who invest in our kids each day.  We love our counselors and they love each camper that comes through our doors.  When you walk in one of our camps, you never know what you might see.  Our counselors might be in full Willy Wonka dress or some other crazy costume.  One of my favorite memories of last summer was attending the premiere of Cars 2 with every Y camp employee–including our Child Care Director–dressed as a character from the movie!  That’s right, our staff go above and beyond to ensure that your child has fun, feels included, and is loved!  They engage the kids and create a safe and welcoming environment.

Let’s talk numbers!  Another HUGE difference is the small and family-like “huddles”. We are committed to having 1 counselor for every 10 campers.  This enables us to excel in a couple of areas.  First of all, our low ratio allows us to know what is going on with each camper.  Our counselors truly get to know each camper, what they like and what they don’t like, which enables us to connect and form a unique bond between the each counselor and camper.  Secondly, our small group allows us to have all areas of camp well supervised throughout the day, putting their safety and protection at the top of our priorities.

Let’s talk activities!  Our day is packed with fun throughout a structured schedule with planned activities from 9 to 4 daily.  We start off each morning with singing and dancing and then we head to our clubs.  Each week we host six to eight different clubs each day that are centered on our weekly theme.  The awesome thing is that your child gets to pick which four clubs he/she attends each week, based on their interests.  We also go swimming three days a week and go on a different weekly field trip.  Guests from Eastman come to our camps weekly and share really cool science experiments with the campers.  I can assure you that there is never a dull moment at camp!  Your child will go home tired, but will be up early ready for another day.

Let’s talk field trips!  We have some really great trips planned this summer and I personally am excited to go, too!   I think today that I’ll just highlight my favorite one for this summer.  For the first time ever, we are going on a Progressive Mystery field trip.  What does this mean?  I’m glad you asked.   Basically, it lasts all day and the campers have no idea where we are going or what we are going to do.  They will receive clues throughout the day to tell them where they need to go next.  We will spend the day completing challenges at several different locations!  How cool is that?!  We try to use our field trips to allow our campers to take part in things that they wouldn’t necessarily get to do.

Let’s talk registration!  One of the neatest things about our program is your ability to choose when your child attends camp.  Let’s be honest…summer is the time to go on vacation and to visit grandparents.  It is very hard to commit to every single week in a ten week summer.  So, with us, you don’t have to!  You can pick and choose which weeks you need us.  I will warn you that your child will want to come every week!  They won’t want to miss out on team competitions, clubs, and field trips.  Camp is addicting!

Applications are available online and at the Y!  Get yours and turn it in fast because our camp spaces are limited and camp is filling up fast.  As always, I’ll be happy to answer any of your summer camp questions.  Thanks for spending a few minutes with “The Summer Camp Guru”.   I’ll see you next week!

Take on Summer at Healthy Kids Day!

Healthy Kids Day- April 28, 2012

You are invited! It’s that time again to celebrate and support healthy habits in the kids of Kingsport.  Through Healthy Kids Day, the Y’s national initiative to improve the health and well-being of kids, the Y encourages families to address critical gaps in kids’ health and education.  On this day, join the Y and more than half-a-million parents and kids across the country as we commit to Take on Summer.

Healthy Kids Day is a free community event for all kids and families meant to get kids more active and engaged in learning, so they can maintain healthy habits and academic skills when they’re not in school.  Along with 1,900 Ys across the country, your Greater Kingsport Family YMCA will be hosting our special day at our main facility on Franklin Square. The event will be held on Saturday April 28^th from 11am-1pm.

Healthy Kids Day will include community health partners, area businesses, local school coordinated health and local law enforcement.  Activities that will be scheduled for participants are youth/family fitness classes (Zumba, yoga and boot camps), carnival games, active inflatables, healthy living booths from Kingsport City Schools Coordinated Health and Tendercare (Sullivan Co. Health Dept.), and helpful information from We Run Events.  Other participants include Wallabies, Sullivan Co. Imagination Library, and Miss Kingsport, who will present her “Fitting in Fitness” initiative!  The first 100 kids will get prize packs with t-shirts and tote bags, with everyone having the chance to win great give-aways from local businesses and restaurants.  Our hope is to educate our community youth and their families about the importance of physical activity and healthy choices. 

Come join us as we celebrate community and healthy living. There has never been a better time to get up, get out and grow! We look forward to seeing you and your family on April 28^th.

Summer Camp Guru is BACK!

In exactly 40 days, many of you will be faced with a dilemma.  Your child will be out of school for summer vacation! While this brings joy and excitement to your child, it can often bring much fear and dread for you as the parent.  Many questions arise. What am I going to do with him all summer?  Will she enjoy staying with Grandma and Grandpa?  Can Grandma and Grandpa handle her all summer?  What program is the best program to put him in? And the list goes on and on and on…

Never fear, because the “Summer Camp Guru” is back to calm your nerves and answer all your questions and concerns.  I’ll be giving you weekly fun facts and surprises about our day camp program that you won’t be able to find anywhere else!

So, let’s get started.  The Greater Kingsport Family YMCA has one of the best Day Camp programs in the country.  We operate a total of three camps for children going into first grade all the way up through those entering high school.   We have two elementary camps at Rock Springs and Johnson Elementary School, which are for rising first through rising fifth graders. We also have a great Teen Camp, whose home base is at Sevier Middle School for rising sixth graders through high school.

