For the rest of July, more than 600 girls ages 10–14 will be dancing, running, shooting films, playing ball, acting on stage, and solving mysteries all over campus. Expect pranks.
Fine Arts Camp counselor Hannah Hupp '12 (kneeling)
and campers make different shapes with their bodies
during a dance class on July 14.
It’s camp season at Saint Mary’s.
The first week kicked off July 10 with camps in fine arts, beginning volleyball, spiritual leadership, and summer academy in forensic science. On July 17, the College welcomes campers in fine arts and advanced volleyball. The final week features camps in fine arts, basketball, and summer academy in theater. The last week also debuts a new camp in cross country and adds filmmaking to the summer academy.
Camper Ashley Roman, 16, of Park Ridge, Illinois, joined 27 other girls for the Spiritual Leaders Camp. “I wanted to come because it’s a faith-based program and it’s all girls and it’s a good way to refocus my faith,” she says. “I wanted to do something uplifting during the summer.” Though Ashley didn’t know any other campers before she came, she’s made friends quickly.
Camper Ashley Roman, 16, of Park Ridge, Illinois, left, and
Spiritual Leaders Camp student mentor Christine
Czajkowski '14 say camp helped them decide
to attend Saint Mary's College.
And attending camp reinforced Ashley’s decision to attend Saint Mary’s College when she finishes high school. “The first time I came to Saint Mary’s was for a spring visit and I knew for sure I’d come here for college,” says Ashley, a high school junior.
Christine Czajkowski ’14, a business major from Bloomingdale, Illinois, felt the same about Spiritual Leaders Camp when she was a youth. “It was just one of the greatest experiences I ever had,” she says. She decided she would work for the camps one day, and now she’s a student mentor for the Spiritual Leaders Camp. 
Jenna Long, 11, of North Liberty, Indiana, works on a
project during Fine Arts Camp. Her penguin's name is Jeffri.
“As a camper, I felt the environment I was in was so accepting and everyone is just so open to who you are,” she says. “I’ve always felt welcome in this place.”
Richard Baxter, director of special events at Saint Mary’s College, says these reactions are typical. “Camps are very enriching and very fulfilling. We provide such a full experience for them, it’s like being away at college,” he says. “Our counselors and instructors are Saint Mary’s students or college students, who are talented, fun, responsible women who enjoy camp as much as the girls do. They give everything they’ve got to help the campers have a positive, safe camp experience.”
From lefft: Grace Haughey, Sarah Bogan, Jessica Ebert,
and Isabelle Glavin, all 13, take a break after working on a
dance routine at Fine Arts Camp.
Camps are staffed by 50 to 70 people, ranging from counselors to instructors to trainers to nurses to other camp staff.
The College’s summer camps started 30 years ago, Baxter says, and many traditions remain, such as loved ones sending letters, cookies, and packages every day.
“The mail we get for camps is piles and piles,” Baxter says. “They bring it in with a hand truck.”