New Summer Camp Web Features

Two Great Ways to Learn What Summer Camp is Like

If you are looking for a way to learn more about summer camping for your child there are two new resources at www.kanakuk.com.

The first resource is a "Video Wall". In 18 minutes you can see a typical day at summer camp, see the counselors in action, see the positive impact summer camping can have on a child, see the touching story of one counselor and a camper, and here from one mother what camp was like for her child. In the next several days this video wall will also have links to comments about Kanakuk from Chuck Swindoll and Gary Smalley.



The second resource is a video from Joe White regarding the importance of making memories with your children. This is the first video edition of the popular "You and Your Child" series. There are three steps to making memories with your kids and stories from Joe's time growing up at Kanakuk. You can see the K-1 counsel ring teepee and fire in this video.




We hope you enjoy these new resources and can share them with a friend.


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Walking Your Family Through Pain

The following email was sent from Joe White to all Kanakuk families that we have valid emails for. Not all of you can receive emails so he wanted me to share this with you.

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Dear Kanakuk Families,

Last night I was in the home of a truly amazing mom. To her husband, her three kids and to me she is every bit of that and more. Double-mastectomy, months of chemotherapy and then the tragic loss of her close friend. I learned a lot last night in that home. Her family, and quite honestly my family, and much of our greater Kamp family tonight are wanting help when life becomes exceedingly difficult. How do I help my kids understand? How do I help my kids walk through sadness and difficult circumstances that are beyond my control?

Over the past three days, I have penned my best thoughts and some things that I have learned over the years from my long time friends Dr. Gary Smalley, Dr. James Dobson, and mainly from 36 years of priceless conversations with our Kamp families who also have asked, “Where is God when life doesn’t make sense?”

Click here to read: Walking Your Family Through Pain

In His strength,

Joe White

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The Lord Lives!

Do you ever read Proverbs and the Psalms by what day of the month it is? I do, and today the 18th Psalm verse 46 reminded me of an old church camp song from when I was a kid. The chorus was straight from scripture...

"The Lord livith and blessed be the Rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted."

The version I'm reading tonight is slightly different, but in my heart the words above are forever burned. Those memories from summers at camp reminded why it's so important for me to be here today making sure that I do my small part in helping Kanakuk connect with you.

Before Christ came to earth God was my salvation, my Rock and He's alive! That's exciting to me. I hope it is for you too. Does any one have memories of that song from your childhood? If I could carry a tune I'd post audio :-)

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Official Kanakuk Statement

The following statement was released by Kanakuk Kamps COO Doug Goodwin on 9/15/09.

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Statement from Kanakuk Kamps
by Doug Goodwin

Our camp family was deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the allegations involving a former employee. The alleged behavior is counter to everything we believe in, everything we stand for and everything we work to instill in the young people who come to us seeking to grow personally and in their relationship with Christ.

Our prayers and thoughts are with those who have been affected, and we have worked closely with authorities investigating this matter.
Most importantly, we have offered our assistance to the alleged victims and their families. We are committed to protecting their privacy, and we cannot say anything further about the allegations at this time.

For years, we have had very clear policies and extensive training in place for all staff regarding appropriate behavior. Our staff members go through background checks. In light of this situation, we’ve reviewed and, where appropriate, updated our policies to reinforce our commitment to the families we serve.

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E-Mail to All Kamp Families RE: Former Employee

The following email was sent to all the valid family emails that Kanakuk Kamps had on Monday at 4:30 pm. We know not all of you received it for one reason or another and wanted to make it available here. Thank you for your many emails of support.

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Dear (Kamp Families),

For the last 34 years, Debbie Jo and I have poured our hearts and prayers into this beloved place. Therefore it is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you today regarding a difficult situation.

Because you are an important part of the Kanakuk family, we wanted to make you aware that earlier today, the Taney County Missouri prosecutor filed a four-count criminal complaint against our former employee, Pete Newman. As you may know, Pete Newman was employed at K-Kountry. The prosecutor’s criminal charges allege that Pete engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with adolescent boys, including some who had been Kanakuk Kampers.

When we became aware of this situation we took immediate action, terminating Pete Newman’s employment. Since that time, we have been working closely with the affected families and appropriate authorities. We reported what we knew to investigators and stayed in contact throughout the process, providing whatever assistance we could. We have also offered our assistance to the impacted families. Our fervent prayers are with those who have been impacted. We look forward to the completion of the legal process to ensure that justice is served.

As you know, Pete Newman’s alleged behavior is counter to everything we believe in, everything we stand for and everything we work to instill in the young people who come to us seeking to grow personally and in their relationship with Christ. In fact, for years, we have had very clear policies and extensive training in place for all staff regarding appropriate behavior. Our staff members go through background checks, personal interviews and extensive training on our policies.

We understand the difficulty that this situation causes you and your children. We pledge to work with you to help you address questions your children may have. Kanakuk is a family, and families often face challenging times. We also pledge that Kanakuk will continue to do all we can to champion efforts to prevent inappropriate behavior from occurring at any camp.

If you have questions or concerns about this situation, please e-mail me at joe@kanakuk.com.

Thank you for being part of the Kanakuk family.

In Christ,

Joe White

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How old should your child be when they go to camp?

I recently had the following email exchange with a Kamp family. I thought many of our Kamp families might relate and be able to share their own stories of younger syblings yearning for Kamp!
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Dear Kanakuk,

Our children are at K-7 right now (max and libby) and we are just so grateful to Kanakuk for providing THE BEST summers of their lives. Our 6 year old Maddy is counting down until she gets to go next year. Thanks so much for your commitment to Christ and kids. Thanks too for all the updates on the flu issue. We never had any doubt that Kamp would be the safest place to be for our kids due to all of you. We sure appreciate all of you.

Thanks so much,
Ryan and Rochelle

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Dear Ryan and Rochelle,

When our Kamp families take the time to write us an encouraging email, our hearts melt! As a fellow Kamp parent I would like to take a few minutes to share a story with you about my daughter Hannah. She’s 8 and has now attended Kamp for two summers. Her two older brothers have attended for many years. When Hannah was 4 years old getting ready to turn 5, people would ask her how old she was going to be and she would answer “7”. One day I was able to convince her that “No sweetie, you are going to be 5.” She finally agreed and said “OK, but next year I’ll be 7!” All because 7 is that magic age when our kids get to go to Kamp! What a special opportunity that we can send our kids to be with people like Keith Chancey and these incredible college staffers. We give God all the praise! Thanks for pulling along side us. We want to do the same for your family. Have a great rest of the summer and school year!

Jay Holden
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Jay,

Thanks for writing us back. Great story and feel free to share our comment. Kanakuk is the greatest place on Earth--I just wish I was still a Kamper!! Of course, they had another great time as we picked up yesterday.

God bless you all,
Rochelle and Ryan

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Leave a comment below. We'd love to hear your story too!


