PONIES

Head Counselor: Samantha

Assistant Counselor: Alex

Junior Counselor: Dara

CIT: Juliette

Week 2 Update

The Ponies had great fun throughout our second week of camp. Here are some highlights: We had Makers for the first time this week.The kids were so excited by the projects they worked on– 3-D maze making, for one–and I was truly impressed by their unique and innovative designs! Cooking was also new to us this week. We made fruit kabobs with Chef Terry and had the best time! In Drama we read and acted out “Abiyoyo,” which made every Pony smile. I personally saw many of our Ponies making great strides in swim this week. They are all working incredibly hard to move up a level or two in the pool, and many already have, even though it’s only our second week of camp! In music, each Pony helped Brenda Rose slide part of her trombone to make loud, funny sounds. Our bunk loved the camp picnic on Friday– the food, the friends, the music. As Tao remarked, “It’s like they know all my favorite songs!”

So far during week three, we’ve made clay pinch pots in art, had a great time in Spanish, and searched for frogs and turtles in nature. Below are some pictures from our nature hunt! We also welcomed three new Ponies this week and are so happy to have them!

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Ponies

“Dear Parents,
We Ponies had a wonderful first week of camp! Samantha (Head Counselor), Dara (Junior Counselor), Juliette (CIT), and Aaron (CIT for this week) truly loved getting to know each and every Pony. Some of us spent time with old friends, but we all made many new friends. None of our Ponies are shy, that’s for sure! By the end of Day Two, we all felt like we’d known each other for months! Special thanks to Aaron for helping us this week. He’s leaving us to help Dave with Jr. Makers, but we will be glad to see him again when it starts up next week!Here are some highlights from our week:
On Monday, we held our first bi-weekly Ponies Dance Party! Most of the Ponies showed off their moves and some even requested songs. The campers enjoyed it so much that we might make it a daily occurrence! Knex has been a big hit in the classroom all week. All of the boys dive into assembling trucks, buildings, and artsy shapes whenever they have a free moment. Most of the girls gravitate towards coloring in their free time. We have many beautiful pictures hanging outside our bunk. Come visit them! On Tuesday, we cooked s’mores in Nature with solar ovens we made. The s’mores were delicious and messy! On Wednesday, we went to Drama and acted out “Caps For Sale.” We also made picture frames for  Friendship Week in our bunk! On Thursday, we had Sports and Games for the second time. We love playing “Red Rover!” All week, we had fun at Instructional and Free Swim. Almost half of our bunk graduated from a red to orange ribbon, or orange to yellow ribbon by the end of the week. Samantha joined the campers in free swim to play tag and check out the Ponies’ flips and kicks.Here is a bit about our counselors:
Samantha is a writer from Lower Merion, who spent the last two years working in political TV in Los Angeles. She is heading to Sarah Lawrence College in the fall to get a graduate degree in creative non-fiction writing, with which she will hopefully become a college professor and write about social, economic, and medical issues. Sam’s hobbies include painting, singing, dancing, playing guitar and piano, and being a devoted cat mom of two (less of a hobby; more of a lifestyle!) She has loved getting to know all of your wonderful, unique kids this week!
Dara is a rising senior in high school at the Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP) in South Philadelphia. She enjoys singing and dancing and is a member of Philadanco’s youth dance company. This is her third year working at Tenderfoot Camp and she is looking forward to a great summer!
Juliette finished 8th grade at Bala Cynwyd Middle School and is now going into 9th grade at Lower Merion High School. Juliette wants to be a teacher when she is older and she loves animals and crafts. She loves spending time with the campers, getting to know them, and playing with them.
Until next week,
Your Ponies”

 

Welcome Letter

Dear Parents,

Hello and welcome to the Ponies! I’m Samantha, Head Counselor of the Ponies. I’m thrilled to be spending the summer with such a fantastic group of kids, as well as our amazing Junior Counselor, Dara, and CIT, Juliette. We have so many fun things planned for our bunk– including weekly dance parties and craft projects. For those I didn’t meet at orientation today, I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday!

I wanted to open the lines of communication with you all, tell you a little about myself, and remind you of a few things.

First of all, feel free to email me at this address if you have any questions, concerns, updates, etc. I will be sending weekly updates to you as well– I think it’s important to keep parents in the loop!

Here’s a little about me, which I hope you’ll share with your Pony at home (the interesting parts, at least!):

I’m a writer from Lower Merion, who spent the last two years working in political television in Los Angeles. I’m heading to Sarah Lawrence College in the fall, to get a graduate degree in creative non-fiction writing. I was an Assistant Counselor at Tenderfoot in 2009 and 2010, and loved every minute of it! I have two younger sisters and we enjoy painting pictures and watching TV together. I also like to sing, dance, and play guitar and piano (our Junior Counselor Dara is a dancer and musician, too!) All three of us counselors are Taylor Swift fans, so the Ponies can expect at least one Taylor-themed dance party! I have two cats– Maisy, who is orange, and Deacon, who is grey and white– but I think all animals are wonderful. Most importantly, I love kids and can’t wait to learn more about each unique Pony in our bunk!

Reminders for Monday: Please send your Ponies to camp with…

— a LABELED shoe box or bag of extra clothes, including an extra bathing suit.

— a LABELED bottle of sunscreen. I hope you will send your Ponies in with sunscreen already on, but I plan to have them re-apply after instructional swim and after free swim.

— a refillable water bottle, each day. I take the heat very seriously and will make sure your kids are drinking enough water, but a bottle helps facilitate that.

— FYI: There are wood chips on the playground, so if your Ponies wear flip-flops or sandles to camp, you might want to send them with sneakers too, and vice versa.

Looking forward to the first day of camp!

All the best,

Samantha

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