Summer Issue #4 -- July 22, 2011 - Campus Kids

Newsletter for the Campers, Families, Staff & Friends of Campus Kids-New Jersey
Business Office (fall/winter/spring): Summer Camp (at Blair Academy starting June 99)
9
:
Campus Kids-NJ 973-845-9260 Campus Kids-NJ 973-845-9260
P.O. Box 8 CKNewJersey@campuskids.com P.O. Box 369 CKNewJersey@campuskids.com
Madison, NJ 07940 Blairstown, NJ 07825
web site: www.campuskids.com * Facebook: Campus Kids New Jersey * Twitter: CampusKidsNJ
Tom Riddleberger, Director Stu Lisbe, Associate Director Jeremy Berse, Assistant Director Teri Hansen, Assistant Director
Dear Campus Kids,
Everyone’s talking about the weather
this week, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll tell you that
over 300 campers and staff had a spectacular
week in Blairstown. There was so much
happening in camp that we had to ask people to
hurry up with their daily announcements so we
could fit them all in and get to lunch on time.
“Announcements” are important at our
camp because every camper chooses his/her own
activities every day, so they need to hear about
what’s coming up in all the activities. Behind the
scenes Jeremy, Sara, the activity coordinators
and staff assistants work hard to organize a
complex system that makes it simple for
campers to pick their own activities. They make
it look easy, but that’s an illusion. The amount of
detailed planning, checking and re-checking that
goes into program planning at our camp is
extraordinary.
Fortunately for the campers, however,
they don’t have to deal with all of that behindthe-scenes
stuff. They just get to pick their
activities. From what I’ve observed, the campers
who have the most fun at Campus Kids are those
who combine their favorite activities with some
that they’ve never tried. Being adventurous,
learning new skills, taking some risks . . . they
make camp much more exciting than doing the
same things every day.
I hope you’ve had a fun and adventurous
time at CK-NJ. We’ll see you Monday morning,
unless this is your last week in which case we
hope to see you at the December 4th camp
reunion and back here at camp next summer. In
the meantime, be happy, be safe, be kind and
keep cool. (Whoops! I couldn’t resist mentioning
the weather!)
tom@campuskids.com
Hi Everyone!
My name is Kimmie Stivers and I am one of the Moon Pies counselors.
This is my first summer at camp, as a camper or counselor,
and I am absolutely loving my experience at Campus Kids!
When I first got to camp, I was a bit nervous about what to expect.
Now that we are halfway through the summer, I think I can
share the top four reasons why camp is one of my favorite
places to be.
4. Old Activities: While at camp, I have the chance to teach the
activities that I love. I get to choreograph dances, spot tumbling,
and share any advice I can in other activities I have done before.
The comfort I feel from doing well in these areas encourages
me to try new things!
3. New Activities: The amount of activities we offer has encouraged
me to try and learn something new every week. My awesome
Moon Pies have gotten me hooked on making friendship
bracelets; I want to learn at least three different patterns before
the summer is over. The slackline is also on my to do list
every chance I get.
2. Teamwork: Every part of camp involves working with others
to achieve our missions. Campers and staff do a great job supporting
each other in tasks big or small, creating a positive attitude
that keeps camp fun.
1. Friends: While here, I have found friends that I will have for
many years to come. They share my values and interests, but we
are different enough that they can help me grow into my own
person.
My only regret is that I did not get here sooner. I hope all of my
Moon Pies, (past, present, and future) are having an amazing
summer!
Kimmie
Moon Pies (Sophomore Girls) Counselor

