Reveille Fall/Winter 2019

FALL/WINTER 2019

PARTNERS IN PARENTING

The Essential Gift You Deliver to Families Every Summer

By Kristin Goode, Ohana Family Camper

As soon as we turn into the driveway of Ohana Family Camp and stop at the office to check in, my two kids scramble out of the car and jog toward cabin 23.

Once inside the gate, I exhale. The feeling of calm is almost immediately palpable—and not just because I have stopped getting cell service. It’s because within the confines of camp, village parenting goes into effect. This isn’t a

spoken agreement or anything we receive in the camp paperwork. It’s an unofficial practice, yet understood by all the adults at camp from the director to the kitchen crew and other adults you haven’t even met yet: they will all serve as an extra set of eyes to make sure kids are safe.

There are both real and invisible boundaries at family camp. Wooden fences line the road and the waterfront is only

open at specific times. If Ohana counselor Cheryl isn’t present, it is unlikely anyone will enter the craft area in the Art Barn. But there are also checks at many points throughout the day—a kind, but firm reminder that two cookies are enough and others are still eating, or a stern word not to push your buddies off the dock.

A fellow parent I met at family camp, Sara Stainback Cortes, feels it too. She CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE

Staff from all three residential camps gather on the Hive campus during pre-camp, with Executive Director Chris Overtree at the center.

Inside this issue

Message from Chris Overtree

Camp Skills to Job Skills

Facing Change

News & Updates

WITH YOU AS OUR PARTNER

How About a Good Story?

Camp Counselors Talk About the Impact of Camp

Dear Friends, We love good stories at camp. Shared in the glow of a campfire, regaled during a hike, or recounted in front of an audience at assembly, camp stories—real and imagined—engage and enlighten us.

This past summer, I asked alumna Caroline Cunfer to meet with counselors at Aloha, Hive, and Lanakila to capture their firsthand accounts of camp’s impact. A talented interviewer who is working toward a master’s in Oral History at Columbia University, Caroline understands the value of storytelling and skillfully guided our staff to articulate what matters most to them about camp.

We’ve chronicled their stories in a series of audio recordings and look forward to sharing them with you. Visit alohafoundation.org/blog to listen to these insightful, fun, and often moving interviews. We’ll post a new one every other week.

When I think about camp stories and our shared history at the Alohas, the primacy and sanctity of place looms large. Our campuses are Vermont treasures, ones we’ve worked hard to maintain, improve, and sought to replicate as we have added new programs to our offerings.

At the same time, we must evolve, not just by acres and places, but with ideas. Evolution does not always mean change—it can mean the consolidation of experience into wisdom.

In the words of Irish poet and philosopher John Donahue, “tradition is to community as memory is to the individual…and yet, we must conduct the most vigorous and relentless conversation with that tradition.” When we do this, we can gain fresh perspectives and ask ourselves once again, and newly each day, what is right for us now?

Our individual contributions to the Aloha spirit are the ingredients of this amazing collective.

Our unified identity as one organization, a whole that can be greater than the sum of its parts, becomes a crucial tool in facing the challenges coming next.

We go there in partnership with you.

Aloha and Skol,

Christopher E. Overtree, Ph.D. Executive Director

ALOHA FOUNDATION PROGRAM LEADERS CHRIS OVERTREE Executive Director | SARAH GORDON LITTLEFIELD Aloha Director KATHY PLUNKETT Hive Director | BRYAN PARTRIDGE Lanakila Director | JASON KNOWLES Hulbert Outdoor Center Director STUART FAIRBAIRN Horizons Day Camp Director | VANESSA RIEGLER Ohana Family Camp Director

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PARTNERS IN PARENTING, CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

and her husband, Hernan, started coming to Ohana from their home in Maryland in 2016 when her sons had both become school aged. “Even from

a younger age, my kids were able to explore and I was comfortable giving them that freedom because you knew more people had your back in one way or another.”

