The moment the very last school bell rings, many students in America celebrate the long-awaited beginning of summer. Whether they will have weeks or months off from class, sunny days are ahead, and summer’s possibilities are plenty for everyone.
The road to one summer camp is caged in the endless greenery of trees clearly made for giants. Driving with the windows down through a bright after-rain fog, one will end up at Walk Your Path Well, an “all outdoors, all day, all play” camp. The setting could be mistaken as New Zealand or a tropical paradise, but it is actually Durham, N.C.
“With almost 2,700 acres, the Eno River State Park provides a green space for the community. It is an ideal location for an environmental camp, with more than 18 miles of hiking trails, easy access to the river, and well-kept fields for games and play,” according to the Walk Your Path Well website.
“Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, an American poet, a naturalist, and an inspiration to Al Whitted, director of Walk Your Path Well.
The wilderness camp, which Mr. Whitted began establishing roughly 20 years ago, is geared toward children ages 7 to 14. It features day, weeklong, and overnight adventures.
Whitted, who once lived in a cabin on an environmental preserve, has an extensive background in hiking, forest ecology, fishing, astronomy, rope courses, and organic gardening–the list is endless. Mixing these skills with his passion for teaching, he built a camp that continues to grow each year.
Jeremy Fox, a camp counselor, started as an 8-year-old camper at Walk Your Path Well where he learned wilderness survival skills. “Then I started as a counselor-in-training when I was 14,” said Fox as he watched his students start a fire with friction, using a wooden bow and board.
For Fox, there is an irreplaceable connection to be found in the natural world. “There are a lot of things that you see in nature that you don’t see in everyday life, and there’s a lot of thoughts and experiences [in nature] that you can’t come across in the city,” said Fox.
Fox also feels that Walk Your Path Well offers a welcomed break from the intensity of school. During the summer, the counselor shifts gears “into Walk Your Path Well mode,” and then it’s all nature, he said.
Fox’s co-worker, Megan Smith, is a second-year camp counselor hailing back this summer from Montana. “It is really good to get [the campers] away from technology because it has taken up so much of our time,” said Smith as the children honed their fire-building skills, toasting bagels in the process. “It is cool to see them take a step back from video games and connect with nature and their peers.”
The camp’s counselors reinforce many positive philosophies such as “leaving no trace” to encourage the campers to value leaving a place in better condition than they found it.
Moving on from the fire-building group to the next activity center, students there are making marshmallow shooters for the dragon. Yes, a dragon lives in the village, err camp.
That brought us to Rita Silver, who grew up going to big summer camps, and she lived, or wished she lived, at those camps. “I started going for a week, and then two weeks, and then four weeks, and then my parents couldn’t get me to come home,” said Silver, yet she wishes she had gone to a camp like the one she now works at.
“It is amazing the skills you can learn at a young age, and it is amazing to see these kids excel. I’m just learning at the same time they are. It is all a learning experience,” said Silver.
Silver feels that summer camp is a great place to develop the mind, but in different ways than can be found at school. She said, “In school … I don’t know what hemisphere of the brain it is, but in summer, I always felt like I was using my other half, which very much needs the creative sides and the fun sides, other than the just sitting down taking notes side.”
To get a glimpse of some really fun happenings, a young camper recommended sticking around after the lunchtime foreign affairs discussion. This is where the marshmallow shooters came in.
“[Al] does a dragon and he has a pot of gold. He’s against the villagers because the villagers want the gold,” the young camper said. “It is really fun if you can stick around, it is so fun,” said the young camper.
Silver says that the key to happy campers is their parents’ involvement. She explains that when parents involve their kids in lots of summer camps, there is never a summer slump.
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