“Around the World in 48 Days” is our theme this summer at our elementary camps.  Each week your child will arrive at Fly the Y Airlines, board a plane and head to a different destination each week.  Now who wouldn’t want to spend their summer flying around the world to exotic locations?  We will start off the summer in Africa, jet off to China, Australia, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica, and England, then finish with a week in the North Pole!  How many kids can say they traveled that much in a lifetime, let alone one summer?  With three days of swimming and a great field trip every week, I guarantee that your child will jump out of bed ready to go every morning.

Our Teen Camp will be competing in many different wild and crazy activities this summer which is sure to make for lots of fun.  Whether they are getting super messy, acting like a sports fanatic, trying to solve a mystery, or competing in some off-the-wall game show, they are sure to have the time of their life!  They will be swimming three days a week as well as going on a weekly field trip.  Teen Camp is a great opportunity for your teen to get out of the house and do something different while building leadership skills, making lasting friendships, and having lots of fun.

Camp registration is going on right now and spots are limited so get your application filled out and turned in to guarantee a spot for your child!  Applications are available at the YMCA and online at ymcakpt.org!

Stay tuned next week for the next installment of “The Summer Camp Guru.”  I’ll be revealing a secret fun fact next week and you don’t want to miss it! 

Something Great is Coming!!

Greetings Y followers of Kingsport!

As some of you are aware, this is a very exciting time for Kingsport and the YMCA. We are pleased to announce that construction is underway and moving along quickly, for our brand new YMCA facility located on Meadowview Parkway. As many of you know, this has been long time coming and we could not be more thrilled to bring you this exciting news. We are partnering with the City of Kingsport to have the YMCA Wellmont Center and Kingsport Aquatics Center in one location.  Adding to the excitement, the Y will be managing and operating the Aquatics Center, therefore allowing all Y members to have access to the entire facility, including the Outdoor Water Park!  

Please check out the attached pictures of the construction site. We are planning to film a short informative video on site within the near future. We will be providing our Y members and community members updates of progress on a monthly basis. We want everyone to know that this is actually happening! Rumor has it– steel will be set as early as April of 2012! Giant construction vehicles and dump trucks are moving dirt and setting the foundations as I type this.

As we try to contain our excitement for this project, we do not want to overlook the important work the Y does every day. The Y is a movement, a powerful association of diverse men, women and children joined together by a shared passion: our community.  In everything we do, we aspire to be something greater.  Our mission is what we do and our cause is to make sure everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. This building will not only serve as a cornerstone of our community, but a tool for staff, volunteers, and fellow members to create a lasting impact for thousands of families in Kingsport.

Follow the Greater Kingsport Family YMCA as we continue our exciting journey moving into our new facility in partnership with the City of Kingsport. The projected completion date for both projects is in the spring of 2013.

Pay The Day – October Promotion!

Come “Pay The Day” in October @ the Greater Kingsport Family YMCA!  Non-members pay the Joining Fee based on the day during the month!  Oct. 1st = $1.00, Oct. 2nd = $2.00, Oct. 3rd = $3.00, etc.  Monthly membership fees still apply.  This is a great opportunity to come see just what our Greater Kingsport Family YMCA is all about.

Becoming a member of the Y doesn’t mean you have a membership to a gym, it means that you get to be a part of a great cause.  Becoming a member of the Y means that you get to share a commitment to nurturing the potential of kids, promoting healthy living, and fostering a sense of social responsibility in our community.  We’ll be right there alongside you, making sure that you, your family, and community have the support and means to LEARN, GROW, and THRIVE.

We strive to connect you to others, making you feel welcome and encouraged to make positive life changes.

A Y membership includes basketball or volleyball, a spot in group exercise classes such as Zumba, Yoga, or Cycling.  Worried about needing to fin a babysitter?  Don’t be.  Our trained staff is prepared to care for your little ones in ChildWatch or your bigger kids in our supervised & fun youth activities.

Summer Camp Guru Wrap Up!

The Summer Camp Guru is back!  It’s been a few weeks since you’ve heard from me, but I’ve been extremely busy at YMCA Day Camp for the past 10 weeks! I thought I’d take a few minutes and catch you up on my summer.  I can honestly say that it was the summer of a lifetime and man, did it fly.  It seems like only yesterday we were heading to our first day of camp and now, here I am, sitting at home with no place to go!

The word “awesome” could not even begin to describe our “Once Upon the Y” summer.  I can’t even tell you the number of times I had a camper tell me that “this is the best day ever!”  Or, had a parent tell me that their child jumped out of bed every morning because they couldn’t wait to get to camp.  We had fun!  And, the adventures never seemed to end.  Whether we were having the big Marshmallow Mania competition, swimming in the pool, or going to some awesome clubs, we had the time of our lives.

As we journeyed from book to book this summer, it was great to see the campers really grow.  It’s always neat to watch them really come out of their shells and understand that this is their camp.  They really got into our huddle competitions this summer.  They took pride in the fact that they were a Glowworm or an Ice Worm or many of the other bookworms we had crawling around!

It is always sad when our summer camp comes to a close.  Months and months of planning and anticipation at all the fun and friendships that are to come are all over.  But, at the same time, there is much happiness.  Happiness to know that we accomplished what we set out to accomplish.  We gave our YMCA day campers a summer to remember.  They have made memories and friends that will last a lifetime.  Happiness to know that next summer is just around the corner complete with a whole new set of adventures and memories!

So, this Summer Camp Guru would like to take a moment and thank all of you parents who entrusted your child to us this summer.  We hope that you were not disappointed and that we lived up to everything that you’d been told!  We also hope that we will see you next summer as we go “Around the World in 10 Weeks!”

And, just in case you are wondering what a Summer Camp Guru does in the off season…well, let’s just say that I’m already making plans for next summer!  I’ll see you soon!