Over the week of March 18-22, all our Year 9 students participated in the annual Summit Camp in Trafalgar East. Touted by all who have attended in the past as “the best camp ever”, the students were encouraged to push their own personal boundaries by setting goals and participating in the many challenging activities available.
The Summit Camp is nestled in lush Gippsland forest and comprises a number of activities organised around a central lake. The students began engaging with these activities almost immediately upon arrival, completing 10 different one-hour rotations over the course of the two and a half days they were away. The activities test a range of skills with students completing scavenger hunts, the 25m giant swing and the 146m flying fox through to the more challenging Leap of Faith (8m off the ground), the 60m Sky Bridge across the lake, or the Summit Window, which sees students climbing to 21m to enjoy (or endure!) a panorama of the entire area.
Student participation was outstanding for both camps. Every student found some of the activities challenging but every student also approached the camp with gusto and pushed themselves out of their personal comfort zones. What was even more impressive was the genuine care and encouragement shown by the students to those who were confronted by their fears with some of the activities and struggled to meet their targets. A spirit of kindness and support was evident in both groups and says much about how experiences such a this are such a critical part of fostering our core Mercy values.
The highlight of both camps was the Night Monster experience, a gruelling obstacle course that set each group of students against a range of physical challenges and mud, mud and more mud. Students completed the course twice and, again, this was testament to their willingness to push themselves, support each other, and take on challenges with a can-do attitude.
A huge thank you to the many staff who attended the camp — homeroom teachers, subject teachers and other support staff. Their participation and involvement both supported and inspired the students. Another huge thank you to the office and administrative staff at the College who did so much work in the background to make the camp happen. The success of the camp is also due, in a massive way to the amazing staff at the Summit site. Their professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication to the students meant that the experience wasn’t only fun but valuable and memorable. Finally, well done and thank you to the Year 9 cohort for approaching the experience with energy, openness and a positive attitude. You should be proud!
For those of you interested in the Summit Camp program, videos and resources can be found at thesummit.net.au/resources