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In Response to a Kanakuk Health Update

The following message was received from one of our Kanakuk Kamp families this afternoon in response to our latest Health Update email:

Our family has appreciated hearing from Kamp since the spring regarding "everything swine flu." We have only faith and confidence in "everything Kamp." Our son was there term 7, our 33rd Kamp week as a family. July 18, 1997 was our first week at Kamp, our girls 8 and 7 (in fact, this was her 7th birthday), and we have been coming to K-Seven, term 7, ever since. Sarah, our oldest, was a ten year Kamper, Alice was a 12 year Kamper and Mark an 11 year Kamper. Once we started attending, they came every possible year until they became too old, or a college student. Sarah worked as a K-Seven kitchie the summer after her last year as a Kamper. The past two summers she has been a part of a Student Mobilization ministry called Kaleo, which has taken her to Breckenridge for most of the summer. She did interview for a Kamp position this summer and had an offer, but felt she needed to return to the Kaleo project. Alice worked as a K-Seven kitchie for the first half of the summer and truly loved it!!! Of course, she now has many new friends from the kitchie and cook cabin, as well as those who she trained with. She knew many at Kamp, both Kampers and staff, and had a wonderful experience. She was home only a few days before returning to volunteer for the weekend. We live under an hour and a half away, so Alice usually spent her 2-4s at home and brought friends, even laundry of other friends. We loved it! Our son also returned to volunteer and had to come home early after he became ill. I received a phone call from the nurse; after our conversation she handed the phone to the doctor; she then handed the phone to the director. Though we have never doubted that our children, even as employees, are given the very best of care, I have used this as an example for other families who have been concerned about the flu. I assured them that we had no reservations with our two children there, one for half the summer and another as a Kamper, then let them know about our experience in the health center. I should add that I did return to Kamp to pick Mark up. He was feeling better, but was going home soon anyway, so no need to hang out at Kamp sick. He did not have the flu, but since we were leaving for vacation, our local doctor treated him and he is fine. When I arrived at 9:30 pm or so, the nurse's office was abuzz. There were several nurses and helpers there, along with Chancey, attending to Mark and others who were under the weather. It just underscored that our children are in good and capable hands at Kamp. I am hopeful that our kids will return to Kamp as employees next summer. We love Kanakuk Kamps!!!

Special thanks to you and all the Kamp staff for all you do.

K-Seven Kamp Family, Bentonville, AR

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Kanakuk Kamps Health Update

The following email was sent to valid email addresses of all 2009 Kanakuk Kamps families on 7-30-09 approximately 11:00am CST.
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The summer is flying by, and we continue to be blessed beyond measure! This last week has been unseasonably cool at night, warm and mostly sunny during the days. Perfect summer Kamp weather!

This summer has been 99% amazing in countless ways. Our focus has remained strong to see changed lives and reinforced morals and values and kids walking away with big smiles, great memories and a solid vibrant relationship with Christ. We’ve never had a better summer regarding that mission! The summer flu has been a challenge at times but not ever insurmountable. This term has been our best all summer. All of our Kamps except for one have had zero, one or two cases. One Kamp, on the boys’ side only, has continued to struggle. With the changeover, that should be alleviated. The boys germ-x and wash their hands at least six times per day and the cabins are sanitized at least two times per day. That Kamp is as vigilant as it gets. While this flu has modest symptoms, it is very contagious.

Reflecting back over the summer, we are most thankful for the support of our Kamp families. Despite the challenges with the flu you have been patient with us as we sought to provide the safest camping environment possible. We continue to be vigilant in the sanitizing of our facilities and monitoring each Kamper’s health. We will continue the pre-Kamp screening process for Kampers riding our buses and arriving via car or plane. We continue to see positive improvement from the efforts of all of us working together.

As we have communicated with you this summer, many of our families have taken the opportunity to reply with kind words and stories of the impact that Kanakuk continues to have on your children. Several families have voiced concerns about the flu, and we have enjoyed getting to know you better as we worked through the uncertainties. This really has been a time when the whole Kanakuk family has come together.

From my post here at K-Kauai, Kanakuk’s Family Kamp, I have witnessed myself and heard the reports of nurses, helpers and volunteer physicians in our health centers performing with great sacrifice, always seeking to serve first and rest only when their best had been done - an inspiring example of the “I’m Third” life being lived out as an example of Christ. It has been a tremendous blessing to share this summer with you and your children.

We will continue to keep you posted during these last few weeks of the summer. Thank you again for your grace and understanding.

Blessings,


Doug Goodwin
Chief Operating Officer
Kanakuk Ministries

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Kids Across America Shortens Session due to H1N1

Today, Kids Across America closed it's three camps early due to a number of campers that had the symptoms associated with H1N1. Some of their campers had tested positive for the influenza A strain named H1N1.

All the KAA camps will reopen, as scheduled on Monday, July 20th. This will give them time to thoroughly sanitize their facility. They needed to close all three facilities because, Kids Across America campers typically arrive on church buses that carry campers for all three of their camps. This created a scenario in which they would need to release all the camps so that they could travel back the way they came.

KAA is working closely with the health department and are following very similar protocols to what Kanakuk Kamps does.

Kids Across America is a donor supported camping experience for urban youth. It's camps are located in the Golden, Missouri area on Table Rock Lake.
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20 Things On My Desk

Click to enlarge

My friend Sam Hoover did the 25 things on his desk and challenged everyone to do the same so we could get to know each other. While my desk is more messy and has technically more items on it than Sam's I was only able to label 20 of them. So as scary as it is for you to see my desk here goes:

1. "One (1) Gallon" of Clear Gel Hand Sanitizer With Aloe [sticky]
2. Partially working Fuji S3 Camera (body only)
3. Lemon CLIF Builder's "The entirely Natural Protein Bar" [thanks Deb]
4. Kanakuk's Twitter Page: sometimes I update it. Design by Heidi Sonnenschein
5. Invitation to Join SGT and Mrs. Jason Arellano at the premiere of Perfect Valor
6. Left over cup from the K-1 Dining Hall. Ate lunch at my desk.[Thanks Mollye and Jeremy]
7. The proof for the #1 disk of the Barnabas DVD Series
8. Vinyl sign and lettering squeegee from SignsNow
9. Post-it note with the email address of my favorite Infectious Disease Specialist
10. One of the three pens I lifted from various offices the day we got the H1N1 test results back
11. Drafts of letters to Kanakuk Colorado parents
12. Sunglasses that used to say on them "Italy Made"
13. Motorola Q, the version where the big barnacle battery lasts more than 3 hours
14. Box knife and tea spoon
15. 3 legged cow mascot
16. iPod: newest song "Chasing the Daylight" by Phillip LaRue
17. two post-it notes (L)"Cynthia Knock 2 times then come in" (R) "whatever."
18. Some of the big mess on Mollye's floor
19. My keys, but only half of them because the van is in the shop.
20. A post-it note that has written on it "8 10 9/6 8/7" in my hand writing and I have no idea what it is or what it means.

So there you have it. It's not pretty. If I clean it I will post a picture.

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Kanakuk Colorado Health Update

The following press release will be sent in conjunction with the San Juan Basin Health Department this afternoon. They are appreciative of our communication efforts and we continue to work with them closely.

Press Contact:
Jay Holden
Marketing Director
Kanakuk Kamps
Branson, MO 65616
(417) 266-3284
jay@kanakuk.com
http://insidekanakuk.com

For Immediate Release

Statement for Attribution to Andy Braner
President
Kanakuk Colorado, Bayfield CO

Bayfield, CO – July 14, 2009 – Kanakuk Colorado today released the following update regarding a recent outbreak of campers contracting a flu-like illness.

“Yesterday, Kanakuk Colorado reported to the San Juan Basin (LaPlata County) Health Department that at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon 2 campers presented to the Health Center at the camp with mild fever, and scratchy throats. Within 30 minutes these campers had been isolated from the camp population and evaluated by the on-site Health Care staff. Per our protocol, we immediately began the process of sending those campers home. As of Tuesday afternoon, the total number of ill at camp was 68, which included 19 staff.

