Camp Chronicles - First Practice

-- WELCOME TO THE MASQUERADE. --

Today was our first day of practice for the STELLO Masquerade summer camp. Twenty-some girls gathered in the Kroeger home yesterday afternoon for the initial meeting. Smiles and hugs were exchanged around the room by old friends and many were introduced to new girls as well. Chairs lined up in neat rows were topped with practice binders for each student.

The afternoon began with introductions around the room. Each girl gave their name and told their story of how they learned about STELLO. Many of us girls mentioned moms or friends in the room as their source.

Next, Eden guided us through the material in our binders, including the daily devotionals that we will receive during camp week, a thick stack of Bible verses, camp policies, and the schedule. We will be using the material in this binder each day at camp in various ways.

Once we finished with those binder materials, the songs for the concert were played for us as we looked through the lyrics. The solos were given out earlier in the week to the auditioners. Today, we sang through several of the songs as we got a glimpse of the vision for the concert.

We then moved the chairs away and cleared space for our very first dance class of the camp. Jessica directed us in our choreography for the beginning of the concert. Many mistakes were made and retries were done, but we had fun trying some new things. The energy in the room was contagious and we made it through the dance class with plenty of laughter.
Our final part of the afternoon was allotted for a question and answer time with Jessica and Eden. You see, STELLO places great importance on relationships and community. The directors want to be open with us girls and us to be open with them. The ice was definitely broken during our Q and A session, and our time together this afternoon ended on a cheerful note. Girls chatted excitedly around the room while waiting for parents and many exclamations of "See you next week!" were excitedly called out to friends. Next Monday looks like it can't come soon enough.

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We will keep the blog updated daily during camp week with recaps of our time at camp. Please come back to read and support the girls these next two weeks. Be praying for their hearts, their health and their time together. Thanks for reading!