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8:00 AM
"Good Morning, Ramapo!" resounds over the hills in a booming voice that creeps into each cabin and rouses the sleepy campers and counselors. The inhabitants of Bunk 13 consist of six boys ages 9-11 and three counselors helping to make sure everyone gets up. Some roll over, some hide, some complain... yet in the end, either through tickling or prodding, all get up and get dressed and ready for the hike to breakfast.
8:30 AM
As campers go to the main hall for breakfast, they pass a now familiar scene: evergreens encircle the lake, pots of flowers line the paths, a rabbit darts across the gravel road, colorful swings and slides, canoes and floating tubes dot the lake.... For many children, especially those from the city, the setting itself is a morale booster. Bryan, their camp counselor, leads the sleepy pack with a silly song about their recent overnight camping adventure that gets one or two boos, a couple groans and some reluctant giggles.
In the dining hall, campers eat at long row tables. It is a light-filled, A-frame timber building that seems to meld into the natural surroundings of tall pines. The dining hall is bustling in the morning with tales from the day before and excitement for the day ahead.
10:00AM
The boys from Bunk 13 are given a challenge: all six boys have to go from one platform to another ten feet away using a swing rope. But first they have to get the rope without leaving the first platform! A conversation ensues - who has the longest arms or the longest legs? - but they still can’t get the rope! Finally - through cooperation and lots of trial and error - they tie their shirts together and hook it around the rope to pull it back. Success! One goes over, then the next, then the next. Jerome needs encouragement. His team cheers him on. He takes the rope, but remains frozen on the platform. His bunkmates tell him "You can do it!" He tries, but doesn’t make it. He tries again and, with the help of his bunkmates who reach out to grab the rope as he approaches, he arrives on the opposite platform. Amidst cheers and hugs, stands a beaming Jerome. Ramapo promotes character values such as concern for others, teamwork and the courage to do one’s best. Today the team met all these challenges. Flush with success, they cool off on an enormous lakeside slip n’ slide that the counselors have set up as a reward for their team effort.
1:15PM
Back at the dining hall for lunch, the campers of Bunk 13 share their adventure with friends from another bunk. Outside, Thomas, a young boy from Brooklyn finds an orange salamander that he lets crawl up and down his arm. He lets others look, but warns them not to touch it or they’ll harm its delicate skin. He walks back in the woods to gently place it beneath some wet leaves and says goodbye.
2:00PM
The campers return to their bunks for some quiet activities like reading or drawing. A couple boys play a game of chess on a lower bunk, and another takes a nap before the afternoon’s outdoor activities.
3:00PM
The afternoon is filled with three more planned group activity periods. Their first activity brings them back to the woods where they will be riding on the zipline - a favorite of all our campers. The zipline is a wire that extends from one tree to another 40 feet across and 6 feet off the ground. A boy is put in a harness and "zips" along the wire from tree to tree. The look of exhilaration on each boy’s face as they zip through the air is unmistakable. On second and third runs, they get bolder and hold on with one hand so they are able to "low five" their bunkmates below as they pass.
They fill the rest of their afternoon learning ecology at the Nature Center and taking many of their leaf specimens to the arts center where they will press the leaves into clay in their pottery class.
5:00PM
Normally at this hour campers and counselors return to their cabin to read, play board games and rest. Today, however, they are offered a chance to earn a sunset swim - a very special privilege for campers. In order to earn this treat, the bunk has to work as a team to tidy up their bunk. If one member of the team doesn’t help to clean, then the whole team misses the sunset swim. The boys get busy sweeping, cleaning the bathroom, and putting things away. One or two reluctant campers are given help folding their clothes from other bunkmates and encouragement to join the team. At 5:45, Bryan comes in to do the final check. Things look good, but he makes sure to ask if everyone helped out in this effort. The boys all say "yes," and earn their sunset swim!
This is one of the many opportunities campers are given to learn to live within a group, form productive relationships, help one another, and develop trust in one another.
6:00 PM
Dinner is dominated by talk of the sunset swim, and each rush back to get their suits, towels and goggles.
7:00 PM
The boys head off for their swim and play Marco Polo, water tag and other games until the sun goes down, long after 8:00PM. It is both a peaceful and exhilarating experience and a fitting way for a team to celebrate its cooperation with one another.
9:00PM
When lights go out at nine, there is not one camper who isn’t already half asleep.
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