“By Sunday night at 11:00 p.m. approximately 45 additional campers had presented to the camp Health Center displaying similar symptoms. Because the health and safety of our campers is of top priority to us, we isolated the ill campers and contacted their guardians to arrange for their return home. Additionally, we contacted the San Juan Basin Health Department first thing Monday morning to apprise them of the situation.

“We will continue to work with local and state officials to ensure that we are doing everything we can to isolate the illness and protect the health of our campers who will be joining us throughout the summer.

“The officials at the San Juan Basin Health Department have been extremely helpful in confirming our protocols and sharing in our decision to remain open. We are looking forward to working with them throughout the rest of the summer. And, are assisting them with additional viral identification tests.

“All new incoming campers attending our current session were screened prior to arrival. All parents were required to fill out an additional health questionnaire and campers were tested for fever. Campers with flu-like symptoms, fever or known exposure to others with influenza have not and will not be allowed into the camp.

“The current term is scheduled to end on July 19th. In between groups of campers additional precautionary measures will be taken to thoroughly sanitize our facilities and to assure the health of our incoming campers and camp staff. Kanakuk Colorado will start Term 5 as regularly scheduled on July 19th.

“In addition, we will continue to be vigilant in our efforts to detect and isolate any campers with flu-like systems. Our influenza protocol at Kanakuk Colorado includes: immediate isolation of campers with flu-like symptoms, personal care and screening by physicians and nurses, and parental contact. Campers with a fever of 100.5 or greater will be sent home.

“We believe that the swift and aggressive actions we have taken will help ensure that the Kampers who will be joining us for the rest of the season will be able to enjoy our summer tradition of providing an ‘Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics.”

Kanakuk Colorado has been located in Bayfield since 2000 and each year many families make this premiere camp a summer tradition. Kanakuk Ministries is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) that provides children from all over the world with an “Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics.” There are 8 Kanakuk Kamps facilities in Missouri and Colorado that serve over 13,000 kids each summer. Extensive information about the Kamps is available at www.kanakuk.com. For the 2010 camping season this camp will be named KIVU and be its own 501 (c) 3. For more information go to www.campkivu.com.

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Web Error You May Be Getting

Hit continue if you see this temporary error at Kanakuk.com.

FYI – When individuals try to login to Kanakuk or visit a secure page they may receive an error. It’s not a very fun error, either.

[edited]We have asked our Network Engineer here at Kanakuk if he would be willing to help us with our problem, and hopefully with his expertise on the job we can get it fixed soon.

It will affect Internet Explorer 8.0; Mozilla Firefox 3.5, and Safari 4 users. Which is a lot of you, so hang in there. It's OK to hit continue on this screen and everything should work fine from there.

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Kanakuk Kamps Health Update

The following email was sent to Kanakuk Families today. Kanakuk Colorado families in Terms 4, 5 and 6 will be getting separate more detailed information. Just keeping you informed.

Dear Kanakuk Family,

What an amazing summer! An army of journalists couldn’t begin to tell the stories of God’s blessing here this summer! Thank you for sharing this summer experience with us.

As you know we have had our first bout ever of “summer flu” at Kanakuk as have most other camps across the country. This continues to be the case for Kanakuk, but our Missouri Kamps have shown improvement. Some Kanakuk Kamps continue to have little or no illness. Other Kamps are still experiencing Kampers with flu-like symptoms in relatively small numbers. However, this two-week term, our Kamp in Colorado is having significant issues with influenza. Jamie Jo and Andy Braner, the Directors, are working with the LaPlata County Health Department to manage their situation.

Here in Missouri, we continue to work hand-in-hand with Stone County, Taney County, and the State Health Departments. They have encouraged us to continue the process and procedures we have implemented this year to deal with this unique situation. We have over 2000 Kamper’s in our Missouri Kamps that are enjoying a life-changing summer. Because of our new sanitization protocol only thirty of our Missouri Kampers (about 1.5%) have had to go home this term because of flu-like symptoms.

On July 19th, all our Kampers at all Kamps will go home and a new group of pre-screened Kampers will arrive! We will again have every new Kamper participate in the pre-Kamp screening program. Please make sure you have the Health Check Questionnaire completed and sent along with your Kamper. If your Kamper has a fever, is otherwise ill, or has been exposed to the flu or any other contagious disease in recent days please keep them home. We will work with you to arrange a late arrival or enroll in a later term.

Your response to this situation has been very encouraging. Many families have called in or emailed to express support and love for this place, and are continuing to pray for us. The support has been overwhelming. Some families have contacted us with questions and or concerns. We encourage you to continue to communicate. We are here to help assist you any way we can. We are so grateful to have parents like you!

As always your child’s health and safety is our number one priority and we are doing everything that we can to help your child have an “Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics”.

Blessings,

Doug Goodwin
Chief Operating Officer
Kanakuk Ministries

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Sunday Health Update

The following email was sent to our Kamp families on Sunday afternoon.

Dear Kamp Family,

God is big and despite the fact that the seasonal influenza is all over the country, Kanakuk is doing well. This past two-week term we continued to experience Kampers in small numbers who come to some of our health centers with temperatures and, as per our new protocol, we are separating them and sending them home with their parents. Those departures are difficult moments for us, as it’s a chance slipping away to minister to your family.

To put it in perspective, we have had over 2250 kids and 800 staff at our Kamps this past two weeks and to date we have sent 48 kids home. Some of our Kamps have had no issues and less than 2% of Kampers overall have had to go home.”

Unfortunately, we are finding out that some of the Kampers that have been sent home do not have the flu. However, we are still being advised that the best way to handle the influenza this year is to be on the safe side and send anyone who has flu-like symptoms home. Again, we are blessed that this influenza is relatively mild and the kids are recovering well from its symptoms.

Most of our Kamps will change over tomorrow and we will continue to be vigilant with our pre-screening program. Our new pre-screening program Kamp-wide is working well and we will continue to do this all summer long. Please help us by keeping your child at home if they have fever or are sick. If they have been sick we need to know that as well. This will help our program run smoothly and allow us to do what we do best…minister to and encourage your kids.

Dr. Mike Johnson, Chief of Medicine, Infectious Disease Specialist at Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville in Charlotte, NC, who was a guest with his family at Family Kamp this week commented during his stay, “You have done more than most health systems. I’m here with my family and I am impressed with how you are handling things.”

Dr. Stacy Furlow, Chief of Pediatrics for Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville, AR, and volunteer Kamp physician stated, “This is the summer influenza going around this year. Fortunately, it is a mild version, but it’s the flu this season. Kanakuk is handling this situation very well.”

Their sentiment and technical advice, and the continuing support of the state and local health officials have given us great confidence in our ongoing efforts to provide a safe environment for Kampers. There are six weeks of summer left! Those of you preparing to arrive may have received or will receive an email before your term that gives you more information about the pre-Kamp screening process. Thanks for your support in helping us keep Kamp healthy.

Please be encouraged that the health and safety of your children is and always will be a top priority at Kanakuk Kamps, and we hope we have proved this once more by the manner in which we have handled this situation. The positive response and feedback we have received from so many parents is a great blessing to us.

For ongoing information please visit: www.insidekanakuk.com.

