Preparing for Opening Day

June 24, 2024

Hello from Camp Winaukee!! The week leading up to opening day on June 22nd was hectic in all the best ways.

Implementing lesson plans and coaching

At Camp Winaukee, we have a very diverse range of activities – from archery to ropes to tennis to football and more. Our activity counselors are excellent in what they do and that means practicing their coaching skills on fellow staff members! Modeling the schedule campers follow in-session, staff were divided into several groups and taught sports like hockey, golf, and lacrosse.

Emergency response and fire drill

Safety is our no. 1 priority. We had several sessions focused on campers’ safety and did a trial run of the fire drill and lost bather drill protocols. Everyone in camp was required to attend these sessions. There is something about doing the drills under sweltering heat that makes you not forget anything!

More packing and unpacking

The last couple days before opening day were filled with a lot of moving parts, figuratively and literally. Counselors moved into their bunks, cabins were set in order, and camper bags were moved into the mainland and island bunks. The hot days and rainy days did not deter us – Camp Winaukee had to be ready come rain or shine. Excitement grew as the final hours before June 22nd noon approached and before we knew it, after weeks of painstaking preparation, the first campers were arriving.

Evangeline Han

Evangeline grew up in Malaysia and moved to the United States in 2013. After earning her bachelor’s degree in English, she decided to take a break from studying. She sold nearly everything she had, transitioned to online work, and began traveling Asia and Europe. The nomadic life was exhilarating and she loved visiting new places, experiencing different cultures, and learning from the people she met. She spent a significant length of time living in Milan, Italy and Busan, South Korea, now two of her favorite cities, and learned basic Italian and Korean, adding to the Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia she already spoke. In between traveling and checking off her bucket list, she earned her master’s degree. She currently lives in Louisiana where she recently completed her first year as an English PhD student. Amidst a busy schedule of teaching, writing way too many papers, and reading not enough books, she enjoys going to spin classes, napping, and daydreaming of more travels.