While that confidence may take first-timers a day or two to develop, if you immerse yourself fully in camp, it doesn’t take long. Returning campers get the benefit of experience developed in years past.

Summer 2019 marked the Goode family’s third trip to Ohana. The author Kristin (second from right) and her family are from Versailles, Kentucky.

Pictured here in a photo from 2018 are Kristin’s in-laws Ralph and Joanne Goode, her husband Chris, daughter Abby (9), and son Will (12).

“You don’t have that trust immediately, but it comes easily, usually by day two or three,” said Sara. “It’s a place where you get to know people quickly through activities and shared meals in the Lodge. The staff are very engaged, too, and help the community connect.”

But even with these limits, days at camp have their own relaxed rhythm.

Bedtimes are extended, dessert appears at most meals (plus s’mores at more than one cabin), and packs of kids run mostly untethered through the woods.

It resembles the summers forty-somethings remember fondly, when it seemed like everyone lived on a cul-desac and spent the whole day outside.

This balance between the routine of home and the complete freedom of camp is only accomplished through an unspoken partnership between staff, counselors, and adult campers. And it is magical.

Abby Berard, a third-year counselor and lifeguard from Thetford, Vermont, builds a volcano out of dirt with campers at Ohana Family Camp, as part of the “Wee Ones” program for children ages five and under.

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YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES...OVER A LIFETIME

Camp Skills to Job Skills Luke Galford Product Marketing Manager at NBCUniversal, New York Almost every day of my professional life I’ve found myself doing or saying something that I know is influenced by my Lanakila experience. I do product marketing for NBCUniversal’s advanced ads group, which essentially means I communicate how NBC’s ad tech works to our salespeople and customers.

There’s no way I’d be good at communicating in my current job if I hadn’t learned how to talk with my tentmates to get ready for inspection every morning, or how to teach Loki jumps

Andy Gerber Cyber Risk Defense Consultant, Denver While I wouldn’t say the hard skills I learned at Lanakila map directly to the ones I use on the job now, the soft ones most definitely do: listening more, talking less, recognizing different personalities and how to adapt and work with them.

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and dives as a young counselor in Swimming. Also, in improving communication skills it’s great to be surrounded by experts. You can’t help but to better your skills when you’re with high-quality communicators like many of the leaders at Lanakila.

Every Lanakilan is familiar with the phrase, “Always leave a campsite better than you found it.” It represents the idea that you’re responsible for the environment around you, and pushes you to do tasks beyond the bare minimum.

It has planted this voice in the back of my head that occasionally pipes up, asking if the presentation I’ve done is high quality or if I could look at my team’s processes to find a better way to do things. This becomes a hard voice to ignore; trust me, I’ve tried. It may add tasks to my to-do list, but it’s worth it when I know I’ve contributed positively to my team at work.

My real takeaway from those summers was the joy of being outdoors—the view of the stars from my bunk in Brookside, a display of northern lights sometime in the summer of ’80 or ’81, and a lifetime love of singing and folk music.

My camp experience always leads me to ask myself, “What kind of a co-worker do I want to be?” Just as I would ask “What kind of a counselor or tentmate do I want to be?”

My answer now is the same as it was when I was at camp—I want to be prepared but flexible, driven but collaborative, and take the work seriously without taking myself too seriously.

Lanakila challenges us to be loving, powerful, playful, and free. It’s not always easy to channel those in a corporate office. Finding the little ways to embody these concepts not only improves my personal working life, it improves the well-being of my team as a whole.

No wonder I have lived in Colorado for all of my adult life and enjoyed all this beautiful state has to offer.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS FROM FOUR ALUMNI

Claire Maggiotto Pediatrician, Washington, D.C. Aloha helped me become the person and pediatrician I am today.

I used the skills and work ethic I gained at camp throughout college and medical school.