Blessings,
Doug Goodwin
Chief Operating Officer
Kanakuk Ministries

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The Marketing Department Celebrates the Fourth of July

A typically loquacious group was eerily quite moments after our graphic designer Heidi brought in the desserts depicted above. The plate of cream cheese filled strawberries covered with almonds and the flag cake were quickly disturbed after these photos were taken. I will admit I had three of the strawberries and am thinking about a 4th and 5th. Thank you Heidi!

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An Overwhelming Response regarding H1N1 News

Off the subject: A sneak peak at some artwork for a new online game.

I'm having to pick through my inbox carefully to find the emails from parents with questions and concerns about the H1N1 situation we had during the second two weeks of the summer. There are so many of the responses to our emails that go like:

• THANK YOU!!! Amazing job!
• Thanks so much. And thank you for all you are all doing to ensure excellent communication on the flu challenges at hand. Extremely professional and communicative.
• I have a K-West staffer and K-2 kamper coming down next week. Although neither is totally packed, they're both ready to be at Kanakuk. You guys are terrific in every way. Thanks for everything you do. And remember that where Christ is strongest, the enemy hits hardest
• Thank you for your aggressive handling of this medical concern. I, as a
  Kanakuk parent of a currently attending child, appreciate the precautionary
  steps you are taking to keep this flu under control.
• Thank you as we were concerned. We appreciate the update. John is excited to arrive at K-1 for Term 4 on July 7. We will double check all the health documents. - Best regards
• Really appreciate the update. Know you are probably in "crisis mode" and busy - but just wanted to reaffirm our faith that Kanakuk will handle this right and in the children's best interest.
• Bless you for doing such a thorough and thoughtful job of taking care
  of our kids - they love Kanakuk so much!

That was just a sampling, seven emails/msgs in a row out of my inbox. One of those was an email copy of a comment on my blog at www.insidekanakuk.com. It has become a pleasure to hear an email arrive on my phone, knowing that it's a good word from you. Now, here's the problem and what makes this a little overwhelming.

I'm getting some of the messages on my voice mail, and so many of them are supportive but some of them are questions. Some of the question ones are hard to hear, between wind noise or bad cell phone coverage, I can't make out a phone number or a Kamper name and I'm unable to call them back. It drives me crazy to think that a Kamp family is out there thinking that I'll call back and don't! I want to! So, if you have called me or Kanakuk and we haven't called you back please call again. The best number during the week is 417-266-3000. Talk to one of the registrars or ask to be transfered to me. We want to help.

The summer is going so fast. I can't wait for you to see some of the great photos, and amazing video work that we are doing.

Hope you have a great evening. I'm going to take an evening off, see a movie with my wife and squeeze the kids!

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Keeping Kanakuk Kamps Clean Summer 2009

K-West is healthy! And they should be. Ward and his staff have done exemplary work in educating their Kampers and Staff on proper hygiene, and have set the bar for the whole world on cleaning. Below is the new water bottle policy, drafted at K-West after a doctor agreed that twice a week was plenty as long as there was no sharing.
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Cleaning Water Bottles at K-West:

Every Wednesday and Sunday: (* Each bottle and lid must be marked with a name to be washed!)

Breakfast: Cabins 1-4
Lunch: Cabins 5-8
Dinner: Cabins 9-12

Protocol:
There will be flats in the kitchen by the wash sink where the counselors from each cabin will bring the kamper and staff water bottles at the beginning of the meal. The kitchen staff will send them through Hobie and then place the flats back on the counter for the counselors to retrieve all the bottles and distribute before the end of the meal. Please only wash your bottles at the meal time scheduled for your cabin. - Thanks so much!!!

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K-West has also created the most detailed cleaning check list (creatively titled "Mr. Disinfection 2009).

Here is just a sampling (it's 10 pages long and covers every area of the entire Kamp):

DOCK

• All Ski Equipment (skis, boards, skates, etc.)
• Fishing poles, rods, supplies
• All equipment in boats (keys, steering wheel, buttons, throttles, handles, ladders, ski rope handles, the thing you hook the ski rope to, tie downs)
• Ladders (handles, steps, etc.)
• ....

KAMPOUT

• Mattresses (front/back, edges)
• Tents, floor, zippers, etc.)
• Benches, serving table, grill

MAIN OFFICE

• Porch: poles, clipboards, outside windowsills and windows, door, door handle, railings, rope for bell.
• Trash Cans
• Phones
• Fax Machine
• Clock, weather radio, lightening meter
• Mailboxes
• Papercutter
• All light switches

The list goes on and on. There are 10 items for the inside of vehicles! 34 for the pool area!

Way to go K-West for being so detailed and diligent. Now, the place I've always said is the most hospitable and home-like to visit is also the cleanest!

I was talking to Dr. Mike Johnson, Chief of Medicine at CMC Pineville in North Carolina, and Infectious Disease Specialist, over at the Family Kamp and he helped me feel comfortable that we were doing the right thing when he said, “I can’t see any reason in the world to close down a camp. You have done more in the way of precautions than any health system in the world.” Dr. Mike went on to say that, “parents need to understand that H1N1 is all around us and is generally very mild. They [parents] should be no more concerned about their child getting H1N1 than they are about them getting pinkeye. I’m here at Kanakuk Kamps with my family, including small children, and feel perfectly safe!”

Dr. Mike also explained that the virus only survives for "minutes to hours" on surfaces and that the hotter and drier it is, the shorter the survival time.

I'm learning lots of fun stuff about viruses. I used to be a paramedic and there's still a little bit of me that's interested in medicine. Honestly, I wish I was learning about muscle fatigue and heat exhaustion. I may get a chance to do just that if I spend another day chasing the, fast walking, fast talking, doesn't like "parking close", Health Services Director :-) Is that part of the fitness program?

Just realized this is a long post. More tomorrow.



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Term 6 Kampers prepare for Kamp

We just sent out the informational email to Term 6, 7-Day Kampers about the new Pre-screening process. It includes the new Health Check Questionnaire that Kampers must now bring with them to their bus loading or Kamp drop-off spot.

Those Kampers are packing their trunks and putting together their final party costumes, anxiously awaiting the fun and excitement of summer camp to begin.

The information from Friday and the weekend is still slowly trickling out to the media, but Kanakuk has no new positive H1N1 tests. We still have children who have fevers, but with nearly 2000 kids here at any one time we always do have some.

Things are going great here and in so many ways this is turning into one of the most amazing summers we've ever had. God is so good!

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My Favorite Response to the Flu News!

I've said it before and will probably be moved to say it again before I go to sleep tonight, but we have the best parents in our Kanakuk family! You send your kids to Kanakuk, you trust us to protect them, endorse the values of your family, and show them the love of Christ. We enjoy the opportunity and often pinch ourselves to make sure it's all real. And then sometimes we hear from you and just laugh. This is an email from a Kamp family and my favorite response to all this flu news:

Thank you for your rational, professional approach to this situation.

As a physician's family, we urge our children to keep their fingers out of their noses and mouths unless they are freshly washed or have a tissue. Although fingers are really handy tools ,it is medically prudent to strive to avoid "planting" things. Perhaps counselors can lend a voice to breaking nail-biting and nasal-mining habits as part of your "keep your body ready for action" health move. Things seem to "take" when a counselor introduced a concept parents have already "planted."

Thank you guys for all you do!

WEll written and great suggestion and it definitely got passed on to all our Directors. Next we can work on getting all our children to change their socks!

It sure is great being on the same team with all of you. Have a great rest of your Saturday!


