I volunteered to help chaperone 100 5th graders for 3 days and 2 nights of camping fun at Camp Wesley Woods in Townsend, TN near Gatlinburg. It is a pretty remote location, meaning no cell phone service. I not only survived the trip, but really had a ball. Yes, there were a few moments that challenged my patience, but all in all, it was a great trip and I can't wait to go with Sarah in a couple of years.I really just enjoyed watching the kids. At times, I was quite active in helping them get from point A to point B, but at other times, I just watched from a (safe) distance and let them be independent. I bunked in a room with 9 boys. I knew some and some I had not met before. Nick was assigned to a different bunk room, but was in the same lodge.
Since I don't recall ever going to camp when I was young, I found the whole process pretty interesting. In the morning, the kids go to breakfast. At each meal, one kid is the "table captain" and sets the table and carries all of the food to their table while the other kids wait outside the dining hall until they were called, table by table. I guess there were about 8 kids at each table. The meals are served family style and are all you care to eat. The kids are strongly encouraged not to waste any food and eat all they take. At the end of the meal, all of the food left on their plates, called ort, is weighed and the students are encouraged to go ort free. While the kids never went ort free for a meal as a group, they did do progressivley better and better at each meal.
After breakfast, the kids were divided up into an activity group and a female teacher and I were paired up with 14 kids and a camp staffer. We got to camp on Wednesday morning and spent the first hour or so, unpacking, and getting the camp orientation speech. After orientation, it was on to lunch. After lunch, we spent about 3.5 hours on the "Challenge Course" where the kids are taught to work together as a group and the chaperons are told to butt out and let the kids work out all of the problems. It was quite interesting to see which children take a leadership role and watch the group slowly learn how to complete their tasks as a team. Sometimes it was quite painful to watch the lack of progress, but at the last challenge station, it was clear that the group had learned how to work together. The boys and girls were no longer afraid to work with each other in order to get the job done. Below is my group and some pictures of them working on their tasks.
After the Challenge course, it was on to dinner and then after dinner, we had a campfire and sing along. The kids were amazing and the particpation was great to watch. After the campfire, it was back to the dining hall for a snack and then back to the lodge for bed. We gave the kids about an hour to play and then had lights out at 11pm, but I let them use their flashlights and read or talk quietly for another 30 minutes or so. The lodge had 3 rooms for boys and 2 rooms for girls. The rest of the kids were put into single sex smaller cabins, each housing about 8. The cabins were a bit rougher (no bathrooms and no air conditioning), but at least they did not have 60 kids running around inside of them either.
On Thursday, we got up at 645am, got most of the boys showered and ready for breakfast at 8. After eating, we had a geology lesson, a hike to the a pretty waterfall and in the afternoon after a filling lunch, we had rock wall climbing. At the waterfall, the kids all painted their faces, and mine, with some natural mud paint. Thursday night, we had a bit of stargazing and then a fun kid dance. After snack time, it was back to the lodge again and this night the kids were all a bit more tired. Lights out about 11 or so and everyone asleep by about 1230. 
Nick had a ball dancing with his buddies. 
On Friday morning, we had breakfast at 730am and had to pack before breakfast, so were up very early again. Friday morning, my group did orienteering and then stream ecology where I taught Nick how to find and catch a crawfish and a salamander. Yes, we really caught one of each. Then, much too soon, it was time for lunch, a group picture and a bus ride (for the kids, not me) back home.
You can see all of the pictures here: http://www.hatpix.com/Events/Wesley-Woods
Yes, it is password protected, but if you read this blog entry, you can figure it out.
