Camp One RAVE!

What a way to wrap up this amazing week!  Camp One celebrated Fun Friday with a rave, and everyone had a blast!  The kids absolutely loved seeing all the black lights that the counselors had set up.  The glow-in-the-dark paint was also a big hit!  It was so much fun watching FuManchu counselor JP keep the party going all afternoon with his DJ skills - he's really good!  If you missed out on the party, don't worry.  You can experience it all with these pictures and videos!

From all of us at Camp Rising Sun, THANK YOU for a mind-blowing first week of camp!  We have loved getting to spend these past five days with your campers and hope your experience was a positive one.  For those of you who will not be back with us this summer, we will definitely miss you and hope to see you next year.  For those of you who will be returning, get excited because the fun is just getting started!

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!  Email me at Megan.Warren@ymcatriangle.org.  Have a fantastic weekend, and we'll see you Monday!

Kindergarten Rank!

Our youngest (and possibly cutest!) huddle, the FuManchus, is full of rising Kindergarteners. To get them into the swing of things at camp, as well as to prep them for Kindergarten, Camp One Head Counselor Leslie has invented the Kindergarten Rank! Check out these pictures from today's activities. The FuManchus worked hard to pass off skills in their Kindergarten Rank Book and got some help from our CILTs (Camper in Leadership Training). How precious!

Counselor Pranks

Sometimes...counselors decide to have a little fun for campers' enjoyment. Last week, some of our counselors decided to pull a prank on Camp 2. As they posed for what they thought was going to be a group picture in Central Park, the prankers stood on top of the roof with buckets of water. On the count of three, the whole group received a wet surprise from above. Everyone was extremely soaked! Today, some of our Camp 1 counselors decided to follow in their footsteps. During a fun chocolate design activity with their huddles, they started to get a little messy amongst themselves. Some innocent fun turned into a huge chocolate frosting fight, and all of our young ones in Camp 1 could not stop laughing! Everyone was having a great time. Enjoy the pictures!

Counselor Spotlights

Hopefully everyone received my email today including huddle and counselor spotlights! If not, this means you are not on my mailing list, so please email me at becca.rubin@ymcatriangle.org in order to receive all future emails!

Check out the pictures and counselor profiles below to learn more about your camper's counselor.

Camp 1:

Chiclets:

Megan was on the co-ed cheerleading team at UNC and her hobby is dancing. Her favorite thing about camp is making memories with the kids and counselors.

JP enjoys playing the trumpet and piano, along with writing music. His favorite thing about camp is having the chance to be apart of a kids life and be a positive role model.









Tic-Tacs:

Katie will be attending UNC in the fall. She is apart of our swim staff, and loves helping kids earn their black band.

Blake (not pictured)has played basketball almost his entire life. His hobbies include sports and music. He loves EVERYTHING about camp!












Pop Rocks:

Kristine plays the trumpet , along with does arts and crafts, draws, and crocheting. Her favorite part about camp is spending time with campers.

Sean has played soccer all of his life, and loves EVERYTHING about camp! Especially soccer RANK.










Tootsie Rolls:

Adan is a para-trooper in training. His hobbies include dancing and basketball. His favorite thing about camp is making an impact on kids.

Amanda is apart of our swim staff. She loves teaching campers new skills in the pool.

Camp 2

Mauis:

Aaron played college basketball for two years. He enjoys playing and watching sports, and loves EVERYTHING about camp!

Ashley loves theatre and music. Her favorite day of the week is Wacky Wednesday! She also enjoys huddle cheers.

Balis:

Michael is our Archery Chief. He is great at teaching campers new things.

Ashley goes to Elon University. Her favorite thing about camp is dance parties and bonding with the kids.

Tahitis:

Ryan attends State University. He is our tennis chief, and loves helping campers perfect their skills.

An interesting fact about Ashlee is that she went to 5 different elementary schools. She enjoys dirt biking with her brother, basketball, and soccer. Her favorite thing about camp is the ability she has to impact kids lives and possibly make it better.

Fijis:

Chelsea attends State University. She is our Arts and Crafts chief, and is very creative! She loves getting to know the campers.

Russ is going to the University of South Carolina this fall and is participating in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Crops Marine Option. He enjoys rock climbing, working out, gardening, and wrestling. His favorite thing about camp is lunch time because it gives him a chance to get to know the campers better.

Camp 3:

An interesting fact about Morgan is that she owns a piece of the old field from Carter Finley stadium. She enjoys cooking and baking, spending time with friends, reading, and going to sporting events. Her favorite thing about camp is having fun!

Joseph just started his own photography business. He enjoys photography, and just plain exploring. His favorite thing about camp is RANKS.

