Summer Camp 2026

A message from our Camp Director

Let’s talk about Gaga! 

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a brief history of CBC’s favorite game. 

Gaga is a fast-paced, but “gentler” version of dodgeball. It’s played in an octagonal "pit" where players goal to hit others below the knee with a ball. There are more origin stories than you would imagine, but we do know that it became popular in some summer camps in the 1980s and by the 2010s was a fixture on many playgrounds, and a staple at summer camps.

And CBC campers LOOOVE Gaga. Heck, they love it so much, the rules to gaga ended up on the back of our 2026 Staff sweatshirt. 

Gaga can also be a source of many intense arguments (as well as the development of important life skills, which we’ll get to…stick with me) where the stakes seem, to some campers, like they are life and death.  A recent social media post by The Summer Camp Society highlighted these disagreements where things are happening quickly, everyone wants to be right, the stakes feel weirdly high, and no one wants to lose. Sound familiar?

We live in a world of disagreement, and many of us adults aren’t equipped with the skills to navigate those disagreements ourselves, let alone model them for the young people who watch us try.

Camp is a different space than almost any other that campers and staff may encounter. When disagreements do occur at camp, they happen in a space where they see each other’s full personhood on display daily. They see this through healthy risk taking, success and failure - individually and together, close navigation of communal spaces, and shared experiences that develop connection quickly.

Perhaps most importantly, when disagreements happen at camp, they happen in a space where young adults are striving every day to model productive conflict resolution – which allows for our campers to practice disagreement safely and improve their skills at resolving those disagreements.  And what a skill – learning to disagree while still caring about one another!

This, among so many other reasons, is why the world and our kids NEED camp.

We’re so happy that your camper is joining us, or considering joining us this summer!