Succeeding in medical school is similar to getting a high rank; you take lots of little steps in order to accomplish your goal. Camp also taught me how to both give and receive constructive feedback in an effective manner. In medicine, I constantly request feedback with each and every patient interaction in order

Erin Schreiner Executive Director, Bibliographical Society of America, New York

As a young camper and then as a counselor at Aloha, I was part of a capable community of women and girls. All summer long I was surrounded by knowledgeable women who wanted to teach, never doubted that I

to become a better physician. My time at Aloha taught me to think on my feet and feel confident in my decisions, which are skills I will need as I pursue a career in critical care after residency.

Camp also taught me how to step out of my comfort zone, to speak up, and to voice my opinions and concerns.

This is one of the most important things I have taken away from my camp experience. Some of my colleagues have not experienced a supportive and nurturing learning environment where they were rewarded for leaning in and participating.

need an extra boost or advice. I feel blessed to have had 13 summers as either a camper or a counselor because each summer contributed to the person and doctor I have become. Last but not least, camp showed me how much I enjoy working with kids, which is why I chose a career in pediatrics.

I have gained some of my closest friends and cheerleaders at camp, and still reach out to them regularly when I

could learn, and peers who learned beside me. We accomplished a lot together and we did everything without ever thinking, “let’s let the boys do this, they’ll be better at it than us girls.” As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized what a unique experience this was— not just that we all did so much, but that we did it all without questioning our abilities as women—or having anyone else question them. We built fires, kept our gear in good working order, and carried heavy stuff all the time! And we did it really well.

Today I wear many hats in my leadership position with a scholarly non-profit, The Bibliographical Society of America. I report to and collaborate with a board of trustees and several committees (from audit to finance, programs to publications), and at the

end of the day it’s my responsibility to keep everything running smoothly.

Some of these responsibilities have come naturally to me; others I’ve had to learn.

My experience at Aloha offers me an extraordinary memory—a mental home base—for belief in myself as a woman, as a doer, as a learner, and as a collaborator.

I’m grateful for it and it cheers me to think that so many cis- and transgendered girls and women get to build that home base for their future selves at Aloha and Hive today.

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Give the

gift of aloha Will you consider making a contribution to the 2019 Aloha Annual Fund before December 31? Our goal this year is an ambitious $700,000.

alohafoundation.org/give

Nurture authentic connections

Develop young leaders

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Make a transformational summer possible for a child

Your gift makes a difference Contributions to the Annual Fund support the Aloha Foundation’s top priorities like financial aid (camperships), quality programming, staff leadership development and training, and care of our five stunning campuses on 1,300 acres in Vermont.

Ignite someone’s passion for the outdoors

Create a community unlike any other

Thank you for your generous support! We are grateful for all the donors who have made contributions this year.

YOU CAN AMPLIFY OUR IMPACT In June 1905, we welcomed our very first campers—23 in all—to Aloha Camp on Lake Morey. It was a small, but mighty group who led the way that summer, blazing the trail for thousands of others to follow.

Vision, courage, going beyond what they thought possible ... that’s what our earliest camp community and today’s 1905 Leadership Circle members have in common.

The 1905 Leadership Circle celebrates 90–100 parents and alumni who make exceptional commitments to the camps through their generosity to the Aloha Annual Fund. Help us amplify our impact with your own gift of $2,500 or more.

Embrace the challenge and join today! alohafoundation.org/1905

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FACING CHANGE

By Katie Baines Drossos

Tradition & Aloha’s New Visual Identity Why I Believe It Supports the Evolution of the Camps

Change is hard.

There is a tension that exists for many of us—between our love for the Alohas and the traditions we cherish, and the need to adapt so the programs and the impact they make endure for future generations. The new visual identity released in September is a prime example of this tension.

Confession: I had some reservations when I first saw the new logos.

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daughter went to camp in the same area, she did not make the connection that the two programs were related.