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Pre-Kamp Screening process Information

Just wanted to let you know that the following email is getting ready to go out to the next session of Kampers:

Dear Kamp Family,

Your child’s Kamp term is right around the corner. We can’t wait for them to arrive!

We communicated with you in an email on June 26th about the influenza issues we have had in previous terms this summer. This email will give you further details on our new pre-Kamp influenza screening policy. While its not fool proof, we feel it will help us control some illnesses getting into Kamp. It seems to have worked well for this current term. Here’s a quick reminder of how this preventative screening will work.

Before Kampers board one of our Kanakuk Chaperoned charter buses, board a Kanakuk bus at an airport, or are dropped off by their parent’s at a Kamp they will:

1. Be required to submit a completed Health Check Questionnaire signed by a parent or legal guardian. Download the Questionnaire here.
2. Have their temperature taken. (If a Kamper has a temp of 100.5, they are not admitted to Kamp.

Any Kampers who do arrive at the airports and don’t pass the screening will be cared for by Kanakuk personnel and their parents contacted to provide their Kamper private transportation home.

It’s a simple and quick process! With your help this becomes one of the most important steps in our effort to assure a safe environment for everyone.

Our Kamp-wide influenza protocol going forward involves immediate separation of Kampers with flu-like symptoms, personal care and screening by on-site medical professionals, parental contact and testing for Influenza Type A. If the Type A quick test comes back positive, then Kampers are sent home with their parents. We are also pursuing an aggressive cleaning regimen and educating staff and Kampers on the proper use of water bottles and other personal items.

To speed up the screening process for your child’s arrival, please download the required Health Check Questionnaire from the link below or find it when you login to www.mykanakuk.com. We also pasted it at the bottom of this email for your convenience. It will need to come with your child!

Download Health Check Questionnaire

Thank you for your understanding and patience, we appreciate your support!

Blessings,
Doug Goodwin
Chief Operating Officer
Kanakuk Ministries


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9:49 - Thanks for the encouragement

At 9:49 I responded to a Kamp Dad who's in the "Biz", a PR guy at a university. He's my friend on FB and sent a message of encouragement and advice as someone who just recently dealt with this issue at his job. Here's my response:

Huge to get your message and know that you've been down this path and understand! I really appreciate it. Good advice. We have been using some things but can probably strengthen the nationwide/mild summer version thing up so it's more clear. [We really are hearing from many sources that this milder summer version of H1N1 is being experienced in much of the country] Good to know it helped you. We have such a great team here. The transportation team is on their light days between changeovers but volunteered to come in and manage the individual email responses and phone calls for our Health Service Director. My team is in prepping for the next communications and from Joe White down we are all monitoring the health and response of the Kamps as they are on the front lines of the cleaning, etc. I've been very impressed by the leadership's quick and aggressive decisions and the transparency of information to our parents was never in question. Thanks again for the encouragement.

Many others of you have written encouraging emails praising our response and telling us you are praying for a healthy summer, they are all read with respect and a great deal of humbleness and appreciation.

We had a brief time of prayer this morning before we began our work for the day, comforted that that God is with us. Things are going so well. Kampers are having a blast.

This morning the team took a moment to make sure that we had everyone in the absolute right spots to make it a great day of serving and being efficient. Being diligent and watchful as if all these Kampers were our own kids (and some of them have been!)

All photos from yesterday's Kamp activity should be posted sometime around noon (for those Kampers here right now), but I know some of them are up already. There will be literally thousands of visitors to the website today to view the photos.

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Keeping You Current

Good Morning! A team of us are assembling at Kanakuk this morning including Doug Goodwin, Chief Operating Officer for Kanakuk Ministries, to assure that you have the most current and correct information.

As I drove in, wild turkey and K-1 staff were out for their morning runs. I've opened my window so I can here the Leadership staff wake the Kampers in the fun way they do. And before I leave today the sound of kids chanting and the K-Kountry and K-1 ziplines will no doubt make it through the window as well.

If you are wondering about our pre-Kamp screening process we will be sending an email out to Kampers prior to the start of their term so that you can have the details and download a copy of the Health Check Questionnaire.

More soon.
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What's happening at Kanakuk Kamps

It's late and I'm headed to bed for a few hours. Just wanted to give you some insight into what's happening here at Kanakuk.

Some of the best friends in the world have been huddled around the table today in unity, working hard to communicate with parents, health department officials, the media, and most importantly doing everything we can to keep the Kamper's and staff safe and having fun. I think the fun part for me is getting feedback from parents like:

We truly appreciate the concern and care you have expressed and the diligence you have taken to handle this situation. Many thanks and prayers for good health at all Kamps.

We really appreciate the professional way you have handled this and that you have kept us informed.

And the many others. We really do have the greatest families in the world that support us!

Coming up tomorrow:

For Kampers arriving next week, an email that delivers the Health Check Questionnaire and the details of our pre-Kamp screening.
More communication with K-West families.

Goodnight!

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Kanakuk Kamps Statement Regarding H1N1 Test Results

Press Contact:
Jay Holden
Marketing Director
Kanakuk Kamps
Branson, MO 65616
(417) 266-3284
jay@kanakuk.com
http://www.insidekanakuk.com

For Immediate Release

Statement for Attribution to Doug Goodwin
Chief Operating Officer
Kanakuk Ministries, Branson Missouri

Branson, MO — June 26, 2009 — Kanakuk Kamps today released the following update on the State Health Department’s results of the H1N1 test results from their Kampers.

“Today, Stone County health officials and Kanakuk Kamps received word that five Kampers tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Each of these cases was isolated to one of Kanakuk’s eight Kamps.

“Because the health and safety of our Kampers is of top priority to us, these Kampers had already been sent home as a precautionary measure. The flu-like symptoms they have been experiencing are relatively mild and include sore throats and fevers, and usually pass within 72 hours.

“We will continue to work with local and state officials to ensure that we are doing everything we can to isolate the flu and protect the health of our Kampers who will be joining us throughout the summer.

“On Thursday, June 25, the session in which the virus was detected, ended as was regularly scheduled. Between sessions, we took additional precautionary measures to clean and disinfect our facilities.

“All new incoming Kampers attending our current session were screened prior to arrival. All parents were required to fill out an additional health questionnaire and Kampers were tested for fever. Kampers with flu-like symptoms, fever or known exposure to others with influenza have not and will not be allowed into the Kamps.

“In addition, we will continue to be vigilant in our efforts to detect and isolate any Kampers with flu-like systems. Our H1N1 protocol at all eight of the Kanakuk Kamps now include: immediate isolation of Kampers with flu-like symptoms, personal care and screening by physicians and nurses, parental contact and testing for Influenza A. If the test comes back positive, Kampers are then sent home.

“We believe that the swift and aggressive actions we have taken will help ensure that the Kampers who will be joining us for the rest of the season will be able to enjoy our summer tradition of providing an ‘Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics.”


Kanakuk Kamps has been located in Branson since 1926 and each year many families make this premiere camp a summer tradition. Kanakuk Ministries is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) that provides children from all over the world with an “Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics.” There are 8 Kanakuk Kamps facilities in Missouri and Colorado that serve over 13,000 kids each summer. Extensive information about the Kamps is available at www.kanakuk.com

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Kanakuk Kamps Takes Quick Action on Flu

The following press release was sent to local and regional media outlets on Thursday in an attempt to clear up some of the mis-information being reported and to create another avenue for our Kamp Families to hear our official stand on the flu. We have communicated with all the Kamp Families at the impacted Kamps and even this morning are preparing an email to go out to all Kamp families here right now and yet to arrive this summer. We are waiting for the test results to come back from Jefferson City and as of 8:50am 6-26 have not heard from them. When we do I will release another statement. I have been super impressed with the response of our Health Services Director Linda Zimmer. We are so blessed to have a staff of medical professionals, not only full-time employees but the many, many summer employees, and volunteer physicians who are here 24 hours a day all summer long.

