Pictured above: Eighth-grade students back in 2016 sitting together on the old logs in the courtyard. A big shout out to this class who are now on to their adventures after high school!
This year, we will celebrate a big milestone for FSP -- 100 graduates! Just in the last few months, we have had 5 graduates join our summer camp staff, 3 graduates join our AfterCare team, and 1 graduate joined our Strategic Plan Design Committee. There is a satisfying and joyful “at last” feeling now that our dear alumnx are starting to come back to us!
Over the summer, I interviewed a few camp counselors on what it was like to find themselves back at FSP. What had they missed? What did it feel like now?
“Coming back as a camp counselor reminded me how special the Friends School is. For example, how it gives kids the opportunity to be themselves and feel valued. I didn't realize how much I miss this feeling of welcomeness that can't be found everywhere. I enjoyed helping (the youngest campers) interact with each other the same way Friends taught me to treat others.” -Tess McNally ‘20
“There’s a definite value to having space in the woods. Not just a playground, but having space in the woods. I have vivid memories of being in that overhang under the stairs – we spent a lot of time there during AfterCare.” - Addyson Babcock’19
“I felt most nostalgic on my first day as a counselor for the FSP camp… I felt the warmth and love of the FSP community again. I felt this most at the end of the day during camp meeting when all of the groups come together. It reminded me of Meeting For Worship and Assembly during the school year. Friends School was and is still a second home to me.”
-Molly Katz ‘21
“(Being back) is weirdly similar but also different. It’s a foreign place to me but also I’ve lived here. Putting the board on two or three swings was a nostalgic moment for me. It’s the weird stuff that’s super fun that’s very FSP, that you wouldn’t find other places.”
-Avery Rhoads ‘18
“Being back at FSP definitely made me feel very nostalgic. It’s kind of wonderful to see what has grown out of the FSP that I knew since I’ve been here -- the new wing, the gaga ball pit, and the trails are all things that make the kids so happy that didn’t exist when I was at school! It feels like the school has grown up, in a way, from its original roots.”
-Maya Denkmire ‘17
"It feels great to be back. It's a very full circle moment. I feel so honored with the opportunity to give back to the community that made me who I am today. FSP, it's the same in all the best ways but with more people!"
-Bella Burnap '16