Even though change can be uncomfortable, through my firsthand experiences of the challenges combined with my professional marketing perspective, I

In marketing, we talk about two main strategies governing the architecture of brand portfolios: “Branded House” or “House of Brands.” In a Branded House, sub-brands and programs are marketed

As organizations grow, there is an inflection point where leadership needs to make a strategic decision about how to manage a growing portfolio of programs

Despite reading about the impending change in the summer edition of Reveille, I was not prepared for the adjustments. For me, the magic of my summers in the 1990s and early 2000s are wrapped up in the old visual identity: Aloha green, kanakas, bee hives.

understand how this change supports the evolution of the camps.

The challenges laid out by leadership resonated, however, when I learned one of our friends sent her daughter to Horizons, and while knowing that our

As organizations grow, there is an inflection point where leadership needs to make a strategic decision about how to manage a growing

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portfolio of programs and the overarching brand architecture.

and the overarching brand architecture. and operated cohesively under the umbrella of a parent brand. Its value proposition is the single, unified voice governed by an overarching brand promise and position. The second form of brand architecture—House of Brands—is the opposite. A House of

At its heart, the core Aloha brand, ethos, and what the six main programs stand for hasn’t changed.

Brands is home to numerous brands, each independent of one another, and each with its own audience, marketing, look, and feel.

In the case of the Alohas, the decision whether to operate as a House of Brands or a Branded House centers around whether (or not) its programs operate independently of each other, without a common tie, or whether to shift the focus to a “parent brand,” positioning the programs as extensions of that core brand.

Today, the Aloha Foundation plays a strategic central role. It is the core from

which all Aloha programs—Lanakila, Aloha, Aloha Hive, Hulbert, Horizons, and Ohana—extend. Each is tied indelibly to the Foundation’s mission of inspiring people of all ages to learn, explore, grow, and become their best selves. And all share the values that distinguish them, including intentional connections, a passion for the natural world, and a common approach to teaching and leadership development.

identity is to strengthen and showcase all Aloha Foundation programs.

For the past three years, I have seen the power of camp reflected in my daughter’s summer experiences: from her growing confidence and sense of community to her ability to problem solve and budding love of the outdoors.

This is the impact of the Alohas, and it is the impact which will continue into the future.

At its heart, the core Aloha brand, ethos, and what the six main programs stand for hasn’t changed.

It is clear that the goal of the new visual

Katie Baines Drossos Katie offers her perspective as an alumna, current Hive parent, and marketing professional. Following in the strong Baines family camp tradition established by her grandparents Marty and Elliot Baines, Katie first came to Lake Fairlee at age seven. She spent 10 years as a camper at Hive and Aloha, then two years as a counselor at Aloha. Katie, her husband Matt, and their daughters Maddie (9, left) and Elizabeth (5, right) live in Washington, D.C. In November, Katie attended her first Board meeting as an Aloha Foundation Trustee.

Katie currently is a Senior Director at The Knot Worldwide, where she oversees the company’s consumer e-commerce business. Katie has expertise in strategic business relationships, technology partnerships, and digital marketing. We are fortunate to have had her counsel on our developing social media strategy.

Evening Gathering One evening each week, Hive campers and counselors gather at a special spot in the woods—Rainbow’s End—to share singing, stories, and reflections.

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By Libby Chamberlin

COUNSELOR REPORT

The Senate Assembly What an Exercise in Democracy Looked Like One July Morning in the Hale

Since my camper days, I have felt called to a life in public service, in no small part inspired by the joy of service to community that I learned at Aloha.

I began my career working in the United States Senate and enrolled at The George Washington University to pursue my Masters in Public Policy.

Returning to Aloha last summer gave me the opportunity to share some of my early career experiences with camp.

One morning, I gave an assembly on US government, with a focus on the

what legislating and camp might have in common.

I challenged campers to pick something to change at camp, and then to tell us what they had selected and why —and then to convince the rest of camp to support their ideas.

It’s a daunting task for anyone, but the great deliberative body assembled in the Hale didn’t balk. A hundred Aloha congresswomen (and a few congressmen) took up the charge, drafting legis-

the proposed change improve something we value at camp like fun, safety, freedom of choice, and growth? Would their policy change help camp be better for all of us?

