Savannah Lunger Joins the Year-Round Staff Team

/in , /by

When I first learned of Camp Carysbrook and began exploring the camp website, I knew it was a place I needed to be. I was immediately taken with the beauty of the camp property, and as I read more, the camp’s mission, philosophy, and history, with its roots in expanding opportunities for girls and young women, completely resonated with me. I love working at Camp Carysbrook because it gives me the opportunity to be part of a diverse staff team that is committed to providing a high quality, goal-oriented, enriching summer experience for girls in a fun, safe, and supportive environment. I am constantly developing my own leadership skills alongside campers and colleagues.

As a second year middle school teacher, my experience as a cabin counselor and activity instructor has been instrumental in guiding my teaching practice. My big takeaways: give young people access to meaningful activities, provide opportunities for choice, have a plan that includes being flexible, encourage failure as a part of the process, build relationships, engage with joy, and support individuality. As my camp experience has influenced my teaching, my teaching experience has allowed me greater knowledge of planning and instruction to ensure fun and engaging activities that campers and staff will love, in addition to the signature outcomes Carysbrook has been known for since 1923.

I am thrilled to work with the 2022 CITs as they grow and develop their leadership skills, during this fun-filled, transformational summer. I am so grateful for this opportunity to support both our CITs and activity staff this summer in the beautiful 24149. As I grow into this new role as Assistant Director at Camp Carysbrook, I am excited to build on this incredible camp’s foundational mission of opportunity, inclusion, and individuality as we move toward the next hundred years of empowering young women.

Savannah Lunger, Assistant Director

It’s official! Governor issues Virginia Overnight Camp Guidelines!

/in , , /by

 

 

Hooray! We did it! Our hard work collaborating with the Virginia Department of Health and the Governor’s office has paid off and the Governor announced official Guidelines for Virginia Overnight Summer Camps in the Third Amended Executive Order #72 today with operations permitted as of May 1, 2021! Bring on summer 2021!

As we begin to come to terms with the fact that COVID will continue to play a role in our lives for the foreseeable future, we are excited to put our carefully thought out plans for camp into action and get back to camp. We have been putting together plans to ensure safety according to anticipated guidelines while delivering the Carysbrook experience to our campers and staff. Parents and caregivers, you will see that we have thought through every aspect of camp and have plans in place to make it as safe as possible. What we feel is just as important, however, is that our campers will likely not even realize the amount of thought that has gone into these protocols. And that’s the way it ought to be!

Our staff are already hard at work to put these procedures at the core of activities with a heaping spoonful of fun on top so that’s what campers see! There is already so much campers do not see behind the scenes to make camp happen and this will be no different. And frankly, we believe this is an opportunity to add even more fun to our programming. We are really listening to the feedback we have gotten on what could be better and trading up for creative new twists like at opening campfire and changeover! We will be taking our cues from camps who operated last year with these policies in place, and look forward to the outcomes they reported, including an increase in camper satisfaction, less homesickness, and stronger friendships. So we encourage you to read our Covid Response Plan and use it as a guide to answer your campers’ questions rather than read it front to back for them. We’re confident there is an audience for reading it start to finish but the campers deserve better! These girls have had to think about far too many things over this year and what they really want to know is…

Can I go to activities I want to like I have before? Yes!

Can I see my friends from other cabins? Yes!

There will be some things that are different like wearing masks just like you do at home when you go out of your house or are around people outside of your household. I mean you can do this at home all summer like you have been all year or we can do it together at camp! Amirite???

Will we have trips? Yes!

Will we have campfire? Yes!

Staff may need to plan seating in the van and make sure we have the place to ourselves when we get to our destination, but there will be trips! We will make use of the amazing amount of space we have in the stunning 24149 to be sure we are safe, but we will have campfire!

Is your camper so curious they stumped you? Fear not! It’s okay to say “Hmmmm, that’s a good question, let’s ask!”

 

Erika and her incredible staff will be hosting Zoom calls in the month ahead to answer camper questions and help you guide your campers through what’s new and what hasn’t changed in essence. (Check our online calendar for dates!) I mean if we can put on a mask and enjoy the natural space between us and have camp, wouldn’t we do that?  It’s been far too long that we have been separated entirely. We know how to be safe and have fun. We have been doing it for 97 years. Let’s do it for 98!!! See you there!

Colleen & Erika

Colleen Hagan Egl, Owner
Erika Schlichter, Director

2021 Reopen Announcement from Deputy Sec. of Trade & Commerce

/in , , /by

2021 Reopen Letter from Virginia Deputy Secretary of Trade & Commerce, Cassidy Rasnick

Welcome news this following months of planning and communication from Colleen Hagan Egl, head of the Reopen Committee for the Virginia Coalition of Overnight Summer Camps!

Colleen and the Committee continue to meet with the Deputy Secretary of Trade & Commerce and the Virginia Department of Health as well as UVA Pediatric Cardiology Specialist Dr. Jeffrey Vergales, contributing author to the CDC MMWR report Preventing and Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 Transmission — Four Overnight Camps, Maine, June–August 2020 and part of the medical staff which oversaw the implementation of the ACA Field Guide at two of the camps in the study. We hope to have a working draft of guidelines from the Governor’s office for the 2021 season this month.

Be assured, camp will be open this summer and Erika Schlichter and her staff are staying flexible and ready to implement the guidelines necessary to keep our campers and staff safe as you have come to expect from Camp Carysbrook throughout our 98-year history. Looking forward to fun and friends and a much-needed #summer2remember!

 

 

 

CCAA Holiday Fundraiser Ends Dec 1, 2020

/in , , /by

 

CCAA Holiday Fundraiser 2020

The Camp Carysbrook Alumnae Association’s annual winter fundraiser is here! The perfect cure for those of you who are camp sick as we head into the long, cold winter months while supporting the CCAA Scholarship Fund.

All of the proceeds will support the Scholarship Fund, which helps girls experience Carysbrook, regardless of economic, racial, geographic, religious, ethnic or social background.

Sale ends December 1, 2020 to ensure delivery for the holidays!

If you’re interested in international shipping, please contact Erika in the camp office.

Shop and support now:

CCAA 2020 Holiday Fundraiser

* Please note: Different designs/products may need to be checked out separately due to different shipping sites from the vendor. We hope that the variety of products outweighs any inconvenience. We appreciate your generous support of the Scholarship Fund in this important year.