Summer Camp for August has just ended and we have great new pictures and stories to share!

Horseback Riding

Our second month started out with a lot of horseback riding. The kids were excited to learn all about the horses and get to ride. Kids of all ages learned how to Learning the ropes, catch, groom, saddle and bridle the horse all by themselves. Sometimes the saddles seemed bigger than the kids carrying them!

One student enthusiastically said, before she left: “My knowledge about horses has grown so much it’s amazing!”

Grand Canyon

After a week at the camp, the students were taken on an eight day trip to the Grand Canyon. It was definitely our best camping trip! Students got to see the amazing sites at the Grand Canyon, visit old homes, an old watch tower and other historical sites.

Additionally there were five or six Ranger talks a day and the kids would scramble to get to their favorite Grand Canyon Hiking Group talks. At the end of the day, we would sit around a campfire and tell the stories of the day.

After four days at the Grand Canyon, three very brave campers (one staff, two students) decided to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to see Phantom Ranch and Indian Gardens. Getting a thorough briefing from the Rangers on how to survive the hike, they set out to hike the Grand Canyon. They got all their gear and figured out how to carry everything. The hike started at 4am the next day and the three hikers made it down to the bottom by three in the afternoon.

They stopped to lie in the cool waters of the Bright Angel Creek and to relax in the Phantom Ranch café before making the five mile hike back up to Indian Gardens to camp for the night. The next day was the hard part - hiking back up the rest of the way in the morning sun. They made it by 2pm, with a few of our group heading down a couple miles to walk them up the last part of the hike.

They were quite excited to have hiked the Grand Canyon, something not everyone does in their lifetime.

Catwalk and the VLA

We had two really fun day trips this month. The first was a trip to the Catwalk Natural Waterfalls where the kids were able to jump off of waterfalls, sit in rushing water and slide down natural water slides. The weather was hot, and the water was freezing, and overall it was perfect.

The next week we took a trip to the VLA: The Very Large Array. The kids were able to talk to each other through satellites, learn about outer space in the small museum and visit spots where several movies about outer space were filmed.

Archery and More Fun Activities

The kids spent their days at the camp doing archery, gun shooting lessons, basketball, arts and crafts and other games. Our archery was regularly packed with kids brushing up on their bull’s-eye skills. One small girl had to have the help of a staff member to pull back her bow, and she still made her target!

At the end of the month we had an arts contest which included drawing, photography and poetry. Two students had amazing shots of the Grand Canyon, and our winning shot was a close up of a squirrel taken by Kelan Liparoto.

Bonnie O’Beirne won first place for drawing a lady with her horse, and Jake Wyss won first place for his poem about Dreams. Overall I have to say that we had quite some talented students this summer.

After the art contest, we had a talent show where the students showed off their talents of acting, comedy, dancing and singing. What a show!
Archery Super Girls

Pie Town

Once again we had the Pie Town game, where the students (and staff!) who ran every day in our exercise program were treated to an all-you-can-eat breakfast at Daily Pie in Pie Town, New Mexico. Despite the two and a half mile run at the end of the month over eighty percent of our students made the game and went out to eat the morning before camp ended.

Next Year

Our summer has ended for this year, and school year will start up after a short break. However next year’s summer camp is already undergoing extreme planning. We will once again have our two famous trips: the White Water Rafting and Camping Trip and the Grand Canyon trip. If you want to enroll your child early for next year and receive the early bird discount contact us now!

Please give us a call at 1-800-576-3866 or enroll here.

Our first Summer session has ended and, boy, was it an exciting month! We wanted to share pictures and stories from our Summer Camp. I know you are going to enjoy this, so read on!

Horseback Riding

Horseback riding is in full swing as our new Horseback Riding Instructor gets students excited about riding lessons. The gradients are very easy and before you know it you’re out having fun with exercises to control your horse such as starting and stopping, walking and trotting, doing circles, etc.

This past month some of our faster learning students were able to ride two miles up a mountain road to Davenport Lookout and back down, a three hour trail ride!

One of our students came to camp scared to even go near the horse and by the end of the summer she was able to groom, saddle and ride her horse like a pro.

White Water Rafting the Rio Grande

This July saw us white water rafting down the scenic river of the Rio Grande. What an adventure! White water rafting, crazy attempts to get the tents to stay up the first night as the winds blew in, and swimming in the lake.

Our campsite is right next to a large lake and the kids, when not whitewater rafting, swim in the lake, jump from rock to rock and play fun water games. We have a volleyball net on the campsite and horseshoe games, too.

We have two rafting trips: our half-day trip and full-day trip. Our half-day trip was adventurous, taking us through rapids with names like “Sleeping Beauty”, “Eye of the Needle” and “Edward’s fall”. The students were amazing and handled them like pros.

The following day is the full day trip and it is just gorgeous. The first leg of the tour runs through a very calm part of the Rio Grande so we can really take in the scenic view of the gorge, the river and wildlife. It’s a slow affair with no bumps and little action.

But, little did the rafters know that there was mischief brewing in the minds of several of the students and some of the raft guides. Before one raft knew it their raft was being boarded by a pint-sized pirate trying to pull the nearest person into the water. All of a sudden we were reenacting a scene from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” that would have made even Capt. Jack Sparrow proud. It was all fun and games as one by one everyone found themselves getting cozy with the waters.

After a delicious lunch of cheese, crackers, and sandwiches, we took off for the second leg of the trip, which involved the same rapids as the half day.

Our camping trip ended off with marshmallow roasting over the campfire and tales of our adventures the last few days before winding down for the night. All in all, the trip was a great success.

More Sun, Fun and Activities

Along with horseback riding and our very fun camping trip, we also had plenty of fun activities at the campus. Archery was played, air soft games for the boys, basketball for everyone and lots of arts and crafts. We also went to the Catwalk National Park and slid off natural water slides, down small water falls and jumped in big water holes. And we had lots of fun in class, the students getting daily wins on the communication drills and seminars, as well as other programs offered.

Arts and Talent Show

We ended our month with a bang. We had an art contest and talent show for all our wild kids to show off their talents! Our art wall was full of artistic drawings and paintings, and we had a staff and a student contest. We also had a postcard contest for the best school drawing to be displayed on our next postcard. Two of our students tied for first place, Callen Nobbe and Kristina Torres, and our summer staff, Merlin Durand, placed second.

Our talent show was a mix of students and staff showing their talents. It started out with six horseback riders doing a square dance on horseback to the song Cotton Eye Joe! We then proceeded to have fun dances, skits and music.

Pie Town Running Game

Every morning the students get up, get dressed, clean their dorms and then show up to exercise. They go through a series of stretches and some cardio exercises, and then run. The game is to run every morning for the month, with the exception of one day off a week, and go farther and farther each day, eventually running two and half miles down our forest road. Those who persist and make it by the end of the month get to go to an “all you can eat breakfast” at Daily Pie in Pie Town New Mexico. This month more than half of the students made the game and we filled Daily Pie’s seats! You’ll see the picture here of our students in front of the restaurant with the chef.

Enroll your child(ren) today! Give us a call at 1-800-576-3866 or enroll here.