---------------------------------

Press Contact: Jay Holden
Marketing Director
Kanakuk Kamps
Branson, MO 65616
(417) 266-3284
jay@kanakuk.com
http://insidekanakuk.com

For Release on June 25, 2009

Kanakuk Kamps Takes Quick Action on Flu

During the last two-week session at Kanakuk Kamps, in two of their eight Kamps, Kampers came to their respective Health Center with mild flu-like symptoms, fever and sore throat. At K-West enough Kampers presented with these symptoms that quick action was taken to isolate and begin the process of testing for type A influenza. Within hours those positive test results were shared with State Health officials and contact made with local county health officials in Stone and Taney County. Fourteen Kampers tested positive and were sent home from Kamp. At the K-Kountry facility four Kampers tested positive and were sent home. All influenza cases have been taken home by their parents and not via public transportation.

“We have prepared for this and are not experiencing anything more than we have in summers past. However, with the heightened concern this year regarding influenza, we are taking this very seriously and have tested people with symptoms for Type A influenza. At this time, we have no confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus.” Says Doug Goodwin, Chief Operating Officer for Kanakuk Ministries. As requested by the health officials, random test samples have been sent off to the State health lab to clarify whether or not these cases are indeed the H1N1 virus. Test results are expected back late Thursday or possibly Friday.

Kanakuk is working hand-in-hand with local and state health officials and they have approved our protocols which are consistent with the CDC. Government health officials have indicated they are supportive of Kanakuk continuing to operate all of its facilities.

Ongoing protocol at all 8 of the Kanakuk Kamps includes: immediate isolation of Kampers with flu-like symptoms, personal care and screening by on-site medical professionals, parental contact, and testing for Influenza A. If the test comes back positive, then Kampers are sent home. This protocol is being followed as quickly as possible by teams of medical professionals at each Kamp.

In addition, Kanakuk is immediately implementing a pre-Kamp screening program. “It is not fool-proof,” says Goodwin, “but, we believe it will help us keep many illnesses out of Kamp.” Kanakuk will be conducting pre-boarding bus screening, screening of those who have flown to Kamp as well as screening everyone who is individually dropped off at Kamp. Kampers with flu-like symptoms, fever, or known exposure to others with influenza will not be allowed into the camps.

In its 84-year history, Kanakuk has been blessed with a remarkable Kamper health and safety record. Kanakuk has experienced many things and done their best to handle them appropriately. This year is no exception and Kanakuk has gone above and beyond to assure illness doesn’t stop the incredible impact of summer camping.

Kanakuk Kamps has been located in Branson since 1926 and each year many families make this premiere camp a summer tradition. Kanakuk Ministries is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) that provides children from all over the world with an “Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics.” There are 8 Kanakuk Kamps facilities in Missouri and Colorado that serve over 13,000 kids each summer. Extensive information about the camps is available at www.kanakuk.com.

####

Appropriate supporting photos and additional interview opportunities can be requested from the contact above.



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Photo Update and Thank you

Things have improved much since the beginning of the summer and most Kamp families are successfully viewing photos and finding their happy Kampers. At the same time we continue to have some issues with the timing of the galleries displaying photos. This is a problem on our end with the way our photography application sync's the photos with SmugMug. It's quite complicated because we are uploading hundreds and hundreds of photos every day and they have to get into the right galleries in addition to being approved by our photo supervisors.

There was a problem with the K-Seven photo galleries for a couple of days, but as of this morning they were working again. It is helpful to have people let us know when there are missing photos. It has been difficult to give personal attention to each and every email and message. Sorry about that, but I assure you we look into every situation and work hard to remedy quickly. We also are taking all feedback and suggestions, compiling them so that we can be better next summer.

So many parents have added notes to their emails or said things when they call to encourage our team as many are putting in long hours and trying to think creatively about making the system better. Thank you for the kind words!

A new term starts tomorrow and some of the photographers will be new. They are receiving additional training over the next couple of days and are ready to get started snapping those pictures. There goal is to get a minimum of 100 "good" photos each day and to have them posted and approved by Noon the next day. Many times this occurs earlier than that and sometimes it takes a little longer. I know it is so fun to see your Kampers, we have fun looking at the pictures too! It really is a labor of love to provide them.

If you are on your way to Kamp we can't wait for you to get here!
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Why did Kanakuk switch to SmugMug?

Daily photos have been a popular feature of the Kanakuk website. While not all the reasons are listed here there was one main event that started us down this road. Our hardware that printed photos was broken, outdated and unserviceable. Replacing it with the equipment to truly serve our needs was very costly. The decision was made to try and outsource the photo printing and at the same time raise the level of features and options available to our Kamp families. Despite some early glitches SmugMug was and still may be the best solution for this. Our intentions are to complete the summer of 2009 with SmugMug as the third party photo processor for Kamper photos. At the end of the summer we will analyze the service and consider staying with SmugMug or move toward another solution.

Daily photos are typically getting through the approval process by approximately Noon the day after they are taken. Cabin and individual photos are being worked on and progress was made today in getting them posted as well.

Thanks for your patience in all this.

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Action Photos Online for all Kamps!

Shane just emailed me to say that the ALL the Kamps have their action photos uploaded and approved. So K-Seven, K-West and Kanakuk Colorado should now be available in addition to the others that made it earlier.

Log in to www.mykanakuk.com choose a Kamper and the Kamp and Term they are attending. Then click on the photo link and that should take you to the photo galleries.

Keep me posted. I'll do the same.

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Photos now uploading!!

As of just a few minutes ago photos for the following Kamps were uploaded, viewable and current through yesterday's photos:

K-1
K-2
K-Kountry
Kanakuk Golf Kamp (small number)

As of this post at 7:35 CST (6/15/09) photos for the following Kamps are still uploading and waiting approval:

K-West
K-Seven
Kanakuk Colorado

I just got off the phone with the guys doing the approving and monitoring the uploads and they indicated that the process was going smoothly and it should just be a matter of time.

Please, if anyone from the first list of Kamps has problems viewing photos for 6/12 - 6/14 leave a comment here so I can be alerted to any new developments.

Prayerfully, smooth sailing from here!

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Photo Issue Update

Just a had a great meeting with our team. During the meeting the programming team had some success getting the 3rd party photo processor (SmugMug) to work and I believe that right now the Kamps are uploading their photos. It will take some time this evening for the many photos to be reviewed and approved. As soon as they are approved, parents will be able to view them. We are still holding our breath that the "fix" will be permanent, but for now things are looking up. Knowing how long it takes to upload and approve all the Kamps photos, my advice to parents at this point would be to plan on trying to view photos in the morning. They may start showing up tonight, but they may not all be available.

Many back-up options were discussed in the meeting and progress will be made on finalizing which is the best option in the next few days.

I'm going to post this and go check on the approval process. I'll keep you posted.

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Photo Issue Update

Quick photo update:

Three teams inside Kanakuk are working on the photo issues:

1. Computer Services
2. Marketing
3. Photography

A team meeting is planned now for 3:00 CST to further assess the options. The goal is to have a solid solution to execute on by the end of the day. The fastest, safest route that we feel we can guarantee will be chosen and resources will be applied in an effort to get photos back up.

