SUMMER ADVENTURE STARTS HERE

From the field trips, to the swimming, to the long lasting friendships made, camp is by far my favorite time of the year!  The first day of camp is filled with emotions - children are either really excited to return or skeptical of the “unknown”.  Parents are either really excited to have their child back at Y Camp or really nervous about being away from their child.  My absolute favorite part of camp is seeing that fear, anxiety and nervousness subside and turn into “Mom I don’t want to go home yet” and “What did you do to my kid?  They were sleeping by 6:00 last night!”  Camp is about the experience and that feeling you leave the campers and parents with at the end of each day, wanting and eagerly waiting to return the next day, week or year!

I recently had a baby last August and my outlook on camp has changed.  I’ve always run safe, quality, fun camps, but from a YMCA professional perspective.  This year I’m looking at it as a YMCA professional AND as a parent.  This new outlook will allow me to relate to the parent’s fears and anxieties about trusting our counselors, who are complete strangers to them, with their children.  Having a child means I have to ask myself, “If my daughter were in this camp, would I have peace of mind knowing she is safe and she is having fun?”  It allows me to respond to parents questions with confidence that YES you can trust we are keeping your children safe and that they are forming friendships in a positive social peer group environment!  Our camp is a place where children’s differences are considered unique and respected by everyone.  Our camp is a place where parents can go to work and know that their child is safe in our care.   Our camp is a place where memories are made, friendships are formed, and lives are positively changed!

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Maria Solomonidis started her Y career eight and a half years ago as a camp counselor and School Age Child Care coordinator in Rochester, NY.  In 2006, Maria came to the YMCA Buffalo Niagara association, and held the program director position at the Niagara Falls Family YMCA and most recently at the Northeast Family YMCA.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and English literature, and has a teaching certification for age’s birth through grade two.  Maria is passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and loves seeing the progress a child makes over the course of the summer.  Her favorite camp activity is baseball week, when campers and staff get to form teams together and play against each other.  When she’s not at the Y, Maria is spending time with her 10 month old daughter, family, and dog, and playing softball.