A long, long time ago, there was a T.V. show on NBC called Cheers!. Am I dating myself? Anyway, it was frickin’ awesome. The entire show takes place inside a bar in Boston called Cheers. Every time the big guy named Norm enters the scene, the whole bar shouts his name. NORM!!! And the theme song…
      Sometimes you wanna go
      Where everybody knows your name
      And they're always glad you came
      You wanna be where you can see (ah-ah)
      Our troubles are all the same (ah-ah)
      You wanna be where everybody knows your name

​Some of you are singing along with me, I just know it!

Confidence builds confidence, builds confidence.
Quite a few years back, I was teaching 3rd and 4th grades. Our entire school was putting on a dance performance in the Aspen District Theater. A parent of one student pulled their child from the performance because he was nervous and they didn’t want to hurt his confidence. To this day, I have never seen a child build confidence by avoiding a thing.
One of the foundations of our camp program is the bicycle. Parents buy them, load them, haul them, lock them, and fix them. It’s a lot of work. Thank you! So why bikes? 

The first principal I worked for at Aspen Community School had quite a few mantras, phrases he repeated frequently enough that they became guideposts for school culture. 
If you ask any kid who’s attended camp for more than two days to recite the Rules of Camp, they are sure to know. Ask any young adult who attended camp ten years ago, they’ll know, too. The Rules of Camp are recited a dozen times each week, at least! 
Be Nice. Have Fun. Try your best.

I love hiding games. Sardines, Marmot Tag, Predator/Prey, Hide and Seek, Manhunt, Kick the Can. Each of these games involves a player closing their eyes and counting to whatever, while the rest of the players run for the hills to bushes, trees, ditches, and overgrown spaces. They climb, scurry, lay flat, curl up, and duck for cover in whatever cozy nook presents itself. And then they wait.
Tick.    Tick.    Tick.