STRUCTURE
Small Groups Structure
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During the core sessions (Big Sur, Mendocino, and Sierra), campers are divided into four groups, each with about ten campers of mixed ages and genders, and two staff. These small groups act as a family and develop a personality as campers play games and connect deeply with their group members and counselors. (Be sure to tell us in advance if your child wants to be with a sibling or friend.) These small groups share camp responsibilities together to support our community each day (cooking, cleaning, pickup, and campfire building). They also do most hikes and activities together, often paired with a second group. As the week progresses, we pair each of the four groups with a different group, so campers share activities with all the campers and staff by the end of the session.
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A Typical Daily Schedule
There really isn’t a “typical” day but, in general, here is how a day might go:
7:00 -8:30 AM - Campers rise and get dressed to start the day with health checks, hand washing, and breakfast.
Last call for breakfast is at 8:00.
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9:00 AM - Whole group meeting with announcements of the day.
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9:15 AM - Counselors check in with campers in small groups, where they brush teeth, play a game, and discuss the day’s activities.
10:00 AM - Half-camp (two small groups) start an activity at base camp while the other two groups might start a hike or a different base camp activity.
12:00 PM - Hand washing and lunch, usually a sandwich buffet
1:00 PM - Often a swim, in the heat of the day
3:00 PM - Hand washing and an afternoon snack (fruit and carbo like pretzels or chips)
3:30 PM - Often a flip-flop of the morning activities so all campers do all activities.
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5:30 PM - Dinner prep with one small group while other groups play games, do woodworking and crafts, or relax with each other.
6:30 PM - Hand washing and dinner
7:15 PM - One group cleans dinner dishes, another group builds the campfire, and the last group washes the dinner tables and picks up lost gear around the camp for the lost and found box. Sometimes there is time for a game or activity.
8:00 PM - Campfire begins
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9:00 PM - Time to brush teeth, wash hands, and use the restroom before bed.
9:30 PM - Campers are in their sleeping bags and winding down.
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10:00 PM - Quiet hours until 7:00 the next morning.
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* Other days, we might have half the camp (two small-groups) leave for a full-day hike after breakfast with lunch packed in only to return before dinner while the other half might stay close to base camp for other activities. The next day would see a switch, so every camper does all activities.
Camp Meals
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All campers help to prepare meals, incorporating local ingredients whenever possible and organic food whenever practical. While the Camp Chrysalis menu always contains standards like pasta, burrito bar and barbecued chicken, campers take a special interest in foods harvested from the local natural resources, such as berries and sea palms (Mendocino), or swamp onions and Pennyroyal mint tea (Sierra). Following is a typical session’s meals.
Breakfast: 2 pancakes, 1-2 French toast, 2 cereal (oatmeal and cold), and 2-3 egg & toast or breakfast burritos. Most with breakfast sausages.
Lunch: 5-7 sandwich "buffets", 1-2 bagel lunches with cream cheese, PB & J, 1 quesadilla lunch with hot dogs.
Dinners: Hamburgers & Hot dogs, Chicken Burrito Bar, Marinara sauce with pasta, Mac & Cheese, Barbecued Chicken, Black Bean Chili, Pesto pasta, Broccoli & Tofu bowl with peanut sauce. Salads accompany most meals.
Snacks: Home-baked desserts and cookies at campfire and afternoon snacks including fresh fruit and veggies, pretzels, chips and salsa, bars, trail mix, Cheezits, Goldfish, etc.