The following rules and guidelines will be shared with campers on Opening Day to help ensure that every camper at LLYC has an incredible session.
Respect yourself and others
Respect the canyon and all camp property
Camp boundaries
Dress code
Health/Hygiene/Cleanliness
Prohibited Items
Tell your counselors if you brought any of the following items to camp (24-hour grace period)
Rest time
Hammocks
Lights out
Safety
Laity Lodge Youth Camp has a zero tolerance policy regarding the use or possession of any of the following items. If found, any of these items will be confiscated immediately and could result in the camper’s removal from camp.
Campers are not allowed to bring any electronic devices to camp (phones, tablets, laptops, music devices, watches with screens, gaming devices, etc.). We help campers build significant relationships at camp as well as benefit from interacting with God’s beautiful creation. Screens and electronic devices can be a relational block and a distraction from the ideal camp experience. Camp is an incredible opportunity to unplug from technology for a time. Experiences like this are increasingly rare and therefore even more important for today’s youth.
We understand that many campers wish to use their smartphones as cameras. Our media team will provide high-quality photos and video of your camper’s session. Campers may also bring inexpensive digital or disposable cameras.
Each year we make our cabin assignments based on two things – the camper’s grade and any reciprocated roommate requests that were entered before our deadline of 3 weeks prior to the session start date. We do our very best to honor reciprocal roommate requests for campers in the same grade, but there are some cases where we are unable to do so. We cannot always put campers in the exact same cabin group as in previous years due to many factors.
We will send out cabin assignments a few days prior to the start of your campers’ session. If you have any concerns about your camper’s placement after you have received the cabin assignment email, let us know as soon as possible. While it’s not always possible to move campers around, we will certainly do our best. We also know that new camp friends are made every year, and cabins all have great counselors who will work their hardest to make camp so special for every camper in their cabin.
At LLYC, we want to provide a wholesome environment for all. With that in mind, please make sure to help your camper pack modest swimwear that fits properly and is appropriate for a youth camp setting. We will discreetly and kindly ask campers to change their swimwear if it is deemed inappropriate. As for our staff, girls staff are required to wear one-piece swimsuits and guys staff must leave the speedos at home!
Campers often experience some form of homesickness while they are away at camp. It can be more frequent for our younger Singing Hills campers, especially if it is their first extended period of time away from home and family. It’s certainly a normal, even healthy feeling! We have lots of valuable experience responding to homesickness at camp. LLYC and counselors are trained to expect it and are instructed to employ various helpful responses to campers who are experiencing these feelings.
How we respond:
Earning trust has always been the most effective way to help a camper adjust and settle in to camp. That often happens through shared experiences and intentional conversations. Our counselors will work hard to connect deeply with any camper experiencing homesickness. When a camper shares these feelings, our counselors will do their best to discern if sitting and having a comforting conversation would be most helpful, or perhaps lovingly encouraging participation in the next activity or event. Sometimes counselors will share a bit of the upcoming schedule so that the camper has something to look forward to. Most bouts of homesickness don’t last very long, and are often concentrated to the first few days away from home. We have seen that overcoming homesickness can be a healthy challenge for campers and can ultimately be a positive contribution to their emotional development.
When we call home:
We don’t have a hard and fast rule of thumb for when to contact parents if their camper is experiencing homesickness. Typically, we will call home if our staff have observed intense feelings of homesickness that don’t let up throughout a day, or multiple days of these feelings with no sign of improvement. In these situations, we will call home, discuss everything with parents, and come up with a good game plan moving forward, hopefully one where the camper will be able to remain at camp.
Parent communication with homesick campers:
It usually works best if parents write letters or bunk notes (through your account) of encouragement. Often after we’ve been in communication with parents about a homesick camper, we will share a personal message from parents directly to the camper. This usually helps a lot as well. We’ve learned that phone calls between a parent and a homesick camper almost always shatter the valuable autonomy that is developing through temporary separation at camp. If you feel strongly about speaking with your child after they have reported homesickness, we will certainly take the necessary steps to make that happen.
If it doesn’t get better:
If we observe that the situation is not improving and your camper’s homesickness is not allowing them to have an ultimately valuable experience at camp, we will certainly work with you to decide if it would be best to have someone come pick them up from camp. This doesn’t happen very often, and we feel confident in discerning if and when this time has come.
Our counselors are awesome and will handle bedwetting like it’s no big deal. They just need to know if it happened, otherwise it will not be a pleasant sleeping situation for the rest of the session! Counselors will quickly and discreetly get the camper’s bed linens or sleeping bag washed during activities when no-one else is around, and everything will be returned to the cabin. Counselors will be trained to understand the importance of not bringing any accidents to the attention of any other campers in the cabin.
At LLYC we want any behavioral correction of a camper to be predicated with love, care, and concern for the camper. Our counseling staff are trained in how to respond to misbehavior, and any disciplinary procedures or consequences beyond a corrective conversation must be cleared with a camp director.
LLYC Counselor Guidelines for Addressing Misbehavior:
If anything happens at camp that severely impacts your camper’s experience, and our directors are made aware of it, our standard practice is to call home and loop parents in.
Cancellations occurring 30 days prior to your camper’s session will result in a refund of all payments except the $200 nonrefundable deposit.
Cancellations occurring within the 30 days prior to your camper’s session will result in the forfeiture of the entire tuition if the space cannot be filled. If the space is filled, all payments except the $200 nonrefundable deposit will be refunded.
The Directors reserve the right to dismiss any camper whose influence and conduct become detrimental in any way to the best interests of other members of camp. LLYC will not issue refunds for campers dismissed for disciplinary reasons. LLYC will also make no tuition deductions for absences, withdrawals before the end of the session, or late arrivals, including late arrivals due to lice. If a camper must withdraw from camp early on doctors’ orders due to injury or illness, LLYC will refund a pro-rated amount for each day remaining.
As a Texas youth camp we are mandatory reporters. If we suspect a minor has experienced abuse either at camp or elsewhere we are required to report this to Child Protective Services and Texas Law Enforcement.
