WHY CAMP? WHY KAWANHEE?

A Message to Parents…..
       
 
 

A camp experience plays a special and unique role in the growth and development of a child in today’s world. It provides opportunities that cannot be found anywhere else. At Kawanhee, a boy can step outside of his fast-paced, everyday routines and experience life and relationships in a brand new context. He can remake himself if he desires, try on different aspects to his developing identity or simply express and expand those characteristics and behaviors which have served him well. A Kawanhee camper does this all within the context of a cohesive and supportive community, where each and every child and adult is considered a valuable member and individual differences are respected.
   
Picture by Brad Fichter
 

During activity times, boys gain specific outdoor living and athletic skills. Every camper is encouraged to try every activity that is offered and then, after several weeks of scheduled activities, is allowed to sign-in and out of activities depending upon what he has learned his interests to be and how far he elects to pursue his participation and achievements in that activity. Campers gain memories from climbing Tumbledown Mountain, canoeing down the Androscoggin River or camping out on Skookamee or on Monhegan Island. They also gain respect for the natural world as they become comfortable within it and carry forward a desire to care for it.

At Kawanhee we have a healthy respect for free-time as well, which becomes a chance for boys to hang-out and talk with each other, play a spontaneous game of Frisbee or tetherball, read, fish, take out a canoe, or go for a sail. Although free-time activities are not always directly supervised, they are when safety demands it; no boy is able to take a boat out by himself until he has passed the necessary boating and swimming tests, and a beach guard is on duty to supervise boat sign-outs and check-ins.

Camp is about traditions, traditions that bond us to one another and help to define the community to which we all belong. Whether it be the legend of Chief Kawanhee, our spirited Maroon/Grey competitions, Saturday night campfires, these are all time honored traditions that have existed here at Kawanhee since its beginning in 1920. We often say about the Kawanhee experience that here we make “Friends for the summer, and family for life!” The majority of our staff, both lodge counselors and non-lodge counselors alike, have been campers at Kawanhee, helping to carry forward the sense of tradition and family that is such a prevalent feeling here.

Our goal at Kawanhee is to have campers leave their camp experience with greater self confidence, a sense of responsibility both to themselves and to others, the ability to make good choices and to develop greater respect for others and their individual differences.


 
  Last, but not least, Kawanhee is about having fun! The photographs in the catalog best illustrate how we do that.We hope you enjoy these pages; please do not hesitate to call with any questions or feedback.    
   

Hope to see you next summer!

Mark, Liz and Pete

 
               
 
   
 

Last updated: Monday, March 17, 2008 9:20 AM
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