GROWTH OF A CAMPER

Camp Telaphiba is a unique experience for everyone who comes - staff, as well as campers. There are so many opportunities for “firsts”, for GROWTH - which is one of our core values! We are so happy knowing that children from all over the country and the world get to exercise, not just their arm and leg muscles at camp but also, their independence, their good choices, their friendship building skills, and their overall comfortability with the unknown and how they can GROW from that space. What an honor for us. 

We have so many campers coming to us from their homes far away to stay with us for the first time. We are so thrilled to be a part of that journey in independence and feel proud that we are trusted by parents with this great responsibility. We take it very seriously. We take every step to provide the most meaningful experience in this exercise and in every way at Camp Telaphiba. We draw attention to and celebrate these important milestones throughout camp and for years after with our campers to remind them of how far they have come as people while at camp. We really SEE them. We really HEAR them. We CELEBRATE them in any way we can to send them home after camp stronger than when they came as people, not just as dancers. 

One of my favorite memories of camp came in 2015. I will never forget Lexi. Lexi came to camp at age 14 and was dropped off by mom seeming to be really nervous. Lexi was very quiet and kind of kept to herself. Our camps have a limited amount of campers at each camp so that the staff really get a chance to know each camper really well. Lexi was immediately on our radar to give some extra love as it seemed she was internally struggling a little with being away from home, with engaging with others, with being at camp, in general. Our staff has been trained and fully understand how to help kids with homesickness to GROW over this very common hurdle. Day Two and Three, Lexi was opening up and smiling a little bit more but still seemed apprehensive. We, as a staff, were destined to make this an incredible memory and experience for her. We talked about ways to do that every day to help her in the best way.

Day 4...I receive a phone call from Lexi’s mom who said she was going to come and pick Lexi up. I felt as though a part of me failed. I was sad that we hadn’t done a good enough job. I asked myself, what more could we have done……..I felt like I had let Lexi down and that felt awful. 

I won’t forget when I went to class to get Lexi to come with me to pack her things. She was taking class at the back of the room, had a very faint smile on her face and was very willing to come with me. On our walk back to the lodge, we talked about her time at camp and I shared with her how glad I was to have met her, to have learned about her, to have taken care of her. I just wanted her to feel my love and support even though she was leaving. She thanked me quietly, again smiled faintly and then we gathered her things to take to meet her mom. 

I hugged her goodbye and watched her walk to the car as her mom came to chat with me after directing her to the car. As mom approached, I was thinking about how I was going to apologize for not taking better care of her daughter, I noticed that she had tears in her eyes and then she approached me and said, 

“ I cannot thank you enough for this incredible experience. Lexi has never felt comfortable around other people. When she called me to tell me she was ready to come home, she said she had had the best time of her life. She said she was so proud that she had made it 4 days. She said she couldn’t wait to tell me all about it.”

Mom then went on to say, “What you don’t know is that after dropping Lexi off, I waited down in town for 5 hours before driving back home because I thought certainly she would call for me to come and get her. She never called - not that day, not Day 2 and not Day 3. This is a HUGE WIN for Lexi. This is a wonderful place. Thank you.”

At this point, I had tears in my eyes and I had a whole new sense of our purpose at Camp. Our purpose is to meet kids wherever they are in their life journey and to help them GROW from there, and nowhere else. It is our purpose to be a part of that growth, to witness that growth and to celebrate that growth to show them they MATTER and so does their GROWTH! The fact that Lexi didn’t stay for all of camp was NOT a loss but instead for her, MASSIVE GROWTH. 

I think of Lexi often and know in my heart that we, at Camp Telaphiba, helped her in some way on her life’s path and for that, I am grateful. And for that, we will continue to work diligently to support our core value of GROWTH for our campers and for our staff ALWAYS!