Three Cheers for Camp S-P-I-R-I-T!

If you are a veteran Sewataro family - or really camp family period - you have inevitably heard a cheer or two! If you went to summer camp yourself, you can likely recall cheers from your own childhood. And if you are a new Camp family - we cannot WAIT for your kids to join our cheer squad in the summer of 2026!

Camp cheers serve a number of purposes - some obvious, and some more subtle. Harkening back to the first newsletter I sent in November, group cheers are part of the fabric that binds our camp community. They are like a shared secret - except in the loudest form imaginable.

Starting a cheer is also a clever way our Counselors distract hungry campers as they make their longest walk of the day - from their third period activities to LUNCH! It is way easier to keep up the pace when you are marching to a shared steady beat.

Every morning, a few groups are chosen to share a cheer in front of the whole camp as part of morning announcements. Some campers LIVE for these moments, and confidently position themselves as close to the microphone as possible. Others (campers and counselors alike), find a spot in the back of the pack. They are leading in their own way - contributing to the build up of another exciting Sewataro day, stepping up to the plate and leading the crowd, but never required to move too far out of their comfort zones.

Group cheers are different than call-and-response because ANYONE can take the lead, and many are built so that they require that campers each take a turn driving the cheer forward. Campers get a little taste of leadership – a seed that gets planted in our youngest groups, and nurtured every summer, right up through our CIT program.

The cheers get more elaborate as the campers get older, and their memories and attention spans expand. The Chipmunk section relies on their counselors to lead the way, but they CRUSH ‘‘we are the Chipmunks! The mighty, mighty Chipmunks!’ Our Fox and Bear campers are always up for a good name cheer - ‘my name is Kristen and you know what I’ve got…’ And campers in the Eagle and Owl Section love to put their own spin on the traditional Camp cheers - ‘SPRI—ITE - with NO caffeine!’

These cheers connect campers to their groups, their group leaders, and each and every one of us to Camp itself. They are not written down, available on iTunes, shared on TikTok (at least not on our watch!), or trending on YouTube. They are not taught or learned - they are sung, shouted, and shared – and eventually we all simply know them. They are a part of the Lexicon of camp, our past and our future, effortlessly woven into each day by the counselors and campers who make Summer as it Should be.

We are all cheering for your kids as they finish up the school year. Bring on summer!