While the start of a student’s high school career is technically on the first day of freshman year in August, many Saint Viator students started their high school experience much earlier. Some came into contact with the school for the first time because of older siblings. Some parents of students attended Saint Viator. But for many, summer camps were the first insight into the Saint Viator community.

Sports camps as well as Service and Song and fine arts camps help to welcome potential students. The wide variety of sports camps helps students to try out the sport, meet the coaches and experience high school before the first day. Saint Viator offers lacrosse, cross country, golf, water polo, soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming and tennis for both girls and boys as well as boys’ hockey, football and baseball and girls’ softball, cheerleading and competitive dance.

Mr. Jason Kuffel, director of recruitment, works to promote summer sports camps to the surrounding middle schools and has also coached in summer basketball and lacrosse camps.

“We want [the middle-schoolers] to have the opportunity to come and get coaching, feedback, concepts, tools, skills, and fundamentals from our coaches here which makes them better for when they are going into their school classes, but also at the same time helps them get into the school environment here at Saint Viator by understanding who our students are, understanding who our coaches are, and being more comfortable with the building and surroundings as they are investigating high schools,” said Mr. Kuffel.

Camps also allow middle-schoolers to meet others with similar interests, one interest being the possibility of attending the same high school. Students can get acquainted with other members of surrounding middle schools so they have new friends before even starting high school.

“We try to make them fun for the middle-schoolers while at the same introducing different concepts of the games that they might not have learned at their grade school, different fundamentals,” said Mr. Kuffel. “They get to meet new friends that they might not otherwise know that could be their classmates in the future”

Middle-schoolers also have the opportunity to meet some of the faculty during summer camps. They can meet the coaches of the sports they plan to play as well as meet teachers who are involved in other camps such as Service and Song. Saint Viator student leaders also serve as role models for the middle-schoolers.

“Our student athletes and our coaches are our best advocates for Saint Viator when it comes to camp settings, so we try to make sure that we give every opportunity to those students to come and have that experience with our great coaches and student athletes,” said Mr. Kuffel.

Mr. Kuffel spoke about the strength about the community expressed through the coaches and students running the camps.

“The Viator community is expressed through these camps in a positive manner showing the kids that this school community is a fun organization that wants to welcome them and teach them and show them that we are a family here,” said Mr. Kuffel. “We are a community and we want to make sure that the students and the parents feel that from the time the parents come in and drop off their kids and we say hello to them until we release them from the camp and say goodbye.”

This was the type of community junior Caitlin Kenney experienced when she participated in soccer camp before her freshman year.

“It allowed me to meet new people and experience the coaches for the first time,” said Kenney.

Caitlin had already decided on attending Saint Viator at the time of the camp even though it was her first interaction with the community.

“The camp helped to calm my nerves and made me even more excited for the upcoming school year,” she said.

Summer camps allow middle-schoolers to experience the true meaning of being a Saint Viator student. Whether it is a sport or a service project, the leaders of the camps reveal the tight knit and kind community Saint Viator has to offer.

“It was a very instructive and welcoming environment,” said Kenney. “They split you up into group based on possible skill level so I never felt too overwhelmed.”

No matter the camp, middle-schoolers are sure to feel welcomed and comfortable in the Saint Viator community.