setting camper expectations

Camp will look and feel a bit different this year due to COVID and it’s ramifications. What we hope will look and feel the SAME is the joy of being together, meeting new friends/reconnecting with old ones, participating in fun activities, and creating supernovas of joy (SNOJ)!

Changes campers (and parents/guardians) should be prepared for:

• Check-in & gauntlet: outlined below (see Camper Check-In & Pickup section)

• Check out & parent program: outlined below

• Meals: all meals will be eaten outdoors (it’ll be a picnic every day!)

• Dance: Friday night’s dance and closing slide show will happen outdoors

• daBoata: we will not be going on a boat excursion

• Carnival: each cabin will attend a carnival (but the entire camp will not be present at the same time); there will be no rental bouncy houses or climbing wall; the whip cream fight will transition to a silly string fight; cotton candy, snow cones, and fun will remain!

• COVID protocols: see COVID protocols section below

• Sleeping head-to-toe in cabin bunks: as recommended by the CDC

• MedShed: initial triage station will be outside

• All-camp gatherings: we will have all-camp activities but they will be more structured to ensure pods stay together and safely distanced from other pods

• Smaller camp size: there are fewer campers than in a “normal” year, but same amount of fun

resources (documents for review)

Get campers prepped to have the best camp experience possible and make it easy on yourself by preparing early:

• Packing List (essentials to bring to camp)

• Camp theme and theme days (in case campers want to bring coordinating clothing or accessories): is included in page two of the Packing List

• Camper Code of Conduct (to be reviewed with campers to set them up for success)

• Songbook (favorite camp song lyrics)

• Directions to Camp (once you ferry over, driving directions are pretty easy)

• Camper Check-In: Where to Go (directions once at Camp Burton)

update camper health profiles (as needed)

If things, such as medications/doses or health conditions have changed or a camper has received their COVID vaccine shots since initially completing their online Health Profile, please update their profile prior to camp so that camp staff/nurses have the most current knowledge of every camper.

• CampDoc login: http://app.campdoc.com/register/goodtimesproject

• Access to CampDoc will close on June 21 (for June session campers) and July 12 (for July session campers)

camper check-in & pickup

Camper check-in on the Sunday of both camp sessions will look new to everyone (including us). The following is our confirmed plan. We ask that the minimum amount of people accompany camper’s and/or exit the vehicle once at camp (to minimize exposure to other campers and volunteers). *Details are subject to change.

assigned check-in times:

• Each family is assigned a check-in time to ensure we can accommodate for COVID testing, and to avoid overcrowding and delays. This may mean that you’ll have extra time of Vashon Island between when your ferry docks and you can arrive at camp (so explore) or that you need to take a specific ferry (ferry schedules to Vashon have not yet been published by WSDOT).

• Assigned check-in times run between 1:40-3:40 p.m. dependent on the camp session.

  • June camper assigned check-in times (sorted by last name)

  • July camper assigned check-in times (sorted by last name)

once at camp:

• We will be using what is traditionally an exit at Camp Burton to enter camp and start the check-in process (not the marked entrance driveway); look for signs and persons directing traffic.

• Once you enter, you will park to conduct the COVID testing. Stay in your vehicle, wear a mask, and roll your window down, please!

• A Vashon Medical Reserve Corp volunteer will approach your vehicle and ask for camper’s last name.

• You have two options: 1) use the Goodtimes provided test which will take 30-40 minutes to deliver results, or 2) bring an unopened 15-minute rapid test from home. In either case, the Reserve Corp volunteer will connect with you, you will self-administer in your vehicle, the volunteer will place a timer on your vehicle and will check back in to verify a negative result.

  • Any positive COVID test results will be directed to return home; including any siblings in the vehicle who tested negative as they have had close contact/exposure.

  • Please dispose of test materials at your home versus at camp.

• Once confirmed negative, each camper will receive their check-in card which includes their name and cabin assignment. Please keep this card as it will be needed throughout the check-in process.

• You will move your vehicle and park in the next check-in location (very short distance away) to make room for the next group of campers.

  • Parents/guardians, because you haven’t been COVID tested, please continue to wear a mask when you exit your vehicle to speak with the nurse and to drop off camper belongings.

