April 23rd FAQ Video with Jared and Jackie

Jared

Welcome back for this week’s video. We’re so excited to have an opportunity to share some insight with you and give you some updates as they develop on our end. As always, I’m very happy to welcome Jackie. Hi, Jackie.

Jackie

Hey, everybody. Hi, Jared.

Jared

I’m Jared. I’m one of the directors here at the camp and very happy to share the upcoming information with you. So just a reminder if you haven’t seen one of our videos before, a reminder if you have, that our goal here in this video is to share as much information as possible with you. We always want to be transparent. We are going to tell you everything that we know right now. We continue to await further guidance and updates from the state and all the health officials and most of you know, things continue to change on a weekly basis or so it seems. So as soon as we get the information, we’ll share that with you and keep you as up to date as possible. We’re really grateful for all the feedback we continue to get and we’ll encourage you at the end of this video to continue to do likewise. Before we move forward with some of the meat and potatoes of this video, we wanted to talk a little bit about our family camps. Our enrolled family should have received last week, not a video, an email inviting you to come to our family camp days. We have about five different weekend days. When we’ve invited some families to come. We have been overwhelmed by the feedback and the response. So while it’s pretty much impossible to enroll online at this point, if you want to participate and haven’t yet reached out, please feel free to give us a call at the office or to reach out and ask for Susan either by email or phone call. And for those of you that have reached out and maybe haven’t heard back yet, please remain patient. We will get back to you soon. Our goal is to get everybody who wants to be here an opportunity to come and spend a couple hours and enjoy some time at camp. So thanks everybody for your patience.

Jackie

And Jared, before we get started, I also just have one reminder. Staff, I know a lot of staff watches our videos also, so thank you for that. Staff, please remember to forward your vaccine information to our office. Everybody received an email with instructions on how to do that. So please remember to send us the card once it’s completed. We don’t need it after the first dose after the second dose if it’s a two dose vaccine, but please take care of that as soon as possible.

Jared

Yeah, that’s great info. And like you said, we’re really excited about the incredible response we’ve gotten so far from our staff. We get a lot of questions from parents and recently spoke to one parent who had a series of questions, and we answered all of them, but it leads to our next question since so many parents have so many of the same questions, is there anything that Ramaquois is going to be able to do to answer these questions for larger groups of people?

Jackie

Okay, that’s a great question. And I love this answer because I hope that everyone is going to find this helpful. Yes. The answer is yes. We are planning a few different webinars coming up. We’re waiting a little bit longer to try and have more regulations, more information that we can address specifically. We’re going to have all different kinds of webinars for our staff, for our parents. And the difference really between the webinar and the video, which is what we’ve been doing to communicate information. The webinars are a little bit more interactive. We will have people answering questions. We will have somebody behind the scenes monitoring our chatboard so that we can actually answer questions that are asked live or during the webinar. So the answer is yes, and we will let you know ahead of time when those webinars are going to be, we will be recording them. There’s no chance we can get a time that’s good for everybody. So they will be recorded for future viewing as well.

Jared

Thanks.

Jackie

So, Jared, now I have a question for you got this morning, but we’ve been getting it frequently. Shared surfaces. We have a lot of shared surfaces in camp, activity areas, equipment, all different types. The data on shared surfaces has been changing a little bit. What is the risk of shared surfaces and how are we cleaning them?