Hello camp family! Once again this is Brooke, the Camper Support Coordinator, sending you a
transmission directly from the Satellite of Love in orbit around camp. I think everyone
knows that this was one super awesome week in Campus Kid’s long history of awesome weeks.
Can anyone guess why it was so super? That’s right, it was super because Wednesday was
Super Mario Day! I had a great time being Princess Peach for the afternoon and I really
loved all the costumes that were worn around to a plethora of Super Activities. My favorite
was the Mario Kart Racing activity with long boards and water-balloons! Super Mario Day
was especially exciting and endearing to me because I grew up playing lots of Nintendo
games with my two brothers. My younger brother and I are very close and we spend most of our time together
playing video games. We choose a game and then work on beating it together! We have a lot of fun along the way
and we are a great team. My brother is really good at battling bosses and completing tasks in games and I’m very
good at puzzles and figuring out what needs to be done to move on to the next level. We compliment one another
in our strengths and weaknesses. Together we make an unstoppable gamer who is great at every aspect of a
game! I felt like I saw a lot of that same kind of teamwork all over camp on Super Mario Day. In fact, I think I
see it almost every day. There are a lot of activities in camp that ask campers to work together, with their different
strengths and weaknesses, to accomplish a goal. It’s really nice to see campers supporting one another
and succeeding in something together. When my brother and I see that final cut scene at the end of game, we
feel accomplished and happy because we had so much fun along the way. I hope that’s what the end of the week
feels like at camp for you, because that’s sure how it feels for me. Work together CK family! Together we can
accomplish anything.
Transmission complete.
Brooke Meyer
Camper Support Coordinator
Notes from the CK Office
Water Bottle . . .
. . . with your camper’s name on it. Please don’t forget.
One Weekend Adventure has space . . .
August 12 to 15. Info is on the website, or give us a call.

Coincidence
By Miles Friedman
Pleading wouldn’t change Ross’s mind about considering the
idea of putting a dart board on the ceiling of Annie Hall. It
would make sense. Miles and Zach were sure that Tom
would agree, but Ross wasn’t buying it. So, Miles thought it
would be hilarious if he wrote a story about it. Coincidence?
Of course not!
Heat-Ku’s
by Matt Lurrie
Hot Day? Slip ‘n Slide
So much fun I’ll ignore the
Ten kid pile-up
Water bottles rock
Hydration makes you soar like
A big yellow bird
To the heat index:
We wish you’d get in line with
The temperature
Armstrong-Hipkins door
A vortex of cold fresh air
Refrigerator
Ultimate frisbee?
Alas, we have to avoid
CK’s religion
Vanderhoof buses
Cold, yet the only good thing
About leaving camp.
Hey Campus Kids,
It's Zach Blaifeder again with another mystery
photo! After a hot week at camp, this photo
should "cool" you down a bit! (That is the ONLY
hint I am giving!) If you can correctly guess
what the photo is by MONDAY, you will receive
a prize. Congratulations to Alex Azar for correctly
guessing last week's mystery photo, which
was the changeover umbrella! Good luck with
this week's!
What a week it's been! The high temperatures
have had camp hotter than the deserts of Tattooine,
and I've been sweating more than Lando
Calrissian did when he had to fly the Millenium
Falcon out of an exploding Death Star. Spirits
have been high, however, and we've all been
keeping busy. We've all been keeping in costume,
too, as both Superhero Day AND Mario
Day left me in awe of the awesome costumes
campers come up with after only a weekend of
work. There were completely crazy crossovers of
Spider-Men and Supermen, followed closely by
Links and Luigis racing Mario Karts side-byside.
With all that excitement, I can't even believe
how much energy all the Rebels had left
over to make both the soccer tournament and the
musical such a success! After a few extra pool
parties and plenty of water, the heat has officially
been beat; and it was a well-fought war with
warmth. For now, we'll just keep cool thoughts of
ice cream and the ice world of Hoth handy as the
hot weather dies down. Until next time, may the
Force be with you.
- Dave G., Rebel Alliance Squad Leader
Can you guess what’s in this
photo? Tell Zach on Monday
and you could win a prize!