• Check in with each camper’s camp nurse. Bring all medications (in their original bottles; no pill packs please) and supplies necessary for your camper’s care.

• Each camper will get their photo taken.

• There will be a station to drop off camper mail and packages which we will deliver during the camp week (please bring versus sending in the mail).

• Camper’s belongings will be dropped off in an area marked with their cabin number. Camp Goodtimes staff will move belongings to camper’s assigned cabins.

  • Please, label everything with your camper’s name and try to keep things contained in bags, including pillows and sleeping bags.

• Final farewell to campers before parents/guardians return to their vehicle and exit camp; campers will be welcomed to camp via our welcome gauntlet (new location by the playground) and will meet their counselors. Parents/guardians will NOT be accompanying campers to their cabins.

Pre-camp COVID testing Recommended:

Though it is not required for campers to have a PCR or rapid antigen test prior to arriving at camp, if it’s possible for your family to do so, we recommend it. It will help ensure that campers don’t test positive at check-in which would be a major bummer for kiddos, you, and us.

• PCR test 2 days before camp check-in date.

• Or, daily rapid at-home testing the 2-3 days before camp check in. (Order your free COVID tests from COVIDTests.gov to make this a possibility.)

Camper pickup:

• We will not be hosting a Parent Program this year; campers and staff will be participating in a closing ceremony and campers can be picked up afterwards.

• The camper pick-up window will be from 11:00-noon. All campers must be picked up by noon. (Any early departure requests must be cleared with the camp director ahead of camp.)

• Parents/guardians must show their picture ID (persons must be one of the authorized adults listed on that camper’s pick-up form in their online Health Profile), locate their child(ren)’s belongings (sorted by cabin number), collect medications/supplies from the nurses, and then locate their child(ren).

covid protocols & guidelines

It’s important that all campers/families and staff know and adhere to the following. We cannot stop COVID from entering camp, but we can employ layered protocols to help stop the spread and diminish the possibility that it impacts camp this year. *The following are subject to change if circumstances change.

vaccinations:

• All campers and staff are required to have had their primary series COVID vaccination shots. [This requirement will not change.]

• Boosters are highly recommended but not required.

pre-camp:

• Campers and household members should avoid high-to-medium risk scenarios in the two weeks leading up to camp; such as being unmasked in large indoor venues or on airplanes.

• In the two weeks leading up to camp, if a camper tests positive for COVID or has been exposed to a COVID positive person and had close contact (within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period), please alert the camp director immediately.

• All campers and staff will take a rapid antigen COVID test administered at check-in; a negative result is required to enter camp.

during camp:

• Masks will be required when indoors in common spaces like Grisham, Grisham’s bathrooms, and the MedShed. Masks will not be required when outdoors or in a camper’s assigned cabin.

• Cabins act as pods and will circulate through some activities with the same other pods for the duration of camp (as a super pod) to limit exposure across all pods. We will do all all-camp activities outdoors, including Friday night’s dance, eating meals, and evening programming.

• Campers will be assessed by nurses for any COVID symptoms daily at breakfast. Staff will be required to submit a daily health assessment.

• Hand sanitizer will be available across camp including at meals.

• Anyone with symptoms needs to alert a nurse ASAP for the safety and health of everyone. Let’s not make this shameful but instead a pact to protect our camp family.

closed campus & Volunteer Time Off:

• Camp will be a closed campus, in that we won’t be welcoming any visitors or vendors.

• We will leave camp to go to the pool (where we are the only occupants) and fishing at a secluded pond (but not into town for ice cream).

• Staff will also be permitted to leave camp for their scheduled time off under the following rules: a) no eating inside a restaurant or cafe, and b) must wear a mask when inside a store, restaurant, or business.

covid cases:

• Campers or staff suspected of having COVID symptoms will be isolated and tested. If the test is positive, they will immediately be sent home (their COVID emergency pick-up person will be contacted). Persons who came in close contact with that individual will be assessed for symptoms but will not need to quarantine/isolate if they are symptom free (this follows the CDC guidelines for vaccinated individuals).

• If there are confirmed cases of COVID at camp, the camp director along with the medical director and nursing team will determine if we proceed with camp or close camp and head home.