COVID put a damper on some of our summer fun last year. We have a lot of lost time to make up for! We are super excited to offer a full, fun-packed summer this year for our residential children on both our Avery and Winston-Salem campuses. Although each campus does things in their own unique way, there will be no shortage of fun.
This year the Avery campus opted out of a campus-wide beach trip. Instead, they plan on taking more Thursday trips, setting off on new and unique adventures. Winston will send one cottage for a few days each week in June to a small beach home offered to Crossnore each year.
Kicking off the summer.
Avery started out the summer with our “Summer Bash.” We treated the children to Pelican’s SnoBalls and a pop-up shop! Children received six tickets to spend on small items. The shop included flip-flops, toy cars, makeup, jump ropes, stuffed animals, socks, clothing, and more!
On June 10th, Avery children traveled to the Whitewater Center in Charlotte. Day Passes allowed for groups to participate in whitewater rafting, flatwater kayaking/paddle boarding, climbing, and more. The kids had a blast doing the zipline tour or biking the area’s 50+ miles of bike trails. Our younger children enjoyed a day at Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville.
More off-campus fun to come.
Some future trips for Avery include all-day tubing at Scaly Mountain and a Tourists baseball game in Asheville. Trips in July include Dollywood, whitewater rafting with High Mountain Expeditions, fun at Doe River Gorge, and an end of summer cookout. We’ve also rented out two auditoriums at a local theater for the kids to watch a new movie on the big screen. The teens will be watching In the Heights and the younger kids will be seeing Spirit: Untamed.
In addition to June vacationing at the beach, our Winston residential program will take trips to Dan Nicholas Park and Carowinds, enjoy whitewater rafting, go bowling, and go to the movies.
Clubs and on-campus activities.
When not on trips or outings the older Avery children participate in clubs on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Clubs cover a variety of topics like gardening, swimming, fishing, karaoke, and rock painting.
We encourage all cottages to spend weekday afternoons with residential and recreation staff out at the field. The campus plays kickball, softball, 9-Square, and more. Tuesdays are “Crafternoons.” Activities vary from creating rainbow garlands to making a Red, White, and Blue cake for the 4th of July.
In Winston-Salem, our residential cottages continue to engage at the farm throughout the summer months. They tend their raised beds, learn about the source of their food and how to care for plants. Our farm staff will also offer some different events. We will have a movie night on the farm with freshly-made watermelon sorbet, a tea-making event, and continued Soil-to-Arts programming. We’re also thrilled to connect with Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Center this summer as they use horses at the farm with cottage children.
Miracle Heights adventures.
Our Adventure Based Counseling staff on the Winston campus are taking cottages from both campuses up on our adventure park. They will engage in some self-guided experiential learning, including the 600 foot zipline, climbing walls, and the Quick Jump free fall event. Supporting kids, their peers, and their Cottage Parents as they navigate the challenge of the adventure park while providing each other physical and emotional support is a truly beautiful experience!
Back to summer camp (and camping).
COVID took away overnight camp opportunities last summer, but this year our kids will attend two camps: Palmetto Bible Camp and Camp Linn Haven. Both campuses have a small group of middle school aged kids attending Palmetto Bible Camp. And Avery will be sending a few kids over to Camp Linn Haven later in the summer.
Every year we take rising juniors and seniors from both campuses on a four day “College Campout” camping trip. This year the group will be visiting North Carolina Central University, East Tennessee State University, and Limestone University. In addition to seeing some great schools, the kids learn basic camping skills like how to start a fire and cook in a dutch oven. Most importantly, they spend time getting to know each other and having fun.
As you can see, the summer is jam packed for children that live on our residential campuses. After so much hard work this (very weird and difficult) school year, our kids and staff are all ready for a slower schedule and to spend some time focused on having fun and being together!
