Glossary
What is everyone talking about? If you’re here long enough, you’ll figure it out… but this glossary will give you a head start learning your W*K from A to Z.
Places
Bog – Gross, wet and awesome! Behind the lower soccer field and archery field.
BOTL – Pronounced “bottle.” It is the back of the Leoj, where we have evening forum.
Message Board – The wooden structure near the Dining Hall. Where we pick up our Planning Sheets at Breakfast.
Covered Bridge – The covered entrance to Camp.
Chicken Coop – Just past the Dining Hall. Fun!
Frog Pond Field – Grassy field by the Mail Shed and Frog Pond. Great place for games, sports & yoga. It’s also where Sermingo, the painted serpent lives.
Hill bunk – Hilltop, Motel, Joel’s Place and Cottage are up on the Hill. Counselors in Hill Bunks live up in the loft.
Leoj – The big barn by the basketball court. Its name is “Joel” spelled backwards. A great place for drama, wrestling, and gymnastics periods, and also for evening activities.
Linnell Lane – Sandy & Will and Mia, Sarah, Fozzie, Eddie and Z’s house; just beyond the Dumpster.
Pearl B. – The amphitheater behind the office. We hold Planning Session here.
Potty Shed – AKA “Clay Place.” Pottery and ceramics are taught here.
Red Benches – The nice wooden benches outside the office. A great place to take a breather or hold a conversation.
Redwood – The bunk next to the waterfront where some leaders live.
Ropes Course – Located behind the tennis courts, this is a great place for team-building activities.
Staff Lounge – Hangout spot in the lower level of the Office. It’s a cool spot – in more ways than one – to hang out and re-charge your batteries!
The Barn – The enormous maintenance barn behind the art barn. Please ask Will, Sandy, Daria, or Matt to enter.
Treehouse – Next to Lodge 3.
Upper and lower 4-Square court – The lower court is by the Leoj. The upper court is by the Dining Hall.
Yurt – A nice spot by the lake between the Office and Dining Hall. Great for a private conversation.
Programming
Bageling – When no campers sign up for your period. Don’t sweat it!
Crib – The waterfront is divided into three cribs. Each camper is assigned to a crib based on swimming ability. Only campers in third crib are allowed to take boating periods.
Leagues – Semi-competitive sports played during generals.
Period – One-hour activities. Campers take (and counselors offer) four periods daily.
Rainy day programming – When it rains heavily, we sometimes offer special or sillier periods, like GaGa.
Sign – A personalized sign that hangs in the Pearl B. Counselors sit near their signs during Planning Session so that campers can find them.
Swim group – Instructional swimming periods. Campers are assigned to a swim group at the beginning of the summer. All campers need to take four periods of swim group weekly.
The Clipboard – Where counselors sign-up for periods for the days ahead.
People
Area Director – Leader of an area of programming.
David Silverman – Founder of Camp Kirkland and occasional visitor. An expert on Camp and nature. Good man.
Lodge Leader – Leader of a group of bunks. Billy Barclay, Owen, and Katie Simmons are Lodge Leaders.
Program Director – Leads planning session, designs the planning sheet, and leads programming. Frankie Munns is the Program Director.
Activities
Carnival – An end of year fun-fest. Counselors and campers set up, run and enjoy booths.
Trip Day – A day on which all of Camp selects a field trip to go on.
Lodge Living
Balancing – One-on-one conversation with campers done weekly.
Cabin – A word we don’t use. Groups of kids are “bunks;” they live in “bunks;” their bunks are often named “Lodge __.”
Challenge I/II/III – A program for older campers. Every Tuesday, Challenge campers hike, bike, canoe, go on overnights, do community service, and build a terrific group. Challenge I is for campers finishing 8th grade, Challenge II is for 9th grade, and Challenge III for campers finishing 10th grade.
CIT – Counselor-in-training for campers finishing 11th grade.
Deputies – During staff meeting, oldest campers act as “deputies” in bunks.
Dining hall duty – Each bunk takes a turn serving food and cleaning the Dining Hall. When your bunk has Dining Hall duty, counselors are responsible for supervising and participating in clean-up and for serving hot food.
Lounge – After Evening Activity, a time for Challenge campers to hang out in the Leoj.
Lower v. Upper – Some bunks have Upper and Lower parts.
Rest period – An hour and fifteen minutes for Camp to rest. Campers must be in their bunks and typically hang out quietly on their beds. Take advantage of this time to rest!
Miscellaneous
Astie – Our camp mascot, the anthropomorphized asterisk.
Bell – The bell rings to mark the beginning a new period or Planning Session. It does not ring for meals.
Buddy board – Everyone must sign in at the buddy board before entering the water.
Giant chess (and checkers) – Located next to the Heath Center.
Horn – The horn signals all of Camp to assemble at the basketball court. Lifeguards go to the waterfront and perform Search and Rescue.