TOWNSHIP OF SYLVANIA, Sylvania — Now that students are on summer break, a lot of kids are spending their days outdoors.
But with the extreme weather we're expecting this week, it can be dangerous.
Monday was the start of Cub Scout day camp this summer at Camp Miakonda in Sylvania Township.
Thankfully, counselors have trained to be ready for severe weather and severe heat.
With water bottles in hand, more than 700 kids will spend some of their summer at camp. Much of that time will be spent outdoors in the woods, rain or shine.
That means campers and counselors must be prepared for all types of weather.
"The campers' safety is our utmost priority for them being at camp, so that's why we have numerous policies in place." Camp Director Lora Morgan said. "We go through them during staff week and we do once a week training on different of the policies running drills and things like that."
That includes a no-move policy, which means when it's storming, counselors and campers need to find shelter and stay there.
On extremely hot days, campers are encouraged to stay in the pool. If Mother Nature's air conditioning from shade isn't enough, everyone will do activities inside the air conditioned buildings.
Most importantly, there's never a shortage of reminders about drinking water.
"We encourage the den chiefs, who are in charge of a group of 10 kids, to nominate a hydration helper every day," Morgan said. "Then that kid takes on some of the responsibility reminding kids to stay hydrated."
Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell believed that young men spend a lot of time learning in and about the outdoors. "The open-air is the real objective of Scouting and the key to its success," he said.
Camp Miakonda counselors agree.
"Kids need to be outside with nature, getting used to the trees," Lisa Pietras said. "Especially after a very stressful school year, getting outside and having fun and learning all sorts of cool camping skills is amazing for them."
She said some signs they look out for when it gets super hot out is if the campers seem more stressed than normal or when they begin sweating too much. That's when they know they need to get them somewhere cool.
Registration is still open for Cub Scout day camp for week three and five. You can register here.
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