 |
|
|
Parents and kids ask us a lot of interesting questions about our camp. Here are answers to the questions we hear most often:
Why should I choose a small overnight camp for my child? Why should I choose a small overnight camp for my child?
Return to Top of Page Does your Daily Choice idea really work? It really does and we have refined it over 45 years! The Choice process starts at breakfast, when campers get the Daily Planning Sheet. Making good choices becomes a routine --- and it also becomes very empowering to the campers to know they have this opportunity every single day. With the help of the whole staff, even the youngest campers feel comfortable and special. Return to Top of Page How do you make sure campers achieve depth in their activities? Younger campers get lots of guidance from their counselors, their lodge leaders and even their Big Brothers and Sisters. All campers use Sunday Balancing to check up on their goals. In addition, campers tend to form bonds with certain counselors and gravitate toward activities led by those they know best. This too helps insure a sense of continuity. Return to Top of Page How does the program work for older campers?
In addition, they participate in the Challenge Program, a three-year program for all our campers finishing 7th, 8th and 9th grades. It is designed to challenge the campers as individuals and as an age group outside of the familiar camp environment. Every Tuesday is Challenge Day and instead of choosing instructional periods with the rest of camp, challenge campers participate in activities with their respective age groups. Typically, these activities involve leaving camp and going on day or overnight hiking, biking and canoe trips or staying in camp for ropes course activities. During overnight trips groups stay at campsites where they cook their own meals and sleep in tents. Challenge groups also work together performing community service projects. The Challenge Program emphasizes the crucial process of building and working together in a group. As trust is built, campers feel safe enough to stretch themselves in new ways. Return to Top of Page Would you say WK is structured or non-structured and competitive or non-competitive? Overall, WK is structured and less competitive than many camps. Campers’ days are filled with activities, and each day has a set schedule. Even with campers choosing their four main activities each day, they know what they will be doing each hour and are expected to follow through with their programs. Formal guidance and feedback are provided by our counselors every Sunday. The only "down" times are the general swim periods before lunch and dinner, and even these times are busy with athletic league games, swimming and other waterfront activities, horseback riding and tennis games, arts and crafts project finish-up—virtually every area of camp is open. Meal times are set and the entire camp eats together, and dinners are followed by our Evening Forum Meeting and then evening activity, both of which every camper attends. At WK, we "compete" a great deal. We have in-camp leagues and of out-of-camp teams in many program. We compete with other camps in soccer, basketball, archery, swimming and track & field. And yet, our environment is decidedly non-competitive. Our emphasis is always on sportsmanship and giving every camper equal playing time. Return to Top of Page Who are the directors of Camp Wingate Kirkland? Camp Wingate Kirkland was founded by the Wolfson family in 1957, and is now under the leadership of its owners and directors, Sandy and Will Rubenstein. Will and Sandy are both lifelong campers. Will was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent 13 summers in camp in Maine. He has worked as a camping professional for the past 5 years. Sandy spent her youth in Pennsylvania. She has been a camper, CIT, counselor and administrator. Today, she is a freelance graphic designer, co-director of the Camp, and the proud mother of Mia. Sandy and Will are active in camp every day of the summer, offering periods, eating meals with everyone, and they know every camper’s name. Return to Top of Page A deep and abiding commitment to children and their well-being is shared by all WK staff members. Wingate Kirkland’s staff of 50 are attracted here by a program that allows them to be creative and encourages their full participation. They receive training in pre-camp orientation and continued support throughout the summer. They know their job is to provide each camper ample personal attention. The positive atmosphere at WK leads to a 75% return rate from summer to summer. Approximately half of our staff grew up at WK as campers. This large number of "home-grown" staff plays a key role in maintaining the warmth and spirit of the WK community. Of course, new counselors are equally important for their new energy and ideas. We recruit from the best colleges and universities in the United States. And, we are meticulous in our hiring practices -- beginning with face-to-face interviews -- exceeding all ACA and state recommended standards of due diligence. As a result, Wingate Kirkland counselors are uniformly dedicated, qualified and multi-talented people whose first priority is the safety and well being of children. Return to Top of Page Where do most of the WK campers come from? Most of our campers are from the metro Boston, NY and Philadelphia. We also have campers from Florida, the midwest, the west coast and overseas. Return to Top of Page We are very experienced with transportation arrangements to camp. On opening day and closing day we provide bus service from and to Boston, metro NY/CT and Philadelphia. We also pick children up and drop them at Logan Airport in Boston. Return to Top of Page Cabins are comfortable and rustic. Each has electricity, bathrooms and showers with hot water. Campers are either in single or bunk beds. Each camper has a set of shelves and personal space for their belongings. Camper laundry service is once a week. Our counselors sleep in the bunks with our campers and each bunk has at least two counselors. Return to Top of Page What's really special about your camp? We think our Daily Choice program is one of the most unique ideas anywhere in camping today. We offer a full range of traditional camp activities and some zany stuff like Power Walk, Nature You Can Eat, Tennis Baseball and our own radio station. We also think we are just the right size. Now, we know that every camp says that, no matter how many campers attend - but we have truly matched our size to our program. Here at Wingate Kirkland we can make sure that everyone feels very much at home and like they belong here. Children feel safe and secure when nobody is a stranger. Return to Top of Page What's a camp like on Cape Cod? It gives us the chance to take marine life hikes on the beach and to do some ocean sailing. It helps keep our weather comfortable too; that great Cape breeze keeps us from getting too hot. Return to Top of Page What do you mean when you talk about building community? Wingate Kirkland is a tightly knit community. With 175 campers, everybody knows each other. Through choosing their own activities, boys mix with girls, and younger campers mix with older campers. With each camper’s bunk serving as the core group, it is easy for children to make new friends here. Campers and staff can submit positive ideas to make Wingate Kirkland better. Everyone is encouraged to offer their suggestions. All the suggestions are read by Sandy and Will at Evening Forum, when the whole community gathers to review the highlights of that day. In addition to reading ideas from the Suggestion Box, announcements are made to recognize campers’ and counselors’ achievements. Wingate Kirkland also offers campers the chance to discover the fun and benefits of helping the community at large and preserving our natural environment. Swim-a-thons, donating food to local shelters, trail preservation, and visiting a nursing home are just a few of the things that campers can do each year for community service. Campers come away from their summer here knowing they made a difference. Return to Top of Page
|
Being in a camp of 175 children allows your son or daughter to know every face, and usually every name. This leads to a strong feeling of belonging to a community and it tends to bring out the best in everyone. Every adult in our community knows your child, and so we are able to consistently provide personal attention to help your child thrive.
Older campers often take more of a leadership role in camp, beginning with being big brothers and big sisters to our younger campers. During camp, more often than younger campers, they will organize evening activities and other camp events. In general, they act as role models for the rest of the campers.