Ryan Groover's favorite thing about camp is Basketball, and he enjoys creating new games for Basketball RANK as this sport’s chief. He also loves to make meaningful impacts on campers.

David Coover loves disc golf and soccer. His hobby includes long boarding, and he enjoys playing dodge ball games and soccer during camp.

Joe has never lost at arm wrestling. He enjoys computers, fishing, camping, biking, golf, and swimming. His favorite thing about camp is the kids!



Please feel free to email me at becca.rubin@ymcatriangle.org for any feedback on our communication. I'd love to hear from you!

Becca

Candy Sushi

Camp One traveled to a candy land version of Japan today to make candy sushi! For this creative snack, they used homemade Rice Kripsy treats for their rice. In order to create the perfect sushi roll shape, they used their hands to flatten up the treats. It was messily delicious! In order to perfect their sushi, they added fresh candy Swedish Fish to their flattened rice. After some rolling to perfection, they covered their sushi with a line of fruit rollup for a yummy seaweed replacement. To top it all off, campers were able to munch on their snacks by using chop sticks...which made for some great pictures! Enjoy.

Star Struck

Leslie, our Camp 1 Head Counselor, had a surprise in store for all of our young ones. Since her dad is a pilot, she is able to meet a lot of famous people who happen to fly through RDU. Ever since meeting the famous Miley Cyrus, she knew she needed to ask her for a favor....and see if Miley would visit Camp Rising Sun. Luckily for all of us, she agreed! With the help of security, we were able to get Miley secretly into the building for a surprise performance. Once she entered the room everyone went crazy...including the counselors! No one could believe what they were seeing. She even performed her hit "Party in the USA' for all of us enjoy. Afterwards, she was nice enough to strike a pose with Camp 1 for the blog. THANKS MILEY....WE LOVE YOU!

Wet and Wild

Our Camp 1 head counselor Leslie spent all week planning a special event for all of our young campers. Today the Chiclets, Tic-Tacs, Pop Rocks, and Tootsie Rolls came together for a water day! Everyone was having a blast. Campers rotated between activities such as balloon toss, drip drip drop, sponge tag, and the best of all......a slip n' slide. I was able to get some really great pictures that perfectly illustrated how appreciative everyone was of today's special activity. I know that all of camp was jealous and were wishing they were in Camp 1 on this very awesome Thursday.

A Jam-Packed Day

Lots of crazy things were happening today at Rising Sun. Assembly was filled with all in good fun attitude as we wished one of our campers a happy birthday "cha-cha-DIVA" style. The birthday girl was able to give a nice "lunch lady styled pie" to one of our counselors by using only her hands and no plate (with gloves of course). All of camp also cheered on our counselors Katie and Coover in a burping contest. Whoever could burp the loudest after chugging a can of Dr. Pepper was the winner....and to no one surprise Coover took home the title! Our friend Fred introduced us to his friends Mr. Groundhog and Ms. Tooth Fairy. Don't forget to dress up for our HOLIDAY BASH theme tomorrow for Wacky Wednesday! Last but not least, thanks to an inspirational cheer, the Mauis won the spirit stick twice in a row. Great job guys! There were plenty of cool things happening around camp after assembly as well. Our counselor Ashley held a special activity where campers could build their own fort in the woods. I saw some pretty creative ones down there. Also, Archery decided to mix things up with changing their target to a balloon filled with flour....making a very entertaining white explosion. Leslie in Camp 1 led some friendship building games with all of our young ones after today's lunch. They all were loving it! Make sure to ask your camper what they did for fun today! Also, don't forget to email me at becca.rubin@ymcatriangle.org for more personal communication about specifically your camper and how they are doing at camp. Have a great night!

Friends Forever

Rising Sun allows campers to build amazing friendships that will last a life time. I know for me personally, I still have friends from when I was a camper that I keep in touch with today. Now as a counselor, it is great to see kids making those meaningful relationships with each other. This summer we have created a camper award called "Walk with Friends". The winners receive a beautiful trophy to carry around for the rest of the day. In order to be recognized with this title, campers must be seen walking with the same buddy throughout the day. "Walk with Friends" challenges kids to never be alone at camp, and promotes building relationships. Anyways....RANKS aren't as fun when you do them alone! Through walking with a buddy, campers have the opportunity to be inspired by their friend to try different activities that they might had never had the confidence to try before on their own. Also, the "Walk with Friends" challenge encourages safety in numbers at camp. In the spirit of friendship, Arts and Crafts has offered the option for kids to make friendship bracelets. Not only is this a fun pastime, but campers also have the option to send their friendship bracelets to children in Africa through the program "Go. Change. Move". As you can see, Rising Sun is spreading the cheer of friendship not only in camp but around the world!