The S.T.A.R. Principles at Bauercrest

What is being a great Bauercrest camper all about?

We focus on teaching our boys the specific values of Sportsmanship, Teamwork, Achievement, and Responsibility. More commonly known as our STAR Principles!

Yes they may sound a little corny and sometimes our boys have fun cheers about these letters, we don’t mind! Our boys know and practice these four key skills all summer long.

We are proud anytime we see an older camper helping a younger camper practice for a game later that day or when we see a staff member taking time to clean up a program area after the entire camp has run down the hill.

We believe these skills stay with our boys for life!

Sportsmanship

We teach our boys about winning and losing on and off the field.

Yes some teams win and some teams don’t. That is not what we think sportsmanship is. We believe it is treating your opponents and teammates with respect! Making sure you give those who deserve an opportunity the chance to excel.

One of our favorite moments happened during Color War 2015! An older camper had the ball and was expected to take the final shot in the game, he knew his teammate had a better angle! Instead of taking the glory of the final shot he passed the ball! His teammate took the shot, made it, and won the game in the final seconds!

If that is not sportsmanship we don’t know what is!

Teamwork

Working together for a common goal is how we embrace teamwork at Bauercrest.

Our boys learn from the very moment they step onto the hillside that we operate as a team at all times. No matter what is going on at Bauercrest we all work together to make camp great.

In the camp mess hall our campers cheer and clap about whatever they think is fun! Sometimes the loudest voices are those of our youngest boys.

When the Sophomore and Freshman campers get going they can not be stopped! Their voices are loud, they cheer for things like Milk & Cookies! They work together and although they are not the tallest or biggest boys in that mess hall they are certainly the loudest!

Achievement

Awards are great and we do offer wonderful awards to our campers at our closing Banquet each summer. We teach our campers how to value their accomplishments with beautiful camp cups that date back to the first summer in 1931!

Our Alumni return to camp and fondly remember those awards they won and take pleasure in seeing their names on our Honor Boards all around camp. We are so proud of what our camp community can achieve and love to reward our campers with the recognition they deserve.

Even years after campers leave the hillside we celebrate their accomplishments through our Alumni Newsletters that circulate year after year! Keeping the Bauercrest spirit alive for a lifetime!

Responsibility

Campers at Bauercrest have the opportunity to create the summer they want each and every day!

We offer many different elective options all summer and our boys choose two activities a week to participate in! This way campers can take control for a change and design the schedule they want to follow. We believe it is so important to allow our campers the chance to decide for themselves and take on that responsibility.

Of course, we help out any camper who may be unsure of what to choose and encourage them to try something new!

That being said the Waterfront is our most popular elective!