Director Jud's Blog

Everyday at Camp  starts the same way for our campers and staff:

• Campers are woken up by staff singing "The Birdie Song"
• Then Campers brush their teeth and break their fast in the Rhino Dining Hall
• Followed by campers gathering with their "Crew"!

Every camper at SMA Teen Camp is a member of a "crew" and crews are basically chore groups.  We have a rotating job chat so each crew knows what their chores are each morning.  Crew time and morning chores are not a huge part of our daily life at camp as they only take about 15 minutes each day.  Crew time and chores are, however a large part of our summer camp philosophy: That every member of camp (campers included) must contribute to make our summer camp community "work".  During the first few mornings of crew time each session we take the opportunity to play name games and team building games.  Today we play what is far the loudest team building game called "Pole Barn". 

After the crew games and chores were over and before morning activities started we took a photo of each crew and almost everyone smiled (lol). and here they are:

Scout Kranick

This was my first year at SMA Overnight Summer Camp. I had spent 3 summer at an all girls camp in Maine. My first year there I didn’t make many friends. I saw all the other girls laughing and hanging out with their friends. Therefore, I kept going back because I wanted what the other girls were having and getting out of camp. However, I never did find it. By the end of my third year, I decided I was done trying to find something I was never gonna get at my old camp. So I searched on the internet for a new camp. I found Stone Mountain Adventures. I was really excited when my parents said I could go. A few months later, (aka 2 weeks ago) my dad was driving me to camp and all of a sudden I got sad and began to cry because I was scared this camp would be like my old camp where everyone was a brat and had all their cliques. But I got here and Swags came and told me that everything was gonna be ok and it wasn’t gonna be like my other camp. Then I started making friends with everyone in my cabin. Everyone was so kind and opened up to me. Soon, I had many friends from all different cabins and we had fun, laughed together and cared about each other. Here at SMA, I finally found what I was looking for at camp: fun, memories, and friends that will last a lifetime. Next year, I wanna come back…maybe even for two sessions. So thanks SMA Overnight Summer Camp for giving me a second home and being the camp I always hoped to find.