RBC | Rockbrook Camp Author Collective

Home /

November 28, 2007March 17, 2023 • Adventure • rbc

Teen Camp Adventure

Outdoor adventure has been an integral part of Rockbrook Camp since it’s founding in 1921. Hiking in particular has been, and continues to be, very popular. For our youngest campers to our teen girls, this kind of adventure is truly memorable. Read this quote!

“I remember the week of outdoor adventure that grew into the group we warmly called the Extreme Mountain Women and the slightly less well known Kraft Krew. We did everything from kayaking the upper Green River (water fall and all) bushwacking and hiking on several extensive hikes, climbing, mountian biking and other various mountain loving sports. It is without doubt I say that the friendships formed and the things I learned about myself during that week rest firm beneath my feet as one of the strongest stones in the foundation of who I am today. Thank you. I wish every child had the chance to blossom in a place like Rockbrook. To this day I find it hard to get through “Rockbrook Camp Forever” without my heart overflowing with love and gratitude for that magical place in the woods. So I thank you.”

— a Rockbrook alumna, 1989-1999.

Leave a Comment

November 16, 2007May 25, 2020 • Gymnastics • rbc

Girls Gymnastics Camps

The gymnastics camp activity at Rockbrook is designed for girls who want to explore gymnastics as a sport for recreation and personal growth. It is one activity offered as part of our overall traditional summer camp program and is not really for girls who want to train for gymnastics competitions.

Instead we focus on offering instruction in fundamental gymnastic skills and techniques, activities that will be both fun and helpful no matter what your gymnastics background. Our instructors teach children’s gymnastics classes throughout the school year, so they are well prepared to design different lessons for the different age groups and ability levels. Ready… flip!

Leave a Comment

November 14, 2007March 17, 2023 • Summer Camp • rbc

Teen Programs for Girls

The teen programs for girls offered by Rockbrook bring together several unique aspects. First of all there are all the amazing things teen girls can do at camp… everythng from outdoor adventure trips like climbing and kayaking, to arts and crafts like pottery and weaving, to sports like soccer, basketball and volleyball. There’s plenty to keep your activity level way, way up.

Then there are special leadership opportunities at camp, the chances to plan special events like the banquet and to help with activities for the younger kids. It’s very clear how teenagers are role models for the other girls at camp. Finally, the teen programs at Rockbrook provide a place were girls can relax and enjoy carefree summer living with some good friends who appreciate you for who you are instead of who you’re pretending to be. It’s welcoming and friendly, and that’s really great.

Girls love camp because it offers the good life. Just ask anyone who’s attended!

Leave a Comment

November 5, 2007July 30, 2020 • Children • rbc

Kindergarten Camp

Rockbrook is a camp for kindergarten children too. How old are the youngest children that attend Rockbrook? That question does come up now and then, and at times the answer is surprising. If a girl has completed kindergraten, she can come to camp, assuming of course both she and her parents are ready for camp. An outgoing and social personality, an excitement for trying new activities, a growing sense of independence and self-conifidence are all helpful qualities. And with encouragment from their parents, there are always a few kindergarteners in our camp sessions. This is why the youngest campers, who we call “juniors,” can be six or even five years old. Rockbrook has a long tradition of camp activities and programs specially suited for children this young.

The stone building in the photo is the Junior Lodge, our assembly building for special Junior Line programs.

Leave a Comment

October 31, 2007May 29, 2020 • Campers • rbc

Photos of Summer Camp Friends

Here’s a set of photos taken one Sunday afternoon at camp. We were queuing up for our cabin photos and took these at the same time. They show our traditional uniforms (white shirt and shorts, plus a red tie) that we wear on Sundays and at other special events. Children becoming such good friends at camp!

Leave a Comment

October 24, 2007October 23, 2020 • Games • rbc

Summer Games for Kids

What is that thing?! Well, the kids at camp have named it “The Toy,” but it’s basically an aqua ropes-course, a climbing structure made of wood and rope suspended over the water on one side of the Rockbrook lake. The most popular game kids play on it is really challenging— you try to reach the farthest of 5 rings (like the girl in the photo) as you go out hand-to-hand over the water.

