An individual booking attending with a group booking

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ratsix98
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An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by ratsix98 »

My daughter is attending Space Camp in a couple of weeks where she is the only individual booking going with a group booking. When we agreed to this we understood that she would attending a session with a group of kids who all knew each other whereas she knows none of them however I am just wondering what will be done to help assimilate her into the group in the bunk area, dining area, etc so she doesn't have to forge the whole situation on her own. Will the counselors be aware of the situation so they can help break the ice a little?
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by Boomerang »

From my experience unless you are a member of a school group or some other group going to camp most campers do not know there teammates when they arrive though some do go with a friend. this being said there will be icebreaker activities and team building activities to help get the group together. In my experience most kids quickly make friends with the other team members and most have no problems. I know many make life long friends while at camp I know I did.

In this case with the rest of the group knowing eachother hopefully they will take her in as part of the group. I'd say if you are concerned about this though call camper sevices and speak to someone there and maybe they can make sure the counselor is aware of the situation and help it along if nessecary.
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by SpaceCanada »

I second Boomerang's comments. There will be ice breakers and team building activities that will help incorporate your daughter into the group. Counsellors are very aware of kids being left out and find ways to make sure everyone is included and has opportunities to lead. That being said, counsellors cannot be everywhere all the time, so please remind your daughter to speak up and let the counsellors know if she feels left out.
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by ratsix98 »

Boomerang wrote: unless you are a member of a school group or some other group going to camp

This is the exact situation - she is attending with a group of kids who all know each other who are from Puerto Rico. I am glad to hear about the ice breaking activities - I am not worried about my daughter once everything gets going. She is so excited to be there and to meet people she might be able to speak Spanish with that she will be fine. I am more worried about the check in process - getting a bunk, getting settled, that whole thing. Just to make sure she doesn't get lost in the shuffle of all the other people since there is one of her and all the other kids from the group. I like the idea of calling camper services and talking to them about it. I am sure half of the issue is that I won't be there myself;) I am just so excited for her that I just want everything to go as smoothly as possible!
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by SpaceCanada »

ratsix98 wrote:I am more worried about the check in process - getting a bunk, getting settled, that whole thing. Just to make sure she doesn't get lost in the shuffle of all the other people since there is one of her and all the other kids from the group.
Of all the activities, these should be the easiest for her to go through, as a single camper or part of the masses that arrive. If your daughter will be arriving by plane or bus, Space Camp staff will be keeping an eye on her the whole time, making sure she gets to where she needs to be and gets checked in on time. The check in process and bunk assignments are all done in one place and it's pretty straight forward. Table 1, table 2, table 3 - all next to each other. If you are dropping her off during the designated registration time, you will be able to go through the check in process with her. Again, reinforce to her that she can ask ANY camp staff for help or if she has questions/concerns about ANYTHING. With youth programs, there will always be at least one staff member with your daughter, except during sleep hours when a staff member will be in the corridor all night. Space Camp is used to single kids arriving from all over the world at all different hours, sometimes the day before their camp begins.
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by Boomerang »

There will also always be a counselor on call at night and they will let your daughter know where that counselors room is so they can get help if nessecary all night long. Also even though there may be only one counselor on call if she can't find their room knock on any counselor's door if there is someone there they should answer and can either help or get them to the counselor on call.

All the counselors are trained for many diffrent situations and will be happy to help however they can.
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by ratsix98 »

Of all the activities, these should be the easiest for her to go through, as a single camper or part of the masses that arrive. If your daughter will be arriving by plane or bus, Space Camp staff will be keeping an eye on her the whole time, making sure she gets to where she needs to be and gets checked in on time. The check in process and bunk assignments are all done in one place and it's pretty straight forward. Table 1, table 2, table 3 - all next to each other. If you are dropping her off during the designated registration time, you will be able to go through the check in process with her. Again, reinforce to her that she can ask ANY camp staff for help or if she has questions/concerns about ANYTHING. With youth programs, there will always be at least one staff member with your daughter, except during sleep hours when a staff member will be in the corridor all night. Space Camp is used to single kids arriving from all over the world at all different hours, sometimes the day before their camp begins.[/quote]

This is really helpful info - THANK YOU! This is the part that concerned me the most. Once she is there I know the rest will take care of itself plus she is going to be so busy! Appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with me. This way I can let her know what to expect and I can feel a little better when I am across the country from her;) It is going to be an experience of a lifetime for her that is for sure.
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by Steve »

Your daughter will be in good hands. My experience that everyone is very helpful. On the camps on adults weekend I attended, the campers get together beginning getting room assignments & seeing our leadership team. Like has been recommended, let all your concerns been known to staff at space camp,they will be glad help you in any way. Your daughter is in for a great time, for sure it does not take long to make new friends for a life time!!! :D
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by street »

All of the advice given above is excellent. The group from Puerto Rico will be delighted that your daughter will be practicing her Spanish on them. :D Warn her that their dialect will probably be different than her formal Spanish, but she will learn a lot from them!

Feel free to call the Trainee Services office (256-721-7185, 9-5 central time) if you have any questions or concerns.
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by p51 »

She'll be fine. The last time I was at Space Camp (in the fall of this year), there were groups from other countries and I understand there were a few people scattered among them who weren't with them originally. I'm sure they did just fine, as well.
As for the language issue, my one experience isn't what your child should expect. When I was an Army officer, I deployed once with a unit from the Puerto Rican National Guard. They wore US Army uniforms and were part of the same Army I was, yet all their formal communications and field orders were all in their dialect of Spanish. It drove us all out of our minds, because neither myself nor any of my NCOs (or any of the staff people at my Battalion) could understand a word.
street wrote:The group from Puerto Rico will be delighted that your daughter will be practicing her Spanish on them.
Yep, every time I've ever dealt with foreign nationals in the military, we'd have people come up and what we called, "non coversations" with people wanting to polish (or just show off) their English skills. It was always cool to us. I took German in college and have tried my hand at it a few times in the past, but I'm so rusty at it now I doubt I'd make sense to anyone other than a very young German child. :lol:
street wrote:Warn her that their dialect will probably be different than her formal Spanish, but she will learn a lot from them!
Too true. Several of my Spanish-speaking soldiers couldn't understand what the PRs were saying from time to time...
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by ratsix98 »

street wrote:All of the advice given above is excellent. The group from Puerto Rico will be delighted that your daughter will be practicing her Spanish on them. :D Warn her that their dialect will probably be different than her formal Spanish, but she will learn a lot from them!
I am happy to report that all went very well for my daughter at Space Camp. She blended in with the group from Puerto Rico just fine. And she had no trouble with the Spanish - they were really surprised at how fluent she is! She adapted to the dialect difference easily as well. Actually she ended up being a translator for some of them who were less fluent in English so it was a great experience for her. Showed us all that her years in her Spanish immersion program in school are paying off! It was a great cultural exchange too since most of them have yet to experience a climate similar to where we live in Utah so there was a lot for them to share with each other that way too. Great experience for our space nut:)
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Re: An individual booking attending with a group booking

Post by SpaceCanada »

Thank you for the update. That's great to hear your daughter enjoyed her time at Space Camp and made some new friends too. What was her favourite part of camp?
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