Fitness first at camp

A few weeks ago, Jordan Cohen (unit leader) called me out of the blue. He’d been thinking about it for a while and had the whole thing worked out by the time we got on the phone.

Cole, his cousin, was already signed up to run it with him, had a name for it, and both knew what mornings would actually look like.

Fitness First.

First period of the day for some Kenwood boys, run by the two of them. The format will move around morning to morning, sprints one day, longer runs the next, sometimes something else. 100% optional.

Jordan is finishing his first year at Vanderbilt, is a crazy good athlete, and was good enough at soccer to play at a bunch of places before deciding to just focus on school. His dad is a K&E alum and raised a kid who walks into a room without saying much and often ends up being everyone’s favorite anyway.

He called because he actually cares about this.

Easy yes

I definitely wouldn’t have come up with this myself. It’s the kind of thing a counselor with skin in the game pitches when they really want it, and the yes was the easy part.

The not-written-rule they’re setting with these kids: show up, care, try your best. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. Go play basketball if you want.

But the offer is there.

The daily schedule is the daily schedule. That’s always packed. And then there are the things people find important, care about, and want to run because it means something to them. That carries a ton of weight.

I’m going to be out there too. Do I love running? No, not exactly. But (and it’s a big but!) these things that staff find important are important to us too. And running also just happens to be good for you. So, double win.

Sometimes it will be with the Kenwood side, sometimes with the Evergreen crew who are cooking up their own version of it, Evergreen Run Club. The counselors thought of this and it’s obviously good for everyone, so I’m going to be out there sweating and tired at the end of it with everybody else.

The pattern

More of this is going to happen this summer. The pattern ends up being really simple. A counselor who actually cares about something pitches it, we say yes when it moves the needle.

It doesn’t have to be fitness. Arts, music, games. Staff care about, and are great at, a lot here. The point is the counselor sees the opportunity and the kids opt in.

The staff who work at K&E are the camp. Their pitch matters, and often they know what’s going to land with the kids before anyone else. Because they care.

Camp’s going to be active no matter what. Some mornings, the choice will be to be active on a schedule. Some kids pick it, some don’t, and either way is fine.

The bet is that more kids will be doing this by the end of summer than the beginning.

It’s an easy bet to make because staff like Jordan and Cole have the vision. They can see it already. And the kids will see it too.

You got this,

Jack

PS - Already so pumped for the summer. Check out Instagram where we are posting all the preseason work going on right now.

And, if you have someone you think would be a good fit for a summer at K&E, they can schedule a call to talk camp.