This is just one of the options at camp and is something you don’t have to do if you don’t want to. If swimming is more your thing, that’s fine. Even if you don’t want to get in the water, that’s fine too.

Of course, if you don’t make it to the 5th ring, there’s a fun splash at the bottom! But if you do make it to the last ring, and only a few kids have, we announce your name in the dining hall and reward you with a special treat/prize.

Do you know what the prize is? Let us know in the comments!

Leave a Comment

October 17, 2007May 24, 2020 • Summer Camp • rbc

Leadership Summer Camp

Summer camp is one of the best places for children to learn about leadership, to explore what it means to be a good leader, and to practice the kinds of personal skills important to being a leader. Bring together kids of different ages (at Rockbrook that’s girls between 6 and 16 years old) and provide so many activities where they interact and play together, and you’ll have one event after another where leadership is central. Campers find themselves asking questions like, “How can we work together on this?” and saying things like “Let’s make a plan.” It might be for a cabin skit or preparing for a group hike, but being a good listener, cooperating, maybe compromising, being creative about individual contributions, and being confident about being part of a team are almost daily parts of camp. Particularly for our oldest campers, for example the CAs who plan the end-of-session banquet, overnight camp offers (even requires, at times) chances to develop leadership skills and serve as leaders for the younger campers.

Sure there’s lots of crazy fun going on, but we’re growing as well.

Leave a Comment

September 28, 2007May 11, 2020 • Summer Camp • rbc

Camps in the South

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been making our fall travel plans, scheduling Rockbrook Camp parties all over the south. Several are set on the calendar. Chances are we’re coming to your city or some place close by, so check out the schedule here: Camp Party Schedule. If you haven’t come to one of these parties before, they’re great fun. We watch a movie and see some slides from last summer, see each other again 🙂 and meet loads of new people interested in camp for next summer. We’ll be going to more places in the winter also, so stay tuned!

Every year Rockbrook girls all across the the south get re-energized about attending camp. These parties spark that energy in the fall and early spring, so that when summer approaches, everyone is bursting with excitement.

Leave a Comment

September 27, 2007March 24, 2023 • Children • rbc

Kids Camp in NC

Rockbrook is a kids camp in NC, that’s for sure, but we have so many kids that come to camp from other states far and wide. Of course, most are in the south— South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida —but campers come from the midwest (e.g. Ohio!) and the northeast (Washington, DC and Brooklyn, NY for example) as well. Most campers drive to camp with their parents, so being within a day’s drive is the norm. Still, plenty of kids end up flying to camp when they live too far away to drive (like in California!). North Carolina is just a great NC location for a kids camp, even if (and especially if!) you don’t live here.

Take a look at our location page, and learn even more about this area of North Carolina.

Leave a Comment

August 30, 2007May 24, 2020 • Summer Camp • rbc

What Summer Camps are About

Here’s another interesting bit of reading about summer camps, this time from Harper’s Magazine (September 2007 issue). Rich Cohen, in “The Summer of Our Discontent: An Ode to Sleepaway Camp,” writes about his childhood experience at a camp in Wisconsin, and brings to the article a good deal of research about summer camping for kids in general. There’s lots of good stuff to be found (subscribers can read more here), but I wanted to simply pass along a summary quote.

“Life at camp was changing— the nature of the kids and counselors, the very sense of what camp should be about. In the 1800s, it was about religion; in the early 1900s, it was about preserving a spark of frontier spirit; in the mid-1900s, it was about the barracks and preparing a generation for the coming war; now it’s about preparing kids for school and work, speeding them through the meritocracy.”

Yes, “being prepared” is still a big part of camp, but at Rockbrook we want kids to be kids. So camp is a place where girls can try new things, play, and play some more, create things, explore the outdoor world, gain confidence (social, physical, etc.), and have some crazy fun. Of course, personal growth and “preparation” for being a happy, well-adjusted individual happens within this context, and under the supervision of many positive role models.

I guess we could say attending Rockbrook isn’t primarily about learning how to be a better student or employee at school or work (though that might happen in the end), but it’s about having a more rounded and complete childhood experience that serves you well later in life.

Leave a Comment

Explore Topics

Sign Up for the Newsletter