Outside With Your Kids Since 1974

Gloucester Adventure Camp

Outside with your kids since 1976...

GMS Adventure Camp fosters a sense of wonder, environmental stewardship, and critical thinking skills. The open spaces of Essex County serve as a living classroom for campers to learn, appreciate and understand the natural resources of the greater Cape Ann area.

Kids at Salt Island

GMS Camp Stocking Stuffers

Francesca

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The kids say these masks are really comfortable!

Please show your support and buy one for everyone in the family.
We have a limited supply of 6 designs so we will fill your orders on a first come, first served basis. We had 6 of our favorite Camp photos printed in the UK on organic 4.6 oz weight cotton and added an organic cotton lining. Each mask costs $15.00.

Marsh Jump Mask
Marsh Jump
Dory Row Mask
Dory Row
Technical Climb Jump Mask
Technical Climb Jump
Secret Spots Mask
Secret Spots
Black Rock Jump Mask
Black Rock Jump
Red Rock Mask
Red Rock

The masks were hand sewn by our friend from Nepal, Tsedam Sherpa. Tsedam will be donating 100% of his proceeds to support HomeAwayfromHome in his village of Namche Bazaar. Namche Bazaar is the last big village before the Mt. Everest Base camp, and it is where he houses and educates Sherpa children who have lost parents in climbing accidents over the years.

Sizing Info:
The Adult medium size will fit most kids so we have a limited quantity of child sizes available.
Order child size only if your face is very petite.
Both Mila and Jo-Anne wear Medium, and Jeff prefers the large.

Adult masks include a very comfortable safety nose wire to adjust to your face and prevent fogging of any glasses.

Please click here to order masks for your family.
Questions? Please call Jo-Anne at 978 853 7873 or send her an email.

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Science says we ALL need to wear a mask

Back to School – The Kids say these masks are really comfortable!!

Please show your support and buy one for everyone in the family!
We have a limited supply of 6 designs so we will fill your orders on a first come, first served basis. We had 6 of our favorite Camp photos printed in the UK on organic 4.6 oz weight cotton and added an organic cotton lining.

Marsh Jump Mask
Marsh Jump
Dory Row Mask
Dory Row
Technical Climb Jump Mask
Technical Climb Jump
Secret Spots Mask
Secret Spots
Black Rock Jump Mask
Black Rock Jump
Red Rock Mask
Red Rock

The masks were hand sewn by our friend from Nepal, Tsedam Sherpa. Tsedam will be donating 100% of his proceeds to support HomeAwayfromHome in his village of Namche Bazaar. Namche Bazaar is the last big village before the Mt Everest Base camp and it is where he houses and educates Sherpa children who have lost parents in climbing accidents over the years.

Thank you for your support of both GMS Adventure Camp and HomeAwayFromHome, Nepal

Sizing Info:
The Adult medium size will fit most kids so we have a limited quantity of child sizes available.
order child size only if your face is very petite.
Both Mila and Jo-Anne wear Medium, and Jeff prefers the large.

Adult masks include a very comfortable safety nose wire to adjust to your face and prevent fogging of any glasses.

Please click here to order masks for your family.
Questions? Please call Jo-Anne at 978 853 7873 or send her an email.

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Hello Adventure Camp Families 🙂

Please join us for a zoom chat today!!
Kids under 12 @ 5:30
Kids over 12 @ 6
We are still working on details with the State licensing Board – but, for now – they are not allowing kids to gather in groups to do field trips (which is what we do all day), to travel on a bus, or to go in boats together.  All our activities are currently not allowed – so, we want to chat for a bit today and see your faces 🙂
We will continue to work on virtual activities that will be available on our website and we will keep you posted about when we will be allowed to gather in person safely!
The Dory boats are all ready to go – with fresh new paint, new seats, etc!

See you on the computer screen later today!
xoxo
Jo-Anne and Jeff
Along with our Adventure Staff!!

Jo Anne Crawford is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Gloucester Adventure Camp !!
Time: Jun 23, 2020 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83005611388







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Hello to our GMS Adventure family and community,

We received a copy of the detailed Massachusetts COVID-19 regulations for operating a summer camp earlier this week. Although camps may be allowed to reopen for the summer, the new guidelines will prevent us from running our GMS Adventure Camp the way we have traditionally and in a manner that keeps both our campers and counselors safe and healthy.