Jared

I’m very excited to answer this question because of all the things involved in camp. The thing that I love to talk about the most is cleaning, which is a joke. But let’s talk about it because it’s important. So one thing that’s very reassuring is that we now know that surfaces is not the way that COVID spreads. We know that it’s an airborne virus, so there’s definitely been less emphasis on the cleaning end. Having said that, we are definitely planning to err on the side of caution, and we will be doing very intense cleanings throughout the day, particularly on shared surfaces. All of our activity areas are going to have disinfectant sprays, and they have these cool bottles with pumps that we can make sure that everything is cleaned and wiped down, whether that’s tables, whether it’s benches, any shared spaces of any kind. So all of our activity areas will have that and they will be cleaned after and before every group comes or goes. And a new person or persons is using that particular area or that space. So we’ll make sure that everything is really clean. Another thing that we’re going to be encouraging is asking most of our campers or all of our campers, really, to bring in athletic equipment and any equipment that previously may have been shared. So for example, at Ramaquois, you go to tennis. We have a bunch of tennis rackets, and many of our campers would just take those rackets and use them during the tennis period. And while we still will have that available for campers that don’t have their own rackets or their own equipment, we’re going to really be asking as many people as possible to bring their own personal equipment, whether it be rackets, or gloves, anything where they can make sure they have their own A it’s a little bit more comfortable. But B it will reduce any chance of us transmitting anything through shared equipment. So that’s something that we’re going to be encouraging a great deal. And you’ll see that a lot in your camper packing lists and in your updates from here until the beginning of the summer. So we want to make sure that people are using their own stuff when they come to camp. Just as a reminder. One thing I know that can get a little gross during a camp day is towels. At Ramaquois, This is not a new policy, we’ve been doing this for decades, but we provide towels for each swim. So those of you that are new to Ramaquois may not realize this, but each camper gets a towel for their first swim of the day, when they’re done with swim and they finish wiping down and they’re dressed and ready to go to the next activity, that towel is bagged and laundered. And when they have their next swim that day, they get a fresh, clean towel. And if they have a third swim, we’ll give them another towel or if they have the Lake that day, they’ll get a clean towel for each time they’re going in the water and need one. So you don’t have a wet towel shoved in cubbies or accidentally left on the floor where they may be less healthy than getting a clean one. So that is another thing that I think is going to really help make sure that the environment is as clean and as safe as possible. And we’re going to also make sure that we consistently send home clothing that’s worn. Anything that’s worn that week will be sent home to be laundered to make sure that it’s clean. And we don’t have anything that’s maybe less than clean shoved into a cubby. We know how kids can be at times and just shoving things into the bag and putting things away maybe when they’re not clean. So we’ll make sure those things are sent home. So again, extra cleaning, extra disinfecting, consistently wiping things down, less shared equipment, clean towels for each swim and making sure that all those things are laundered regularly. Those are some of the protocols we have in place.

Jackie

Okay. And then Jared, I also just want to add we spoke about it on a previous video. Also the bathrooms and all of the bunks. Those are going to be cleaned more frequently than we have in the past. It’s something we always kept them clean, but an extra cleaning or two throughout the day is certainly part of our new protocol.

Jared

Right. And then I know I talked about bringing more personal items in, and I know that this is something that you like to preach from the mountaintops if they’re bringing in their own stuff, whether it’s clothing or equipment. Jackie, what do they need to do?

Jackie

Please write your camper’s name on it on everything, on clothing, on tennis rackets. Please make sure to identify your campers belongings as their own. It helps us keep the campers organized so that they can take care of their own things. And remember, we’re uniform camp. Everyone is pretty much wearing the same clothing. So please just put your name on everything.

Jared

That’s great. Thank you. So our next question is one we get from many people, and it’s very simple. Somebody will call up and say, Is there anything I should be doing now to get ready for camp? So, Jackie, what should our campers’ parents be doing now?

Jackie

Thank you, Jared. So what parents really need to be doing now are a few things that are not a surprise. We’ve been talking about it a little bit reminding you. So first of all, get excited for camp. Share your kids’ excitement. It’s really getting close. As far as housekeeping, what you could do is please remember to complete the forms online. Almost everything is on the website at ramaquois.com/parent. The medical form, the health history form that the parent fills out. It should take you 5 or 10 minutes at most.