There was an idea to eliminate grape jelly at breakfast in favor of higher quality strawberry preserves. There were proposals around songs — what we should sing when, limits on songs, and nixing the controversial ditty “Save your spoons,” sung at meals where the dessert necessitated a spoon for

The triviality of breakfast condiments, dining room songs, and uniforms belie an essential part of democracy, and being part of our Aloha community. legislative branch, which quickly came to be known as “the Senate Assembly.”

We began the conversation by setting some group norms —we focused on learning by asking genuine, respectful questions, and challenging ideas not people. We worked together to answer some questions about democracy, and

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lation on easel sheets with magic markers. Legislators weighed factors like cost (will this change cost something in terms of money, time, or attention from a certain group?) and impact (who would be most impacted by the change and would that impact be equal—or should it?), all while keeping the values principle in mind—would

consumption. Unsurprisingly, there were a handful of proposals around our uniform. Eliminating white shorts with our formal Sunday attire was a popular one.

When a few congresswomen introduced similar bills to clarify the permissibility of jogging in sports bras, we decided to

The silver bullet solution might not actually exist or be attainable in a moment, but that shouldn’t paralyze us.

laws to get closer to the stated founding values of our nation. At camp, we talk a lot about finding value-based solutions to conflicts that are “better than what we had, closer to what we want.” The silver bullet solution might not actually exist or be attainable in a moment, but that shouldn’t paralyze us. We should still seek to ameliorate the situation by forging a solution that is a little closer to our ideal than the status quo, and we should do so in a way that makes us proud of ourselves, that helps us to be our best selves. Legislating pretty much follows the same rule— how can we change the status quo little by little in the eternal pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness?

washed, and comfortability.

roll their individual bills together into an Omnibus legislative package entitled The Sports Bra Bill. To support this bill, the representatives from the camper congress made arguments around equity, reducing the cost of doing laundry by reducing the number of sweaty t-shirts that needed to be

The triviality of breakfast condiments, dining room songs, and uniforms belie an essential part of democracy, and being part of our Aloha community.

In a big picture sense, in our democracy we elect legislators to pass and update

That’s the project the camper congress undertook one morning in July sitting on the Hale floor. By discussing their values, goals, and experience at camp with one another, Aloha campers came to some consensus about how to make camp just a little bit better, “closer to what we want.”

Washington could stand to learn a thing or two from Fairlee.

BY REMEMBERING THE ALOHAS IN YOUR WILL, YOU BECOME PART OF THE GULICK LEGACY SOCIETY.

Gulick Legacy Society Preserve the simple joys of camp well into the future

“The careful balance of history and progress at the Alohas is exceptional in our fast-paced modern world. I am pleased to be able to help…well into the future.”

—Susie Clearwater, Gulick Legacy Society member, Aloha Foundation Trustee, former camper, and counselor

Learn more at alohafoundation.org/legacy

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News & Updates Births Kendra Margulies (Hive and Aloha alumna, former Hive counselor) and Jenny Searles Margulies (Hive and Aloha alumna, former Aloha counselor) had their second child, Reed Camden, on July 6.

Mike Taylor and Lexie Rugen (Aloha alumna) had their first child, Evelyn Elizabeth, on July 23.

On September 16, Elizabeth Berkey Cathles (Hive and Aloha alumna, former Aloha counselor, former Hulbert instructor) and husband Mac Cathles welcomed their third child, Lawrence MacLagan.

Emmett Karl Glocker arrived on October 1 at 8 lbs. 6 oz. Proud parents are Lianne and Rudy Glocker (Trustee, Lanakila alumnus). Big brother Thor is two years old.

Rowan Mark was born on October 7 to Spencer and Stuart Fairbairn (former Lanakila counselor, current director of Horizons).

