
1. I am pleased to announce that co-directing the camp with me will be FCC’s own Kitchie Ranillo! Kitchie grew up at FCC and is a Theological and Biblical Studies major at North Park University in Chicago. We are grateful for the organizational and leadership skills that Kitchie brings in what will be a transitional year (big thanks to Jeff Kaetzel for directing camp the past few summers!). You may have seen Kitchie handling registration last summer or leading worship in the 11am service. If you know Kitchie at all, then you understand how big this is for Kids Camp 2015!
2. Last year we maxed out all three weeks of camp. So this summer we are adding a fourth week! With this also being a CHIC year (trip to University of Tennessee for high school students) and since we are expecting to have 5-7 RO teams (RO is when we Reach Out to mostly rural churches to put on camp with them) it will be a very busy summer. Since we don’t want to burn out our counselors, we don’t expect anyone – including lead/co-lead counselors - to work all four weeks of camp in Oakland and go on CHIC and RO. So we expect that every teen will take at least one week of the four Oakland camp weeks off.
Here is the proposed camp schedule for summer 2015. Campers may sign up for one week only. CIT’s may work up to two of the four weeks. Counselors may work up to three of the four camp weeks.
- Week of June 15 – Training/Prep Week for CIT’s & Counselors
- Week of June 22 – Week 1
- Week of June 29 – OFF
- Week of July 6 – Week 2
- Week of July 13 – OFF (CHIC)
- Week of July 20 – Week 3
- Week of July 27 – Week 4
- August 1-8 – RO (for students entering grade 10 and above, or perhaps mature students entering grade 9)
3. We are hoping to introduce on-line registration for the first time!
4. We plan to announce the camp theme sometime in January/February when registration begins. We can tell you that the Bible skits will focus on the story of Daniel and the Israelites’ exile to Babylon.
5. We plan on hiring 1-3 interns to work at Kids Camp this summer. Interns should be college aged students who have prior Kids Camp or ministry experience. Applications are available now at www.oaklandfcc.org and must be turned in by December 21.
6. Lead and Co-lead Counselor applications will be available sometime in January/February. These are for high school/college students who are committed followers of Christ and have leadership potential.
7. We are beginning to plan our Discovery Centers for the summer. These are 45 minute single-topic sessions for groups of 5-15 campers that take place in the afternoon. In the past we have had cooking, sports, movie-making, photography, art, and Lego. If you would be interesting in leading one of these “classic” Discovery Centers or introducing a new subject, please contact Danny (dannyf@oaklandfcc.org) or Kitchie (ks.ranillo@gmail.com). These are paid positions.
8. We are happy that there will be no increase to the cost of registration!
Early Registration: $120
Regular Registration: $135
First Timer’s Discount: $95
9. Aftercare will look a little different this summer, and will remain $15/camper per day, but there will be $5 discount for each additional camper in the same family (ie – 1st child $15/day, sibling $10/day, each additional sibling $5/day).
10. We are on the lookout for CIT’s (Counselors in Training) and Counselors who would like to volunteer this summer! CIT’s must have completed 6th grade and counselors must have worked camp before or be entering 10th grade through college. Last summer we were blessed beyond belief to have 150 CIT’s/Counselors devote part of their summer to helping at camp. Without them, camp would not be nearly as fun, and more likely, it just plain would not happen. So please tell any middle school or high school students you know to apply in January/February!
Pastor Danny