The North Star Program Begins
Our oldest campers left this morning on their Canadian, a 10-day camping adventure. They will paddle on beautifully preserved lakes, portage through amazing trails, and experience the challenges and fun that comes with spending time in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. The park is so well protected that it remains one of the last places on earth where you can drink safely straight from the lakes. The Canadian is one of North Star’s longest-standing and most important traditions, and it’s a capstone experience for our campers’ final year.
One of the trip’s most memorable moments takes place tonight. After the bus ride north, the group spends its first night at the Canoe Canada Outfitters, sleeping in its famous 4-level bunk beds. Paddles of Pine Manor groups past fill the halls of the bunkhouse, all signed with their names, etched in history. Tomorrow morning, they’ll hit the water and head into the backcountry to write their own story.
Back at camp, the adventure continues with our action-packed program. We take great pride in having all kinds of boys at North Star, and our program is full of choice to allow kids with different interests to find joy and success at their activities. Here you can see a copy of our daily schedule:
The Instructional Periods are chosen on a weekly basis. Periods 1, 2 & 3 offer opportunities to dive deep into learning new skills and improving on existing ones. This year during pre-camp, our staff created new and improved lesson plans to improve the structure of instructional periods, and our campers were able to see the benefits right away today. The 3-day learning blocks give campers a chance to progress their way through the activities objectives as they learn new skills, valuable life lessons, and have a ton of fun!
Fourth period today was challenge games, where each cabin challenges another to a sport or activity of their choosing. Today we saw games of soccer, football, basketball, dodgeball, softball, and more. And fifth period is Organized Free, where the boys get to pick any activity they like for just that period. Whether it’s hanging out at swim point, ziplining from the climbing wall, playing catch, or just relaxing and playing cards with friends in one of our designated hangout areas, the choice is completely theirs!
By celebrating their diverse interests and their individual successes, we are working to create a community of people that learns to value people different from themselves. I’m often struck by the way that boys are grouped socially at young ages simply by the activities that they gravitate towards. At North Star, we take immense pride in being home to boys with all kinds of interests, personalities, and backgrounds. If nothing else, we will always strive to be a place where every boy can come to be themselves, where campers are encouraged to explore their ever-evolving passions, and where they learn to appreciate others for their character.
We capped off the evening with some friendly competition in a game of Capture the Flag. Campers flew all over camp, gliding (and sometimes sliding) across the wet athletic fields from the Council Ring to the J-village with smiles on their faces and socks at half-crack.
