Pioneers, Ramblers & Crusaders will go on one field trip per week and Trailblazers will go on three field trips per week. All field trips planned for this summer can be seen by visiting your camper’s Program Page, whether they be a Pioneer K-1, Ramblers 2-3, Crusaders 4-5, or Trailblazers 6, 7, 8

Each week in our Welcome to the Week blog post, you will find specific information about how to prepare your camper for that trip. If they need sneakers or a bathing suit or socks or anything else in particular, the blog will let you know.

Many of our trips require that parents fill out an additional waiver form specific to that trip or location. A paper copy of these waivers will be sent home on the Monday of each week. Please sign and return them as soon as possible. Digital versions on the waivers will be made available online whenever possible.

All campers in the Pioneers, Ramblers, and Crusaders are required to wear their camp shirts on every field trip. Camp shirts will be provided to all campers before the first trip. On trip days, please pack disposable lunches marked with your child’s name. For their own safety, please do not send your child on a field trip wearing clothing with their name on it. (I.e. Sports jerseys with their last name on the back, etc.)

We take Doherty’s Buses on all our field trips. Counselors are distributed throughout the bus to maintain supervision of all campers at all times. If your camper has any tendency to get “bus sick,” please do let us know so we can give them preferential seating at the front of the bus. Campers are required to wear seat belts and are reminded to stay seated forward at all times.

Full attendance is taken, both a head count and roll call, before leaving camp, upon arrival at a location, before boarding the bus to return to camp, and on the bus before it leaves the location for camp.

Chaperone System:

This is our most common supervision format with our Pioneer, Rambler and Crusader programs. Counselors are directly responsible for a maximum 8-10 participants (although we aim for, and are commonly able to provide 3-5 camper to staff ratios, especially for our youngest campers), and stay with them for the duration of the activity. Counselors work directly with the Trip Supervisor to coordinate the group’s activities. The trip supervisor sets an emergency meeting location for the groups, in the event that any participants get separated from his or her counselor.  The Trip Supervisor does not have his or her own group, and acts as an additional safety monitor throughout the trip.

The Buddy System:

This is our most common supervision format our Trailblazer program. We have had excellent success with our participants when we outline what is expected of them, explain the reasons and consequences, and then allow them the opportunity to reward our trust in them. This system allows your child an opportunity to participate in the activity without direct Staff/Trip Chaperone contact. Staff/ Trip Chaperones will always be available to them, but they will not be with your child at all times.

Participants pick one or two “buddies” that they stick with for the duration of the trip. “Buddies” will stay together at all times, with NO EXCEPTIONS. Buddies may pair up with other groups of “buddies” as they wish, but they must remain with their “buddy” at all times. 

The Trip Supervisor will designate a Check-In point as soon as the group arrives at the destination. One counselor will be stationed at that Check-In Point at all times. Anyone who loses his or her buddy must return immediately to the Check-In point. There, they will inevitably meet up with their lost “buddy”, who will also return to the Check-In. The Staff/Trip Chaperone determines how the system broke down, and decides whether or not to allow the buddies back out.

Depending on the size of the destination and the duration of the trip, the Trip Supervisor will determine Check-In times. Everyone is expected to wear watches, so each buddy group will know when they need to meet up with their counselor at the Check-In. If you are late to check in, you will be asked to sit with the counselors for some “quality time” to talk about why you were late to check in, and how you could have avoided being late.

The Trip Supervisor has the right to determine whether the buddy system will be applied to any individual child based on the ability to work within the system. A child that repeatedly fails to follow procedures may be asked to stay in direct contact with a counselor at all times, and in extreme circumstances, may need to be removed from the activity, as is stated in the department’s discipline policy.   The Buddy system uses the same supervisor ratio as the Chaperone system (10 participants/1 chaperone), to allow for a switch in systems as the situation dictates.

We look forward to adventuring with your camper this summer. As always feel free to contact us at directors@lincolnsummercamp.com with any questions or concerns.