Hello all! In fine arts this week
we have made amazing paintings.
Instead of painting trees
or water this week we painted
water out of fish and trees out
of pipes. We even painted
flowers out of watermelon
slices and some many more crazy paintings.
Comic strip filled its entire room with drawings
and, of course, new comics. Fashion accessories
filled the camp with stylish accents.
In ceramics we made the most imaginative
mugs I have ever seen. Tie-dye covered the
hill like colorful leaves, and the rocket
launches were not to be missed. In arts and
crafts this week we finished our prints and
made the set and decorations for performing
arts musical medley. The theater looked beautiful.
It looked just like Broadway. Thank you
to all of you who helped to make the show
wonderful.
Rose
P.S. — did you know Michelangelo was left handed?
Yay left handed people!
By Jake Kalimian

Swimming, Swimming, In The Swimming Pool…
Greetings, Everyone! Another week has come to pass and I can't tell you all how amazed I am at the progress
of our swimmers! The swim counselors are doing a great job teaching, and the kids are doing an even better
job learning and applying the instruction they're given! It's awesome to see all six lanes of our Olympic sized
swimming pool being put to good use and to see all of you campers having fun while still improving your
skills! One thing to remember when it's as hot as it is outside...drink lots and lots of water, especially if
you've been doing a lot of swimming during the day because, believe it or not, you sweat more when you
swim than you realize and can easily become dehydrated if you aren't drinking enough water. So stay
hydrated, and keep up the good work in the pool! I'm also very excited about archery this week, as we
will be having an advanced archery period for those of whom want to test their skills at distance shooting!
We will also be having, what I call, Pollock Archery. This period of Pollock Archery will include paint
filled water balloons placed on the targets with a fresh sheet of white paper as the backdrop, so essentially when you hit the
balloons they splatter paint on the paper and you create art threw archery, very exciting!!! I would also like to compliment all
those who keep signing up for slackline. I love seeing you all make a step, another step, and then another, and seeing your
determination to stay on the line keep improving. Many of your techniques differ, but your commitment to learning and continues
trying after many failed attempts is inspiring to see, not only inspiring me, but your fellow camper friends and counselors
that are teaching you as well! I would be proud to call you a bunch of serious slackers ;) because you guys are rockin' it on
the slackline! And for those of you who haven't signed up for archery or slackline, and will still be here after week 4, sign up
because it's sooo much fun!!! And to all my swimmers who are doing such an amazing job learning, keep on keeping on in the
pool and thank your swim counselors for doing such a good job!
Until next time,
Todd Hughes, Aquatics Coordinator

Hey CK Family!
Abe here from the Galactic Empire. So as I'm sitting here contemplating my article
for the fabulous Sundial, it's really hitting me that this summer at CK is officially
half-over. I can remember so clearly the first Monday of camp and everyone getting
GE
off the busses thinking, here we go! And now 50% of it is in the books! Time moves
much faster when we're busy having fun, but this it's felt like the summer's gone in
warp drive around here with all the great things we've been doing lately. Us
younger boys have been all over camp speeding up the space-time continuum from softball and golf all the
way to the other side of campus in ceramics and siege craft. We've been launching rockets in the bowl,
belting out musical numbers in the drama show, chilling out in a pool party and dressing up like superheroes,
not to mention playing in our own live action Super Mario game on Mario Bros day! Hope everyone
has a good weekend, because we've got more to come next week with the start of our new session.
Thanks everyone for a great half of the summer so far, and for those of you coming for the first time
this half...see you soon!
— Abe Nowels ,
Younger Boys division Head Counselor

