Last day of classes =(, but not the last day of camp =).  Chorus turned into a scrapbooking session and time for campers to make appreciation cards for the Frostburg State University staff, as well as the ah-yi’s and shu-shu’s who came along with us this year.  In ID, campers finished off the week by writing affirmations or positive messages to one another that they could look back on to remember the awesome memories they had from camp.

In the afternoon, our very delayed water games finally happened.  Teams got into their swimwear and competed in four different competitions out on the field:

• Cowboys vs Asians – one pair from each team squared off in a duel.  one member of each pair had a loaded water gun, while the other had five splash bombs.  the team with the last man standing scored a point.
• Save the Princess – one team tried to navigate an obstacle course while avoiding water balloons and splash bombs from an opposing team.  each team member that slid to victory via the slip and slide scored a point
• Concussionator – in a relay, team members spun around a bat five times before running out onto a  sprinkler-soaked field to pick up a tennis ball to bring back to their teams.  the team with the most balls collected won.
• Water toss relay – one team member set out with a bottle to fill with water, then came back and tossed the contents of the bottle to another team member with a bucket.  this continued until time ran out.  the team with the most water in their respective bucket won.

After dinner, we had free time in the dorm.  With the extra day, we wanted to make sure campers just had the chance to sit back, relax and enjoy each other’s company.  Some campers wrote notes to one another via the mailboxes, others played cards or board games, and others just sat around exchanging stories and getting to know one another better….and then there were the members of G4, who cashed in on their night market prize to pelt teacher Kevin with water balloons.

The skies finally cleared up and we were ready for some racing today.  Before the big/amazing race, however, there were classes to be taken.  The kids tell us that folk dance is pretty intense.  We took a peek in and thought the kids were doing P90X.  Instead, they were just warming up before they had to do cartwheels and splits and back bends and hold up their own leg for a minute (apparently we’re a cheer camp now?).  In ID, younger campers learned about the Monkey King and Peking Opera, while the older campers had a discussion on the model minority and the bamboo ceiling.  In sports kids played kickball, folk sports and modern dance continued trucking along with routines.  Classes that were far along started learning how to shuffle to Party Rock Anthem.

In the afternoon we were finally ready for The Amazingly Awesome Amazing Race.  Teams competed to complete eight stations around campus.  Upon successful completion, they would get clues to help solve a final crossword puzzle.  The eight stations were as follows:

• Mat Stacker – teams had to stack two mats located on opposite sides of a room, while standing on top of them
• Lava River – each team member had to carry another team member a set distance, without repeating a method of carrying that had already been used
• Twister – teams used the rules of Twister to travel from one side of the playing field to another…except the playing field got smaller and smaller as the game went on…
• Amoeba – teams had to interlock hands to create one unit, and then walk together while carrying various, awkwardly shaped objects
• Rope Maze – one-by-one, blindfolded team members entered a rope maze.  if they messed up, the next team member went…except this new team member wasn’t able to see what mistake was made…
• Farmville – team members were given an animal to charade.  once they found their pairs, they had to charade their animal to the rest of the team and have them guess correctly.
• Parachute – using only their teeth, team members used trash bags to carry various objects across a room
• Barrel Roll – one by one, team members dizzy batted 10 times, then dove through a foam barrel.   once in the barrell, a counselor rolled the barrel as fast as possible to make escape that much more difficult.

The Ewoks took the crown, being both the first team to complete all eight tasks AND the first team to complete the crossword puzzle (in an impressing 24 minutes).  This crossword featured fun factoids about the counselors, such as the name of LJ’s car and several counselors’ guilty music pleasure.

After TAAAR was over, the entire camp played a game of Shipwreck.  In this game, counselor Barry called out various signals.  Depending on the signal, campers had to arrange themselves in groups of 1 through 5:

• Hit the Deck (1) = last person to touch the ground is out
• Man Overboard (2) = one person jumps on another’s back
• Man The Pumps (3) = two people pump a third person’s arms
• Life Jacket (4) = three people interlock hands and surround a fourth person in the middle
• Mess Hall (5) = four people stand on one leg, pretending to eat over the fifth person that acts as a table

Talia beat out Justin to claim this year’s victory before we went back to the dorm for lights out.

Welcome to WMACS 2011!  Day 1 of 8…that’s right, EIGHT!  Camp is one day longer this year, so we started on a Saturday, instead of our traditional Sunday.

After meeting at TECRO, we departed for Frostburg State University, where our camp has been held since 1997 (15th year!).  We gave our campers time to settle into their rooms, but after dinner we went on a tour of the campus and then the counselors led the camp through an orientation and some ice breakers.

Unfortunately, the A/C wasn’t working (on the hottest day of the year), but that didn’t stop us from having some fun.  We started off with our standard introduction of counselors and staff, followed by a review of the camp rules by Ian (what time is lights out, again?).  Alex proved to us why he was teaching folk sports this year by showcasing his diabolo skills, then, Amy introduced us to Zumba, which would be an elective this year, and Becky and Jojo showed off the choreography that they would be teaching this week in modern dance.  Becky and Jojo (with special guest appearances by fellow counselors) followed that up with another routine to Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO that campers would learn if they were up for the challenge.  Once Amy caught her breath, she and Brian gave a preview of their cover songs elective (although we really think it was an excuse for Brian to show off his beatboxing skills).

The campers then split into their groups to engage in ice breakers facilitated by their counselors
(click here to watch a montage).  The teams with which the campers would compete in various activities throughout the week were introduced and another set of ice breakers were done.  The night ended with Sean introducing us to Ride That Pony, which got the entire camp dancing.  It also gave us this delightful moment on the way back to the dorms for our late night snack.

Day One in 60 Seconds:

I just finished packing everything for camp, whew! Have you started? If not, I’m here to remind you that we’ve got a handy dandy packing list for you, right here on the site: What to Bring.

Please don’t forget: a bath towel, a pillow, a sleeping bag OR a blanket + twin XL sheets, and all the stuff you’ll need to brush your teeth and shower with.

You may want to write your name on your belongings just in case it gets mixed up with your friends’ stuff. You can use a marker and masking tape to label most things. 

Drop off for WMACS is Saturday, July 23rd at 11:45AM at TECRO Culture Center:
901 Wind River Lane
Gaithersburg, MD 20878-1960
Click for map

PARENTS: Keep up with us all week long right here on blog, on our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter!

I’m super duper excited for camp! See you tomorrow… T-minus less than 24 hours! Ahh!

With just under a week left until WMACS 2011, the counselors met with Staff at TECRO to finalize our preparations and figure out our last minute tasks. Campers should be receiving e-mails and phone calls from their counselors in the next few days with some quick reminders, answer any questions, and get you excited for WMACS! Also be sure to check the FAQ and make sure you have everything you need! For any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Just a couple quick reminders:

Drop off for WMACS is Saturday, July 23rd at 11:45AM at TECRO Culture Center
Pick up will also be at TECRO, following the final performance from 1-3PM on Saturday, July 30th.

The Address for TECRO is
901 Wind River Lane
Gaithersburg, MD 20878-1960

Also for those of you wondering who all the counselors for each group are…

B6 – Barry, Brett
B5 – Dan
B4 – JonJon, Ian
B3 – Alex
B2 – Darrell, Sean
B1 – Brian

G6 – Jdub
G5 – Emily
G4 – Esther, Annie
G3 – Jojo
G2 – Becky
G1 – Amy

Take a look through this week’s counselor meeting’s pictures, you can feel the excitement as we get closer and closer to Saturday!

The new 6-day schedule. Check back often for updates =)