Jackie

We do need a camper medical form that is the only one that is printed and it needs to be completed and signed by a physician. So please, there is a physical exam required as part of that form. So please keep an eye to see if your child’s last exam was within twelve months. You might need to make a doctor’s appointment, but please have that filled out and completed and sent back to our office. There’s a personality profile that helps us get to know your children prior to camp. So if you could fill that out, that one might be the one that takes the most time because we really want to know what we can do to help your child at camp. A transportation release form is a form that is required to authorize anybody other than a parent to take your child off the bus, even if it’s another family member. So we do need that completed as well. The camper code of behavior is really just expectations for being a part of the Ramaquois community and what we expect from our campers. So please review it with your camper. Campers that are old enough to sign it. We ask that the camper does sign it for the younger campers, we just ask you to go over it with your child so everything sounds familiar and you may sign it on behalf of your camper. Please upload a recent picture of your camper. Jared, mentioned last week I believe that we have wonderful pictures of our 14 year old campers when they were four. And yes, they are cute. We don’t want them to grow up either, but they do. So please send us a recent picture. A recent picture should not include a face covering. I know some that might be considered funny or helpful at this time, but it’s really not. We’d like a clear photo of your child’s face. First of all, that’s how we begin to get to know them, especially for new campers. And also, we do have facial recognition technology that we use for the hundreds and hundreds of photos that we upload on a daily basis. So the facial recognition software is quite good. It’s not perfect, but it’s quite good. And what really helps is if we have a clear picture of your child on file from which that software references. Please remember to order your clothing ramaquois.com/clothing. We’ve given you a few tutorials about that and we still get questions almost daily. So if you have any questions, please do feel free to ask us.

Jared

Including your complementary shirts. You have to order those also, please.

Jackie

Yes, including your complimentary shirts. Thank you, Jared. You do need to order those as well. So please take care of that. The earlier you do it, the better in case there’s a sizing issue. The other thing also is the Ramaquois app. It’s going to be a wonderful resource for you throughout the summer. Download it now peruse it, get to know it a little bit. You can reference the form from there the Parent Handbook, our family guide. Actually, we’re calling it this year. You can see our COVID manual, and that is what you will be using to do the daily health screenings for your camper. So you may as well download it now. Get used to referencing it. It’s going to be a fabulous resource for you and for us. And what else? If you are not a full session camper and you are coming for six weeks or seven weeks, meaning that you are not going to be here for one week or two weeks. And when you know what those one or two weeks are, please let us know. It will help us very much with our planning. It’s no surprise to anybody at this point, we’re watching our group sizes and it will just help with our planning if there are certain weeks that we know that your camper will not be attending. So if you know, please let us know. If you don’t know yet. That’s fine. But when you do shoot us an email.

Jared

Speaking of emails, we have started to increase the amount of emails that we do send out. So we just want to remind everybody to make sure that you’re checking your email with some frequency and making sure that you’re also reading them. We do try to have a lot of reminders and updates in those messages. It’s the easiest way for us to communicate with everybody in the fastest way possible. So just make sure you keep checking that.

Jackie

And in addition, it’s something we’re going to be talking about in future videos. But the division leaders will eventually be reaching out to all of our families, and it is very likely that a division leader might email you to make an appointment to set up a phone conversation. So again, another reason to be checking your emails. That’s not going to happen yet. More like probably mid to late May, that process is going to begin, and we will get to it at a later video, but they will be reaching out via email. So please keep an eye out for sure.

Jared

I think that’s all we’ve got for this week. We’re always grateful for the feedback we get from so many members of our Ramaquois community. If you have any questions you’d like us to address in future videos or just questions you’d like us to answer in general, please feel free to call our office at any time. You could always send emails to me. It’s Jared at ramaquois.com that’s J-A-R-E-D. At ramaquois.com. Don’t forget to continue following us on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. We have multiple times a week where we’re posting some updates and some fun reminiscing and all sorts of information that we think is either helpful or fun or both. So make sure you continue to follow us there. And we look forward to continuing to work hard and put this information out there for you so that we can give you as much information as possible. Again, we mentioned between these videos that we plan to continue doing each week and the upcoming webinars, we hope to be able to answer all your questions while also making you really sick of looking at us.

Jared

I think that’s all the time we have for this week. So since we’re wrapping up, thank you, Jackie, for all your help with this week’s video. And as we wrap everything up at Ramaquois, we do it the same way each time. Today is no different. Have fun. There’s a camp out there!