Camp people are some
of the most adaptable people,
and that’s certainly
been the case this week.
Super heat and humidity
challenge us to keep having
fun while keeping everyone safe. Dealing with
some injuries to a few counselors tests our staff’s
ability to shift roles and fill in the gaps. Giving
campers daily choice of activities means that we
are constantly adjusting how many periods of each
activity we are offering and which staff are leading
which ones. Sometimes campers are homesick,
sometimes there’s a disagreement in a bunk
group . . . these require on-the-spot problemsolving.
Finding out that certain staff and campers
have phenomenal skills that we weren’t expecting
causes us to be super creative and flexible
with our program planning.
Camp is a planned, organized community,
but it’s also a dynamic, responsive and often spontaneous
one too. This is why camp folks are, by
nature, adaptable folks. It’s also one reason we
love camp: we could never, ever be bored!
P.S. — I’m adapting right now to having a
small space to write my “Parents’ Corner”! tom@campuskids.com
Hello Campus Kids!
We had a
scorching
week with
the heat but
that didn’t stop
these awesome kids from playing sports! We’ve had
more campers going to activities like volleyball, ultimate,
and tennis and I can see their skills take flight
with all the time they’ve been putting in! The “Milky
Way, Black Hole, come on CK give us a goal oooooo is
that a Martian” soccer tournament wrapped up with
the final two teams — the Spanish Shooting Stars and
the Danish Dippers — playing on Friday. I was so impressed
with how many campers participated and by
how much talent there was running up and down the
field! We even had great cheerleaders and fans to
cheer on their friends! I would also like to personally
give a shout out to Cass from the Super Nova Gurlz
for winning the older division gaga tournament as
well as Zach Goldman for winning it for the younger
division!! Thank you to everyone that participated! I
would especially like to thank all those who signed
up for… DOUBLE PERIOD SOFTBALL because it was
one of the best turn outs yet and we had a blast!!!
This was a great session and I really had a super time
walking around and joining in all the activities with
everyone!
If this was your last week at camp, then I
thank you for trying new activities and being enthusiastic
throughout your time here, and if you’re staying,
then remember to bring your water bottles, sunscreen,
shining smiles, and don’t forget to sign up for
softball! :)
Katie McNally
Athletics Coordinator
Hi, Sundial Readers!
Jesse Caruso here. This has been an amazing
experience thus far, and there are still
four weeks left to learn and grow with the
campers. Campus Kids truly is more than a
summer camp—it’s a place of reverence
and love. I hope all of the campers are having
as much of a blast as I am. So have a
great rest of the summer to those leaving us
this week, and I’ll see those of you returning
on Monday. And remember, the Earth
speaks great things to those who listen.
Jess Caruso
Counselor for B8 Rocket Power

Hello Everyone!
It’s been another amazing week in the Performing Arts for the 2011 and
summer!
For Week 3 we had the talent show or Brit-alent Show! Six Brits and one
Irishman hosted a parade of talent while taking us on a journey of what camp
would be like controlled by Great Britain. Talents included several musical numbers
such as singing, guitars, pianos, dancing and even some bubbles here and
there. Scattered throughout the show were videos of a glimpse into a world run by our friends across the
Atlantic. Skits such as tea time instead of afternoon shade and the different accents provide by campers and
staff... Wa-uh-er Bo-uh-l!
For week 4 we had the Musical Medley’s drama show! The Musical Medley was a cornucopia of different
musical numbers ranging from old to modern. Numbers such as Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid,
Cell Block Tango from Chicago, and Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray, I Can’t Wait to be King
from The Lion King and others, were acted danced and sang from every age group in camp. The Theatre was
booming with lights, music, and decorations! Thank you, for all the hard work from both Performing Arts and
Fine Arts (Staff and Campers). It was definitely another amazing week in the Mystery Science Theatre 2011.
Goodbye for now and I look forward to the next session!
-Sean Scrutchins
Performing Arts Coordinator
“I’m happy to be a member
of Campus Kids. We
may call our division
building the Death Star,
but it’s really full of life
and energy. As soon as
you enter Davies Hall
you become a full
fledged member of a
family called the Galactic
Empire. I’m honored
to be a squad commander
of the Cosmic
Kids.”
—Eli Poirier
Counselor of the B5
Freshmen Boys, Cosmic
Kids
Drawing, also by Eli, of
his campers hanging out
on the front porch of
their dorm, Davies Hall.