Again, photos are being taken and stored for future display.

Stay tuned. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience. Being a Kamp parent, I know how important and fun it is to see photos of your Kampers.

Thanks again to all who have given us feedback on this. It's good to know so many people care enough about Kanakuk to help us get better.


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Photo and Email issues

Parents and friends of Kanakuk,

Just a quick post to let you know that we are aggressively pursuing the problems with missing Kamper photos for the Dates 6-12-09 forward. There are many people actively working on these issues and we meet at 3:30 to get a status and see what more can be done.

We are also making the appropriate changes necessary for the Kamper emails price to go back to $.65. The proceeds from those Kamper emails go towards supporting teachers in Haiti, and feeding the students in mission run schools that Kanakuk supports. Kampers are receiving the emails and enjoy hearing from parents. If you've experienced any trouble with photos or emails we appologize and are working hard to get things back to normal.

If you would like to share your feedback on these items please feel free to email me jay(at)kanakuk.com and I will direct it to the appropriate people. As much as possible I will update this blog.

Thank you for your patience.

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Special Video for K-1 Kampers

Dream Airlines Flight Rules Video

During a summer at Kanakuk Kamps, Kampers experience so much that parents and friends never see and can never really understand. One of those things is all the crazy "programs stuff" that the leadership teams put together. This video was put together at K-1 with the help of Tim Oliphant and his crew. This video is to educate the Kampers on the rules while they are in the Gym for K-Life.

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Hidden Gems of the Ozarks #1

This summer I'm going to run a series of posts that highlight some of the Hidden Gems of the Ozarks, those people, places and things you just shouldn't miss when you drop off or pick-up your child from Kamp this summer. So here is #1 and perhaps the tastiest!

#1 Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Shake at Dairyland

It seems that everywhere you travel that in some small town there is a generic "Dairyland" well the Ozarks is no exception. Kanakuk families traveling back and forth along 86 Highway to the Lampe Kamps have probably seen this Dairyland. There's nothing special about the building, matter of fact the last coat of paint didn't even help that much, but inside they make a Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Shake (or malt) that is as rich and creamy as they come. The peanut butter clings to the side of the cup. Everyone who eats one knows this because when the straw starts making that empty sucking sound you open the lid to make sure there isn't just a little more. So stop in and have a burger if you want, but don't miss this hidden gem. Happy sipping!

Tell 'em "Kanakuk sent me!" They'll be surprised.

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Kanakuk's K-1 "K-Dome" Getting a Makeover #2

There's progress being made on the K-1 K-Dome makeover. As you can see in the photos the new wall structures are starting to take shape atop all new concrete footers. You might also notice the absence of the colorful murals that have been along the back wall of the K-Dome for many years. Those have been moved to storage with plans to put them back on display. The new location for those has not been determined, but they will maintain their place in the atmosphere of K-1!

Enjoy the day! Does this time of the year give you chills, like it does me? I just can't wait for summer to get here. There is just something about that first bus full of Kampers that rolls into the parking lot right outside my window. It's bigger than the start of football season, it's like 5000 men praising God at a Men at the Cross event. It just feels right. I don't see many of their faces (until I look through the 100,000+ photos) but I feel their hearts begin to beat long before I hear the grind of the bus engine up that last hill. It's electric!

To Kelley - I'm so glad you are going to be a part of it!

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New Employee Announcement - Jeff Wiskur

DATE: December 10, 2008

TO: Kanakuk Kamps

FROM: Human Resources Department


SUBJECT: New Employee Announcement

Please welcome Jeffrey (Jeff) Wiskur, CPA to the Accounting Department.

Jeff will be working as Manager of Finance.

Jeff and his family live in Springfield, MO. Jeff graduated from Missouri State University with a B.S. degree in accounting. Before joining Kanakuk, Jeff worked in public accounting, where he has more than 17 years of audit and consulting experience - mostly with KPM, Kanakuk’s accounting firm.

Jeff has been married to his wife (and high school sweetheart) Lisa for over 22 years and together they have 4 children: Julie (17), Katie (16), Eric (12), and Stephanie (4).

As a child, Jeff was a Kamper at Kanakuk Kamps and his children have attended Kanakuk. Jeff’s father created the stained-glass windows in the chapel and painted the mural at the K-1 K-Dome.


New Hire Announcement Written by: Julie Coxie, SPHR, Human Resources Director, Kanakuk Kamps

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Why Big Brands Struggle With Social Media

Why Big Brands Struggle With Social Media

This was a good article I thought people might find valuable. Sorry for the straight-up, rehash of someone elses content! I'll do it so infrequently, I promise.

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Contextual Expression Mark

New punctuation for the English language.

It’s more classy than an emoticon and sexier than an apostrophe, it’s the...

“contextual expression” mark.

It bridges the gap between a period and and exclamation mark. And, who doesn’t need that? Look at it's perfect form as it bends to the pressure of being not quite ready to be completely excited. How often have you written that line in an email or text message that just does not deserve a period, but can't muster up the sheer joy of an "exclamation mark"? This has been too long in coming. This new mark would not have been had Craig from Matchstic not voiced the yearning we all have had.

This "contextual expression" demands that the reader take the preceding statement in context of the entire message, your personality, current economic conditions, and general disposition of all previous communications. Then, and only afterward, apply the appropriate amount of "woohoo" to it.

Kanakuk Kamps will not have a use for this new mark and is considering banning the period and replacing it with "!". The excitement of summer camp deserves it.

The Contextual Expression mark, coming on all new keyboards beginning April 1st, 2009.

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What I wish my gymnastics parents would say on meet day…

What I wish my gymnastics parents would say on meet day…

Kat Hilton, Kanakuk Kamps Counselor, ’03-’05 LSU Gymnast

I recently took the opportunity to advertise Kanakuk Kamps on the back of the program for the Illinois State Level 5 Gymnastics event being held April 3rd and 4th in East Peoria, IL. It didn't cost a lot and felt like a great opportunity to share Kanakuk with a new group of families. It also felt like a neat opportunity for ministry as well. I recruited Kat Hilton, a Kanakuk Institute student, Kanakuk photographer/counselor, and former LSU gymnast to help me draft an article specifically for gymnastics parents entitled, "What I wish my mom and dad would say on meet day…". You can see it below. Then following are some of Kat's gymnastics accomplishments. It's kind of a neat story.

The Article----

Growing up in competitive gymnastics, competing for Louisiana State University (LSU), and now training high level gymnasts as a coach at Kanakuk Kamps, I know what the words; pressure, determination, and perseverance mean. My life as a gymnast has defined them.

Your gymnast daughters are unique. They live in a world few will ever understand. Commitment and desire run deep, driving them to achieve, accomplish, and succeed in this highly physical and mental sport!

The support and encouragement of my teammates, coaches and especially my parents allowed me to walk on at LSU and be a first place winner.

As a gymnastics parent you may never understand the pressures, intensity, joy, and passion that your gymnast encounters, but the encouragement you share today can make all the difference.

You’ve supported her all the way and here’s what she’d want you to say today…

• No matter what, I’m proud of you.
• You’ve got this!
• I love to see you chasing your dreams.
• I still love you, No matter what.
• I’m so excited for you!
• You’ve worked so hard for this! Enjoy it!
• No regrets! Give it all you’ve got!
• I love you!
• I’m so excited to see you compete!
• Your effort inspires me, I’m proud of you.
• Remember to just have fun.
• You are doing awesome!