Despite this news, we are still committed to helping the children of Cape Ann immerse themselves in the natural beauty of the outdoor environment that surrounds us. Fortunately, we have a dedicated and imaginative group of leaders and counselors who are creating a series of activities, videos, and life lessons that your children and entire family can participate in outdoors—in your backyard, at the beach, in the Great Salt Marsh, in the woods, and all over Cape Ann and the North Shore—over the course of the summer. We also hope to create workshops that families can attend together to row dory boats, hike new places, explore mud pits, and more!!!!

Please check our website, Facebook page, and Instagram feed for more details as we begin to post our new adventures online. We will also continue to email our families regularly with news about our 2020 summer program.

As we mentioned in our last letter, we will be providing free online content for the month of June to all families. In July and August, we plan to introduce a variety of fee-based activities for our community. Our commitment to keeping the camp accessible to every child on the North Shore remains steadfast so please stay tuned for scholarship opportunities.

Our founder, Jim Schoel, will be introducing the principles of the Full Value Contract that guides our community values in a few days, and our staff will be launching our summer program ideas shortly thereafter.

As always – we wish you health and peace in the midst of this pandemic chaos.

Please stay tuned for a summer full of outdoor adventures with GMS,

Jo-Anne, the Board of Directors, and our wonderful team of counselors.

 







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Hello Adventure Kids and Parents

Our GMS Adventure family hopes this note finds all of you healthy in body and mind. I know that many of you are aware that the State has said that camps may open up after June 8. Despite this announcement by the State, we have had to make the difficult decision to open this summer only if it’s safe for both campers and staff.

We hoped that the state would have established a detailed plan by now of the regulations for operating a summer camp, but that has not been the case. We have been emailing and calling almost daily for more precise details but the licensing board has still not replied to all our questions. To date, they have still not been able to tell us how we can operate and keep your kids and our staff safe from this virus.

As of today, some of the issues we face are as follows:

  • There is no plan in place by the State or the City for transporting kids when they need to move from one place to another.
  • We do not know if they will allow the use of Gloucester School System buses for travel with groups of kids.
  • For now, they are saying that we cannot put kids into boats either.
  • The licensing board has yet to finalize the rules for safe distancing, masks, hand washing, etc. All rules we fully intend to follow scrupulously.

And, some of our concerns about reopening safely:

  • Given the age of our campers, it would be almost impossible to maintain the mandated 6 feet of social distancing. Campers will be seeing their friends for the first time in months and it will be nearly impossible to keep them safely apart.
  • I also do not want my staff to spend their summer enforcing social distancing rules; that would not be fair to them and would not make for an enjoyable camp experience.
  • Counselors developing relationships with campers is an important part of camp. Children take many cues from facial expressions and need to be able to see their counselors smile, frown, and make silly faces. This will be impossible with masks.
  • We train our staff to be responsive to the needs of our campers. If a camper is crying, we offer comfort. If a camper is injured, we treat them immediately. If a camper needs someone to confide in, our counselors provide a listening ear. The risk of infection makes each of these interactions potentially dangerous for both campers and counselors.
  • Children and staff go home every night. They will be in contact with family members, friends, and neighbors. There is no way for our camp to enforce a quarantine of campers, staff, and their families during non-camp hours.

In light of these realities, we are planning to create FREE online content that mimics our daily camp activities for the month of June. Our staff will be producing short videos and posting them on our website.  We would also like to have weekly Zoom meetings with the kids so that we can all stay connected in some way. Please email us to let us know if this is something that your family would like to participate in.  We hope that this will help keep our kids and their families involved in outdoor adventures during the upcoming month.

Please bear in mind that our staff will be volunteering their time to you for the month of June. All donations toward our scholarship fund will be much appreciated. You can donate via the PayPal button on our website or mail a check to GMS Camp, PO Box 6046, Gloucester, MA 01930.

In the midst of this pandemic chaos, we will be working on developing a plan for reopening in July and August provided that we receive concrete guidelines from the city and state and that we feel confident we can operate in a manner that protects both our campers and staff. We will also be working on developing a broader range of online activities in the event that neither of these conditions materialize.

As always, stay safe and full of Adventure!

Love and Peace,

Jo-Anne Crawford and the GMS Staff and Board

 

 

 







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We’re getting ready for the summer of 2020 and have updated our website with upcoming dates, forms and our new brochure. Thanks for taking a look and registering your kid(s) for a summer of fun and adventure around Cape Ann!