Alumni Gathering

In Memoriam Patricia Latimer (former Trustee, Hive and Aloha alumna, former Aloha counselor) died on May 2 in Cleveland, Ohio. Pat was a journalist and author who largely wrote about the wine industry.

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In October, a group of Aloha and Lanakila alumni hiked up Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California. Their hike included a picnic lunch and spectacular views of the Bay Area! Pictured (l to r): Kevin Klopf (Lanakila camper), Leo Klopf (Lanakila camper), John Klopf (Trustee, parent, Lanakila alumnus and former counselor), Julie Morrisett (Hive and Aloha alumna, former Aloha counselor), and Cooper Brown (Lanakila alumnus and former counselor).

Weddings

Kate (Noble) Hanagan (Hive and Aloha alumna, former Hive counselor) and Sean Hanagan were married on April 27 in Maryland.

Guests included Don Williams (parent and grandparent), Merrill Noble (parent, Hive/Aloha alumna, former Hive/Aloha counselor, former Hulbert staff), Whitney Noble (Lanakila alumnus), Rowe Williams (Lanakila alumnus and former counselor, former Hulbert staff), Chris Noble, Alice (Hamblin) Williams (parent, Hive/Aloha alumna), Jack Williams (Lanakila alumnus and former counselor), Brad Williams (parent, Lanakila alumnus and former counselor), and Lucy Williams (Hive/Aloha alumna, former Aloha/Lanakila counselor).

On September 28, Kathleen Horn (former Aloha counselor) wed William Hehir in Buena Vista, Colorado on a beautiful ranch, cheered on by camp friends and family.

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By Tucker Briglin

A YOUNG LEADER’S PERSONAL JOURNEY THROUGH SUCCESS COUNSELING

Recognizing the Power We Have Over Our Feelings I began working at Horizons when I was 15. I remember watching two experienced counselors explain the difference between external and internal control during our Success Counseling training, and thinking, “wow, that makes a lot of sense.” It seemed so simple, but also so revolutionary to the

There were points when I felt like I was failing. As the session progressed, my campers, who had become more comfortable, began to act up more and more, and I knew I needed help.

I reached out. To Anne Perry. To Caroline. To Maf, Erin, Timmy, Beth, and all

these tools I began to develop close relationships with my campers. I also noticed that the kids were really adapting the way they thought about the world because of this internal control model that I had been working so hard on. That is pretty cool.

I realized it was helpful—essential actually—to talk about my struggles with other staff members, but that I could actively success counsel myself. way I often thought about situations. It was empowering.

My first week as a counselor that summer was difficult. I had 14 3rd and 4th graders and they had energy. During our week of pre-camp training, when I was practicing this approach with other staff members, success counseling didn’t seem so hard. However, when I began working with campers, I struggled.

those staff members I had gotten to know so well in pre-camp. I explained how I was feeling. I watched over and over again as they practiced success counseling with ease. I picked up on their body language, tone, expression, and word choices. I kept practicing.

As the summer progressed, everything became more natural. Repetition.

Experience. Patience. I found that with

Going into my second summer, I was somewhat out of practice with success counseling, but during pre-camp training, I found that everything came back very quickly. Horizons felt comfortable, familiar, and kind of like home.

As soon as the first week of camp started, things were different and disorienting. During my first year, my campers had been physically exhaust-

Horizons campers practice the fine art of frisbee throwing with counselor Chris Sarkis, Head of the Field Games department, pianist, and musician extraordinaire.

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The goal of an internal control mindset is not perfection, but recognition of the power that you have over how you feel.

ing. This year, even though the campers were the same age, the group was more mentally exhausting. They didn’t want to participate in some activities, they had trouble getting along, they struggled with listening. By now, the language of success counseling was more accessible and comfortable, but there were times when I got frustrated.

I couldn’t understand why they were making my life so difficult.

