This week, camp is a weird combination of peaceful and strange.

The Coliseum is empty. Olympia is all quiet. Pickleball courts are silent.

Summer 2025 is officially over.

As I clean my office, I’m finding all kinds of reminders of what happened at camp this year.

Morning meeting notes.

Torchlight announcements.

The Double 5 Awards Night schedule.

I know that so many amazing things happened this summer. We had fun, we built friendships, we watched campers learn and grow.

These things were happening every day, and I hope the campers took some of that home with them.

If I could send each camper home with anything, I would send them with a reflection of their best moment at camp.

The one where they overcame a fear, or when they achieved a goal, or when they gave a heartfelt apology to resolve a conflict.

The outside world seems to be increasingly efficient at reflecting back our shortcomings.

Grades, class rank, social media, peer groups, and a whole long list of other things can often show kids what they aren’t, or what they need to catch up to.

But camp gets to be different. It’s like a mirror reflecting something great about each camper.

It may point out areas for growth, too. But at the most fundamental level, it shows them that they can fit in, be who they are, and find their place to shine.

Camp Is a Magic Mirror

Put simply: our best traits come out when we’re in an enthusiastic, supportive, happy, helpful, and respectful environment.

Camp is one of the only places designed almost entirely around showing kids what’s good about them.

This isn’t just some happy accident. It’s the whole point. Everything we do is built around the idea that kids should have an amazing time while growing into who they’re meant to be.

At camp, the mirror doesn’t reflect what a camper lacks. It’s there to highlight two things: (1) the positive traits that each camper has, and (2) the choices they make to use those traits each day.

• Bravery when they finally made it to the top of high ropes course even when looking down was scary.
• Kindness when they knew someone else was having a tough time.
• Humor when they got the whole group laughing during lunch.
• Leadership when stepping up because something needed doing.

Each of these is a decision, which means the camp mirror reflects the value of a camper’s effort back to them.

It shows them, over and over again, that they can choose to brighten their own days as well as those of others.

Seeing Their Own Strength

I’ll acknowledge that the mirror metaphor might sound a little cliche. But after watching it happen summer after summer, I can’t think of a better way to describe it.

This week, I keep being reminded of all of the ways it showed up this summer:

• A senior camper who thrived so much in an expanded role that he extended his session twice.
• A first-time camper who viscerally missed home, but found the determination to see it through. (Spoiler alert: He left talking about returning next year.)
• Another who returned after camp wasn’t quite the right fit a few years ago, but found her place among friends and had a central role in her cabin’s Sing Song at the end of the session.

These are such cool success stories, and a real reflection of who these campers are at their best.

Nobody is expected to be perfect.

But when the camp mirror reflects our best traits, it’s easy for campers to see how strong they really are.

Taking the Mirror Home

As adults, we need to be aware of the mirrors kids are looking into. There are lots of good ones out there. But there are some that can get a little distorted, too.

Giving campers multiple weeks of seeing their own strength is such an incredible gift. As parents, that’s what you did for them this summer.

Sitting here, I do have two hopes.

First, obviously, I hope they return to camp next year. Every year, I believe a little bit more in the cumulative power of multiple summers at camp.

Second, I hope they remember what they saw in the camp mirror. That they carry with them the image of someone who is brave and kind and funny and capable.

Someone who tries hard, who lifts others up, who can handle challenges with grace.

Because these are the versions of kids we see every summer.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be reaching out with a parent survey and some other reflections on this incredible summer.

But for now, I just want to say thank you for sharing your campers and allowing them to spend a few weeks seeing their strength in the camp mirror.

Erec Sir