InterGIRL GIRL GIRLactic GIRL Planetary
*Rhyming Couplets- “Week Four is No More”
by Devon*
This week was the beginning of the end for some,
After four weeks I never thought this day’d come!
The evening activities were great this week:
Pizza from our win made the common room stink!
Deal or No Deal, campfire and open mic,
Was solid time with friends and peeps that we like.
Bunk Olympics and pool parties all around,
Are both great fun and where Todd can be found.
But how could we leave the youngest kids out?
The dance party was so you would not pout J
Just kidding before; you’re my bundles of joys!
I love it when you yell “girls” instead of “boys.”
Wednesday was my most favorite day yet;
Mario and games where you could get wet!
To all my girls who performed in the show:
“You Rock,” is what I want you to know!
To my dears who’s summer finishes today:
We know you must leave, but we wish you could stay!
IGP,
Thank you for such a successful week! I want you to
know how proud that I am of your participation in EA’s,
and how well you all did at “Super Mario Day!” A special
shout out to the freshman/sophs: You guys got the most
compliments on your enthusiasm for Mario Day. Also,
your (all IGP) enthusiasm with our song has become contagious
(meaning: makes everyone want to sing)! Little
things like that make all the difference at camp and I
just want you to know that am proud of your part in
making this a summer to remember. If you are leaving
this week, I wish you all the best! We will miss you!
All My Love, Devon—HC Younger Girls
My First Day at Campus Kids
–Taylor Brazinsky
At camp I had no clue what was going on but
then I found the FRESHMEN Girls. I was really
nervous because what if people were mean or
what if everyone hated me but that wasn’t true
when…I started to try new things and hang out
with…the best counselors Chloe and Becky

Hello Campus Kids!
Week 4 was a hot one, however, despite the heat, we had so many amazing
things happen to take our minds off of it! On Tuesday we found some seriously awesome
super hero outfits for super hero day, followed by Wednesday with SUPER
MARIO DAY where the divisions broke into their groups and participated in Super
Mario related activities!!! Thursday night was the week 4 musical which showcased
many talented performers… however, something I would like to point out is that we did not only see
Solar Sisters talent in the show, we saw and continue to see it daily in activities and in the bunk. One of
my favorite things to do is walk around to different groups a bunk time and see the beautiful bracelets being
made, or the musical talent of guitars being played and songs being sang… not only does it reflect that
of the people, but it reflects the happy fun loving atmosphere camp provides for us.
Week 4 marks the end of session 2, and for some of us, it is our “closing time” at camp. To our
dupers Elliot, Madi, Sami, Arielle, and Emily, you have meant so much to the older girls division, and you
have grown so much at camp. We are going to miss you very much but we are excited for you as you continue
to grow into young adults. For the rest of the Solar Sisters that we are saying good-bye to today, we
are going to miss you very much, we hope you have an amazing rest of your summer and to look forward
to seeing you again in the near future… If you are reading this and are about to become a new addition to
the Solar Sister family… WELCOME! Get excited for what is about to be some of the most fun weeks of
your life!
Much love,
Kim ODP — Head Counselor- Older Girls division
Cooking and Mermaids..Don’t Mix!
– A story by Dana and Michelle
“Order up!” said Chef Gustav serving his famous
clam salad to the waiter, Bruce. “We are out of trout
Chef G,” said Mikayla bursting from the storage
room. Chef Gustav decided to go fishing himself, like
in the old days when fancy cheese fondue cost only
a dime. He grabbed a raft and set off to the river.
…
The water was pushing Gustav down the river. He
caught tuna and salmon, but no trout. One second
he was calmly rafting, the next second he was holding
onto a stone and soaking wet. His fishing rod
was twitching hard. “Is that a trout?” he wondered.
And when he heard a shriek he knew what it was: a
blue whale! Its hair was unlike any whale he’d seen.
He called animal control and told them about a
whale in the river. The blue whale was in a gorgeous
shade of tan and green. Poor whale.. well, at least
Chef G. has enough tuna to make 100 tuna melts.

Dear Campus Kids,
Andrew Imbalzano here! For those of you
who don’t know me, I’m a Team A Staff Assistant
and am celebrating my SEVENTH Summer here at
campus kids. Some of you may be thinking, even if
you cannot believe it, that this summer is half over.
Time flies WAAY to fast, it is true. However, this
summer is just getting started. This session was
JAM PACKED with amazing activities planned by
the entire camp staff as a whole! In fact, I have a
crossword for all of you with some of the tings related
to this session. Enjoy!
Peace, Love, CKNJ,
Andrew J. Imbalzano

Read the “Sundial” sooner and in color. This issue was published first online:
www.campuskids.com/readthesundial.htm
P.O. Box 369, Blairstown, NJ 07825