| Fall 2006 |
The Waldemar Experience:
Waldemar All-Stars are Lifelong Treasures
One of the most special mementos Waldemar girls receive is yearly all-stars. This is an award given to campers to thank them and reward them for a successful term based on their accomplishments and contributions during the term. After successful participation and completion of an entire term, Waldemar girls can earn the following all-stars:
1st year – felt “W” in tribal color
2nd year – silver Waldemar disk
3rd year – gold Waldemar disk
4th year – gold disk with diamond in it
5th year – mounted gold disk with 5th year engraved on back
6th year – mounted gold disk with 6th year engraved on back
7th year – mounted gold disk with 7th year engraved on back
Hilltopper year – gold and silver W
Graduating from Short Term to First or Second Term? Remember Short Term enrollment/attendance does not guarantee a long term invitations. The two are separate camps and require separate applications. Application date is a factor in new camper invitations to both, and both camps require a $50 application fee. Please contact the office if you are uncertain if you have completed both.
Technology Taunts Teens -- Please Help Yours Unplug!
Sad but true, young girls can often be mean to one another. Though we don’t like to believe it in the camping world, we even see it here. And unfortunately, the proliferation of modern technology lets girls hide behind their gossiping and snide remarks allowing them to be meaner to one another. It has even happened some at Camp Waldemar. The following stories illustrate the problems Waldemar and other camps have seen and why we in the camping world are encouraging kids to detach and instead of living in a wired world, engage in good old-fashioned “Wireless Interpersonal Networking” (in other words, playing with and meeting new friends!) while at camp. We hope you will continue to help support our unplugged environment.
Cell Phones – Easy to communicate with friends or family? Of course! The bad news … they are easy to communicate with friends and family. And what if that “friend” your teenager is calling on the sly from camp isn’t an acquaintance of whom you approve. And what if your daughter is scheduling visits with this so called friend through the gates during her archery class or preparing to meet him/her when she goes to the Point Theater with her drama class. Since we don’t always know your preferences in friends and boyfriends, it is putting us in a difficult position of trying to parent in accordance with your wishes when we don’t know or have any background for such decisions.
Emails to campers – Beginning in 2007, we ask that only parents and grandparents of campers send emails directly to camp. Messages sent to campers are filtered for language and content, and, unfortunately, we continue to receive those (mostly from campers’ friends) that don’t support our G-rated camp environment. We feel they undermine our mission, values, and traditions, and put the multiple people involved in processing emails at Waldemar in difficult and uncomfortable positions.
On-line communities/Myspace.com – While it is a fun way for girls to read more about their friends and get to know little-known acquaintances better, it also enables a world ripe for gossip and insults. Today’s youth seem to feel that “IMing”, sending text messages and posting intimate details about oneself on a myspace profile page is an opportunity to express oneself in ways she wouldn’t normally in a face to face conversation, and say mean things she wouldn’t dare say in person. Why? Well, it is easy when the face she is “talking” to is that of a cell phone or computer screen. But this activity is resulting in counselors not getting hired because of how they portray themselves on-line to their college friends and in girls opting not to return to camp because of unkind remarks about them posted on-line by fellow campers.
It is our hope that your family never finds yourself in a situation like those described above and that you can work with your children to understand the potential negative impact these behaviors and activities can have if not used appropriately and wisely. Help us to keep the negative impact out of our camping world by encouraging your kids to “unplug”!