Scamp Spirit

spring 2023

Hello Aloha Community!

I am writing to you from my dining room table, where my life in Australia is coming to a close and a new chapter in Vermont is opening a chapter that will have each of you in it and that makes me so excited!

Since starting my role as director, I’ve spent a lot of time talking with all sorts of people: those who will be back from last year, those who have never been to Aloha, those who are reentering after some time off (just like me), and those who won’t be back but have valuable stories to share. My goal in having these discussions is to learn about the people who have shaped our community, to build new relationships (or rekindle old ones) and to really listen to what Aloha means to every person I meet.

What I’ve taken from all these conversations is that people love and care deeply for Aloha. This is a huge asset, because it is each of you who creates the culture of our community each summer. We, collectively, are an ecosystem that is unique to that one year and everything we each bring is seen and felt by others. This means that each year is an opportunity.

While it’s been easier and easier to manage the physical health of our community since 2021, Covid has caused an emotional toll that we are still feeling, processing and healing from. Some of the things that can help us deal with stress are obvious laughter and joy, for example and these are baked into what camp has always offered and will continue to bring. It’s especially on display with our singing, dance parties, and Nancy’s Nightmare (which I’m already nervous about!)

However, I believe each member of our community also needs some new skills to thrive. And just like we learn to chop wood and build a fire in the Woodchuck Hole, I hope that we can build skills to help us feel like we can all be our best selves emotionally in 2023, with additional focus on personal development. I envision this to be mindful moments and group discussions in assembly, introvert breaks with reflection activities, and the overall feeling of being able to bring your camp-self back home a little bit more easily.

It’s with this idea in mind that I share our Aloha Foundation-wide theme of the summer “Choose Curiosity.”

To break this theme down, it is helpful to think about what the opposite of curiosity is. It can show up as judgement, closed-mindedness, and rigidity like making a simple story about someone based on the way they look or deciding that you are bad at archery before ever picking up a bow.

To me, Choosing Curiosity in any given moment consists of four key qualities:

Acceptance of the current situation

Personal responsibility of realizing the choices you do have (they always exist!)

Open-mindedness that perhaps what you see is only a part of the whole story and having the willingness to see other parts

Deep listening by recognizing the humanness in yourself and those around you

Therefore, instead of making a snap judgement about someone, we can Choose Curiosity by asking them about their interests without needing to have the same opinions.

Rather than deciding that we are bad at archery, Choosing Curiosity is having a willingness to go to an intro class and enjoy the newness of the experience. These small shifts lead to entirely different outcomes. Ultimately, curiosity drives connection (to others and within yourself) and that’s what Aloha is all about.

I’m excited to explore this in more depth, but don’t worry this isn’t homework! It will be hands-on, fun, and we will experiment with it together this summer.

Geography scramble!

This summer we’ll be mixing it up and making new friends from all over the country—and the globe! See if you can un-mix up the names of these states and countries some of our counselors will hail from! Will there be counselors coming from your part of the world?

U.S. STATES

1. sarnsaka

2. wknyero

3. rigivnai

4. cfiliaonra

5. rpnaemishwhe

6. iisnocwns

7. atsmcshaseuts

8. onaswngthi

9. cocntueictn

10. remtovn

11. coorloda

12. manadylr

13. nktekcuy

14. omgwiny

In the meantime, take a look at some of the stellar counselors we have joining our community from all corners of the globe, as well as some all-star folks returning for the first time since Covid. I’m thrilled to welcome back plenty of our incredible staff members from last year as well.

All of these people cannot wait to meet you (or see you again) and kick off Summer 2023. See you on the lake soon!

Aloha,

15. aofrild

Other Countries

1. sritlaaua

2. oxmice

3. gnmindkitdeou

4. tordhilenrnaenr

5. dnweezanl

6. ipans