a typical day at YES Camp

Each morning, we begin the day by gathering as a community for a meet and greet, helping everyone get to know each other. At 9 o’clock, we eat breakfast in the ventilated main hall and outer deck. Each meal is served buffet style by the Cowichan Lake Education Center kitchen staff. During the hour allotted for breakfast there is time to eat, shower if you need to, or play a quick game of ultimate or soccer.

 

At 10 o’clock each morning we meet for session. Each day we cover a different topic including self-awareness, communication, co-operation, and leadership. Sessions are active, informative, and a lot of fun.

We eat lunch together at 1 and then have two activity options: Canoeing and ZAP (Zero Activity Programming). ZAP is an opportunity for everyone to escape the sun and play a card game, make a craft, play an instrument, hang out with friends, or play volleyball in the shade. Or, some of our lovely staff will take you canoeing!  

 

Once the canoers return, we move into Crew Time. Each Crew is responsible for planning part of camp, such as campfire, talent show, or the final banquet, and you get to choose which crew you want to join. Each crew works in their own unique way to develop fun and personalized elements for the week of camp.

Crew time wraps up with a Community Meeting, where the whole community comes together to share any exciting news, possible concerns, and have a whole lot of fun together. Delegates from each Crew will share their exciting updates, build stoke for events or activities, and let the rest of the camp know what they’re up to.

 

After community meeting, we begin our afternoon activities, and each day is completely different from the last. Our days may include tie dyeing, swimming, field games, or a rhythm workshop.

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From 5 to 6 pm we have free time. You’re welcome to read a book, make a craft, work on a task from your Crew, take a shower, play a card game, or just hang out with friends before we eat dinner.

Dinner flows into Twilight Zone, which is an opportunity to play a quick, high energy game with the whole community before starting our evening activities which include capture the flag, a talent show, and campfire.

 

We start to wind down from our day with Mug Up, our evening snack, before we settle into Relaxations. A few staff might play some music or comedy, read a story or share some poetry, or invite participants up to share something similar. Relaxations leads us into Reflections. In small staff-led groups (Colour Groups), participants gather to discuss important issues, share stories from their lives, and reflect on their days at camp. Reflections is a part of camp that participants come to value deeply.

 

By 11 pm, everyone is in bed. It’s lights out and time to rest before we start another big day!