Are you still trying to decide if Camp is for your child?
By JENNIFER CERNOSEK
Executive Camp Director
Are you still trying to decide
if Hermann Sons Youth Camp
is for your child?
Making the decision to send
the most important person in
your life to a sleep-away camp
can be frightening, especially
when you do not know the
adults caring for your child.
But you do know us – you
know Hermann Sons. For generations, Hermann Sons has
maintained a reputation of
having traditional values and
has been trusted by thousands
of individuals. Hermann Sons
Youth Camp has been in operation for more than 60 years!
In addition to being licensed
with the state, we choose to
take the necessary steps to be
accredited by the American
Camp Association.
I will be spending my 13th
summer on staff this year and
this is my sixth summer as
the executive director. Prior
to working for Hermann Sons
full-time, I was a high school
special education teacher
in Plano. My background in
camp, teaching and special
education make me especially sensitive to the individual
needs and care of all of our
campers. I’m very proud to be
working with a team of outstanding directors who also
are focused on the needs of
our children.
Hilltop Camp Director John
Sorbel is returning for his
26th summer at Camp. He
is also a full-time Hermann
Sons employee and spends
the non-summer months
maintaining and preparing
our expansive facilities, along
with Maintenance Director
Clay Haley. John also volunteers as a coach for Comfort
Youth Baseball.
The Hilltop Assistant Camp
Director is Hunter “Papa
Bear” Miller. When Hunter
is not at Camp, he works
as a second grade teacher
at Yeager Elementary School
in the Cypress-Fairbanks
Independent School District.
This will be Papa Bear’s eighth
summer on staff.
The Riverside Camp director,
Katie Klohn, is returning for
Executive Camp Director Jennifer Cernosek is pictured with campers from last summer.
her seventh summer on staff.
Katie is a creative first grade
teacher at Fredericksburg
Elementary and she coaches
club volleyball. She also holds
a master’s degree in education
from Schreiner University.
Riverside Assistant Camp
Director, returning for her
sixth summer on staff, is
Jessica “Epic” Hicks. She is
graduating in December from
Angelo State University to
pursue a career in teaching.
Camp’s food service director, Jody Zizelman, will be
returning for his 31st summer
on staff. When it’s not summertime, Jody is a teacher
and coach at Garner Middle
School in the Northeast
Independent School District.
Along with this team of
directors, Camp has a tremendous group of health managers, senior staff members,
counselors and other staff who
hold outstanding credentials.
Beyond the knowledge and
expertise that the counselors
hold when hired, the counselors go through an intensive
week of staff training to even
better prepare them for their
jobs with the children.
Even after knowing a little
bit about us, I know that the
decision to send your child to
Camp is still difficult. It is especially difficult if your child is
apprehensive about leaving
home or shows no interest in
going to Camp. Let’s face it,
when you ask some children
what they WANT to do over
the summer, many times they
will choose what is familiar. This means that if they’ve
never had a camp experience
or been exposed to something
like it, they might have difficulty WANTING to try it. It
sounds especially unappealing if they don’t know anyone
else who is going.
But since many of us really
understand the value of the
camp experience and how
much fun children have here,
I want to tell you about two
solutions to these hurdles that
exist in some children’s minds.
Hurdle 1: Your child does
not want to try overnight
camp.
Solution: Motivate your child
by telling him/her about how
much fun camp will be and
about all of the new friends
he/she will make. You can
write letters and/or Bunknotes
(one-way emails) to your child
each day, and your child can
write letters to send back to
you. Sometimes we may not
WANT to do something, but
after we try it, we realize
how great it is. It is incredible
how many parents say, “When
I dropped my child off, he
didn’t want to stay, but when
I came back, he didn’t want
to leave!”
Also, a great way to have
a first camp experience is by
attending our short session.
The short session is being
held June 29-July 2. Your child
Boys pose in the carnival photo booth during the Red, White &
Blue themed week in 2013.
Campers are pictured at the Camp carnival during the Red, White
& Blue themed week in 2013.
would be spending just three
nights away from home. Three
nights away is much more
manageable in a child’s mind
than an entire week. Imagine
how confident your child will
feel when he/she successfully
completes a stay at overnight
camp.
As a camp staff, we are very
excited about the short session because it will be different from all of the other sessions. We have many special
activities planned, including
a full-camp carnival and fireworks show. Anyone attending the short session will be
making history at Camp since
this is the first time we’ve ever
offered a session that is not
Sunday-Saturday.
Hurdle 2: Your child does
not know anyone else who is
going to HSYC.
Solution: Refer a friend.
There is still time for children to become Hermann
Sons members and sign up for
Camp. In fact, if your referral
has a policy written and in
the Grand Lodge prior to the
arrival of your child at Camp,
then your camper will receive
a HSYC water bottle at the
beginning of the week he/she
attends Camp.
Maybe you’re still not sure
or there is something else that
is holding you back. Please
feel free to give me a call at
830-995-3223 so we can talk
about it. Summer camp is
an irreplaceable part of many
people’s memories and it is
worth a fair shot.