…and remember, it’s not the score that matters, only that they gave their all. Gymnastics parents alway stay positive. Hugs and little notes of affirmation in their gym bags are always a great way to let them know you are behind them.
-----

Kat Hilton's story (in her own brief words)

"I was actually a walk on and I had to fight to get on the team.. my head coach at LSU didn't think I would make it. God had a different plan. I won my first meet for LSU..."

The rest of Kat's story is chronicled here:

SOPHOMORE SEASON (2003)
A walk-on that worked her way into the Tigers' bar lineup ... Had a phenomenal collegiate debut against Denver, scoring a 9.925 on the bars to win the event title ... Her score ranked as the second-best by a Tiger on the bars in 2003 ... Scored a 9.800 against Florida. Recorded a 9.875 on the bars at the SEC Championships ... Matched that mark a week later at the NCAA West Regionals.

JUNIOR SEASON (2004)
Competed on the bars in eight meets for the Tigers ... Scored a season-best 9.900 against Texas Woman's and Arizona ... Notched a 9.875 at the NCAA Central Regional Championships ... Posted a 9.850 at the NCAA Championships ... Opened the season with a 9.850 at Michigan State ... Finished the year with a season average of 9.750 on the event.



SENIOR SEASON (2005)
A bar specialist for the Tigers, she competed on the event in seven meets in 2005 ... Won the bars title in the Tigers' quad meet with Illinois-Chicago, New Hampshire and Western Michigan, scoring a season-high 9.875 ... Title marked the third of her career on the event ... Notched a 9.825 at Ohio State ... Scored a 9.800 at both Kentucky and Auburn ... Averaged a 9.796 over the course of the season ... A member of the SEC Honor Roll.



Kat, thanks for sharing with us and the parents of gymnasts everywhere. In our book your gymnastics training will pay eternal dividends. You may even run a gymnastics camp or gymnastics school someday.

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Another Kanakuk Director on National TV!

The New K-Kauai Kanakuk Family Kamp Assistant Director recently took a pass from an NFL quarterback on National TV. Check it out.

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Ice makes Kanakuk Flexible

What will no doubt go down as the Ozark's ice storm of 2009 is upon us. Normally this time of day the offices of Kanakuk Ministries are buzzing with phone calls, meetings and planning for the summer. Yesterday about 3:00 the freezing rain started coming down. By the time I left the offices at 4:00 the roads were getting icy. I even took a short detour through the ditch on the way home. As of this morning it's worse, much worse. A mix of sleet and freezing rain continued all night and promises to go on all day. I'm watching the tree branches outside my window slowly bow under the pressure.

So today, Kanakuk's registration department, marketing department and many other offices are staying put at home.

We will be monitoring email and phones the best that we can. If you have registration questions please email reg@kanakuk.com and we'll get back to you.

So, in the marketing department an ice storm may keep us out of the office but not from working. There are too many fun things to get ready for summer. We are working on changes to the website, a logo for the 2009 summer theme (Dare to Dream!), and keeping all the communication flowing.

2008 term videos are on there way to Kanakuk families in the next 2-3 weeks.

Hope your family is warm and safe while here at Kanakuk we get a chance to exercise our K-Flex skills.

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What Changes are Coming to Kanakuk.com?

Jeremy our web development guru has a lot of projects on his list! Besides putting out fires here on a daily basis he's working as hard as he can to get through a bunch of this by summer. There's just one thing in his way...



This chart (meant to be somewhat humorous and a tiny :-) bit exaggerated) tells the tale of the pain and agony of web developers the world over. If everyone in the world would upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer (Wait the beta of IE 8 is so far worse than 7) or better yet upgrade to Firefox the web world would be a better place for all.

Here are some of the projects on the list of changes that are coming to kanakuk.com:
Kamp specific Kamper pages
Legit Alumni pages
Ajax based Daily Photo viewing application
new myKanakuk.com user interface
Kanakuk Resources Pages
kanakuk.com site wide search (Powered by Google)
Kanakuk Radio
Sayso Upgrade
Error handling
K-Kauai Kanakuk Family Kamp Registration process and content
New Flash Doc for Home page
Games for Kampers
Facebook Connect integration
Upgrade all Staff sections
Integrate video content from iQuestions.com
Kanakuk Blog Page

That list is in no particular order and there are lots of little things that we are working on. If you have suggestions or ideas for the Kanakuk website we would love to hear them.


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Monthly Payments Extended for Kanakuk families

Calculated monthly payments has been available for Kanakuk families for a couple of years now but not much has been said about it. Quite a few families use the option and it sure does make paying for Kamp a lot easier.

A friend of mine on twitter and a Kamp mom said: "After 8 years of coming up with mega $ on April 1 to send multiple kids to Kamp, I am loving the direct debit pymt plan! Good mktg tool too"

I took that to heart and worked hard over the Christmas break to put together a way to soften the payments even more. What I came up with was extending the payments all the way to May 1st. You can now login at www.myKanakuk.com, choose a child, choose this summers term and then click on Monthly payments. After that you just follow the steps to set-up a calculated monthly payment it defaults to adding one last payment on 5/1/09. That's 5 payments instead of 3. Could make a difference for you or for that friend who might be thinking about Kanakuk this summer. To extend the final tuition due date to May 1st you must set-up calculated monthly payments. The sooner you do it the lower the payments!

Let's be real, it doesn't take any less to provide the absolute best summer camping experience for Kanakuk kids, but we're all being just a little more careful with our money. It's a wise thing. Thanks for making the spiritual, social, & physical life of your kids a priority this summer by sending them to Kanakuk.

Side note: 2009 Summer theme has been picked. "Dare to Dream" You heard it here first.

Side note #2: Thank you for all the feedback on the new website! So much of it is positive that we feel like we are headed in the right direction. Some of you have expressed disappointments with one or more aspects and that is easily the most valuable input we could get. We are working on making improvements based on your feedback every day.

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K-1 "K-Dome" Getting a Makeover

This photo was taken during Tournament day in the 1940's on the "bottoms" at K-1. That location is just a stones throw from where the K-1 K-Dome is getting a makeover. Here are some photos of the current state of construction. Click to enlarge.

The project, which may be completed in 2 phases includes:

Phase 1 -

1. Adding air-conditioned men's and women's bathrooms
2. Adding an elevated stage between the bathrooms on the West end (closest to the Dining Hall)
3. Extending and enclosing the East side and adding bleachers for more seating

Phase 2 -

1. Enclosing the North and South walls, adding 6x8 ft roll-up doors along the walls
2. Installing sprinkler system
3. Installing Air-Conditioning to be used during closing ceremonies.

I don't know all the details on the funding for this project but with out complete funding Phase 2 will have to be done next year or later.

To make these changes to the K-Dome a special variance had to be granted because the building additions would be inside the 25 foot road set back. You might have seen the following in this Branson Daily News article.

On Wednesday, the Board of Adjustment also voted to approve a request for variance from Kanakuk Kamps. The camp owners are planning to build an addition to an existing structure that will encroach into the setback area. The variance request consisted of a 5 foot 6 inch encroachment into the setback area along Lakeshore Drive.

This project is being managed by Kanakuk Kamps' Dean Dewitt, Construction Maintenance Manager and Byron Joplin, Taney County Construction Superintendent. Those two are always making things better around here!

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