Again, I went to seek the advice of people I looked up to. This time, as they were talking to me, I noticed something. They were success counseling me! Whoa. I realized that I had reverted back into a mindset of external control: I had a picture in my head of what my summer was going to look like, and it wasn’t turning out that way, and at least part of me had been blaming my campers for my own bad mood. I began to realize that I was making a choice to be frustrated, and that since it was my choice, I also had

lots of power to change the situation.

This was a huge transition for me in terms of my mindset and outlook. I realized it was helpful—essential actually—to talk about my struggles with other staff members, but that I could actively success counsel myself. I couldn’t control everything around me.

But I could be a leader to my campers by maintaining a positive, enthusiastic, optimistic outlook. That was my choice.

I took it outside of Aloha as well. At home, when I felt like something was frustrating me, I would explain it out loud to my mother and confide how I had slipped up. I had the tools and I had the power. Whoa.

When I think back to my first summer at Aloha, I realize now I had a misconception about what it meant to be a leader. I thought it was about perfection. I thought a good leader knew how to use tools like success counseling all

the time, and they knew exactly what to say and when and how to say it.

With more time at Aloha, I realized that being a leader isn’t about being flawless (thank goodness!). It’s about knowing when you’ve made mistakes, understanding them, owning them, and asking for help. Campers, staff members, and people in general can’t be perfect and we shouldn’t expect them to be. We shouldn’t expect ourselves to be either.

The goal of an internal control mindset is not perfection, but recognition of the power that you have over how you feel. Each day at Horizons, I had the opportunity to be a role model and a leader. Each day, I had the chance to show campers how to make the right choices and equally important, how to handle life after you’ve made a poor choice or when things aren’t going your way. It is a process and there are many steps, but it is rewarding. It is powerful.

Tucker Briglin Tucker (pictured here) has been a Horizons counselor for the past three summers. This fall, as part of his college application process, Tucker reflected on his experience putting Success Counseling principles into action. The main premise of Success Counseling —the internal control philosophy that is woven throughout all Aloha Foundation programs—is that we have the ability to choose how we respond to the events and people in our lives.

Each day at Horizons, I had the opportunity to be a role model and a leader.

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Coming To A City Near You We are traveling the country visiting prospective & returning families Will we get to see you?

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Join us for our

Big Tent Events Join our camp directors, Executive Director Chris Overtree, and Aloha community members at one of our Big Tent events. Enjoy our slideshow, light fare, and our short program, From Unplugged to Plugged in: Camp Lessons on Conquering the Fear of Missing Out. Each gathering begins with a special welcome reception for prospective families.

We started our tour in NYC (10/6) and Seattle (10/27). Next, we’ll be in Washington, D.C. (12/8) and Boston (2/9). Alumni, parents, campers, counselors, and friends—all are welcome!

To register or learn more, visit alohafoundation.org/bigtents

...and more!

Chicago, IL Denver, CO Jackson Hole, WY Summit, NJ Little Silver, NJ Los Angeles, CA San Francisco, CA Philadelphia, PA Atlanta, GA Portland, ME

Bryan, Gordo, and Kathy

Refer a Family

We’d Love to Talk Camp Know a family who’s interested in camp? Email Kathy, Gordo, or Bryan. They will be meeting new and returning families in these cities and many more!

Kathy Plunkett, Hive Director: kplunkett@alohafoundation.org Sarah “Gordo” Littlefield, Aloha Director: slittlefield@alohafoundation.org Bryan Partridge, Lanakila Director: bpartridge@alohafoundation.org

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PARENT REPORT

A Fire Pit, a Friendship, and the Future

By Verna Jennings Cleveland

How One Family Brought Camp Home this Fall

As a family, there are many things that we have grown to love and admire about Aloha—the sense of home away from home; the comfort of knowing that it is a safe place, both physically and mentally for our children; the genuine friendships that develop within the community; and the growth that our children experience while working hard and having fun.

Our girls have an unequivocal sense of pride in the camp and their experiences that will last a lifetime. As parents, Bill and I often talk about our girls’ presence, their focus, and their increased levels of self-confidence at the end of camp—all invaluable qualities for teenagers returning to school and typical teen peer pressures.

Consciously and unconsciously, the girls look for ways to bring camp home, to extend the camp joy of being young, belonging, and feeling self-worth. An example of this is the building of the fire pit at our home in Atlanta. Our daughter Billye (above left) and fellow camper Carley Cook (above right), who also lives in Atlanta, achieved several high ranks this summer in their Club year at Aloha Camp. They decided they were going to “do everything really well,

no shortcuts.” One of the assignments was to build a fire pit behind the Woodchuck Hole. They had no instruction on how to build it or where to find the material, only restrictions on what type of tools they could use. They set out on a mission and worked late at night to get it perfected. When I picked them up at the end of camp, they couldn’t

wait to show me. They were euphoric with pride. I immediately asked them to build one in our front yard, and without hesitation, they said yes.

Back in Atlanta, the two of them are quite busy with sports, school, and other extracurricular activities. However, they made it a priority to coordinate their

Consciously and unconsciously, the girls look for ways to bring camp home, to extend the camp joy of being young, belonging, and feeling self-worth.

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alohafoundation.org

As parents, we know Aloha has been an important part of the solid blueprint for our girls’ future.

calendars. They developed a supply list and just as they did at camp, they creatively used material that they could find already at their houses—bricks, stones, sand, pebble, rocks, etc. I only provided a measuring tape. They were meticulous in their calculations and measurements. Everything had to be perfect to produce the Aloha marker in our yard. We were quite impressed with their collaboration, cooperation, focus,

and determination. The 10-hour project resulted in the creation of something really special that served as a reminder of their love for camp. The camp that taught them to be leaders—to develop and execute a plan wherein the process and the outcome are both rewarding.

For the girls, the project allowed them to have a very special place where they can build a camp fire, reminisce about

their camp friends, their experiences and sing camp songs. That particular night, the bonding ended at 2:45 am!

As parents, we know that Aloha has been an important part of the solid blueprint for our girls’ future—a blueprint built around strength in love, community, and confidence. For that we are forever grateful.

Verna Jennings Cleveland Verna is a camp parent, volunteer recruiter for the Alohas, and new member of the Aloha Foundation Board of Trustees. She and her husband Bill, a physician, live in Atlanta with their daughters Kellye (14, left) and Billye (16, right). Verna is former political strategist with a background in marketing and organizational development and has held leadership roles on non-profit boards such as the Atlanta International School, Sickle Cell Foundation, Georgia Public Broadcasting, C.H.O.I.C.E.S. (Childhood Obesity), and the National Black Arts Festival.

Billye and Kellye began their camp experience together at Hive in 2015. In 2020, Kellye will be returning to Aloha Camp for her 6th summer. Billye completed Club (her 5th and final camper year) at Aloha in 2019 and hopes to return to Vermont in June as part of our Midi counselor-in-training program.

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ALOHA | HIVE | LANAKILA | HULBERT | HORIZONS | OHANA | ALOHA FOUNDATION Stay connected to your favorite Aloha people and programs all year long with news, photos, and other camp tidbits.

December 3rd is #AlohaGivingTuesday, and you won’t want to miss it!

Fall/Winter 2019 Reveille: Jenn Merritt, Aloha Foundation Director of Communications; Jenn Grossman Wheeler, Aloha Foundation Director of Photography; Gillian Hersh, Designer. Suggestions or comments? Contact Jenn Merritt at jmerritt@alohafoundation.org.

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Each academic year, Hulbert welcomes to its campus over 6,000 children and adults, who participate in programs designed around their specific needs and goals. In a two-week period, the Hulbert schedule might include a program for elementary students, a professional development multi-day training for professionals and educators, a Wilderness First Aid & CPR certification course, a week-long school vacation camp for local children, and off-site programming at schools and afterschool programs. In this photo, students from St. Andrew’s School of Barrington, RI work on a teambuilding activity as Hulbert instructor Ish Talmadge offers guidance.