Juniors (3rd & 4th Graders)
As a Junior, our campers experience everything Oak Crest has to offer as they are introduced to Mountain Biking, Lacrosse, High Ropes, BMX, Skatepark, Camper vs. Wild (pioneering), and much more for the first time! Their schedule also contains a variety of athletic and creative activities, as well as Instructional Swim and the Climbing Tower. Another privilege of being a Junior are Late Nights! For the Junior Late Night, we invite the Junior campers to stay late and have the run of the camp with a special dinner, extra swim, extra games, a special event and a twilight campfire complete with S’mores!
Junior Athletics
Our Juniors are able to experience a wide variety of athletic activities on our full-size fields. Once a week, Junior groups have Soccer, Football, Pickleball, Lacrosse, Basketball, Hockey, and more on their schedule. They also have the opportunity to try our Skate Park and Mountain Biking Program! Athletic Specialists lead the activities, spending part of the period teaching a new skill and using the remainder to play a game that emphasizes that new skill. Oak Crest counselors participate in all of the activities right alongside the campers, helping the specialists create and validate success opportunities for our campers.
League Play is introduced on the Junior level. During League, the groups play each other in Soccer, Handball, Football, and Dodgeball; each week the activity and opponent rotate.
Creative Arts
Your child will be exposed to a variety of artistic activities in air-conditioned classrooms led by art teachers. Our campers attend Ceramics, Music, Mad Science, Cooking, Drama, Nature, Camper vs. Wild, Dance, Digital Photography, Jewelry Making, Computers and more at least once a week.
All of our Junior Girl groups perform a Dance routine in our annual Showcrest (Dance and Drama Production). Showcrest is no small production! It is traditionally held the 6th week of camp in the evening at a local venue, complete with professional sound and lighting!
Learn to Swim
At Oak Crest, our Learn to Swim Program is one of the cornerstones of the Oak Crest experience. Our state-of-the-art aquatic facility is second to none! Our 3rd Grade Juniors swim in our brand new, state of art 12,000 square foot Aquatic Complex built exclusively for our 3-8 year olds. While our 4th grade Juniors, swim in our Gigantic Pool, which boasts eight 25m lanes. Both of our Aquatic Facilities have shallow water so we are able to start all of our swimmers in standing depth water and then move them into deeper water as their skills progress.
Every morning, our Juniors participate in a 40-minute swim lesson led by our certified swim instructions with the assistance of the group counselors. Swim lessons are based on skill, not age, so we are able to challenge swimmers of all levels. We teach and train our own instructors every year and our swim techniques are based not only on the American Red Cross, but over 25 years of practical experience in teaching children how to swim. Juniors return to the pools in the afternoon for free swim.
Learn to Ride a Bicycle
Learning how to ride a bike has become a very important childhood milestone. What better place to learn how to ride a bicycle than at Oak Crest’s brand new Bicycle Village. Our Bicycle Village is complete with a 1/4 mile training course, a state of the art pump track, and a mountain bike preparation trail. Not only does cycling promote an independence in children, but it also teaches balance, posture control, coordination, and the development of motor skills. Our experienced instructors provide one-on-one attention allowing beginner bikers to gain the confidence they need. When campers are ready, they will advance to our dynamic Mountain Biking Program. Oak Crest provides appropriately sized bikes and helmets.
Ropes Courses
Juniors are able to experience all of the Oak Crest Ropes Courses. The Confidence Course is 5’ off the ground and allows campers to become comfortable on belay and traverse many of the same elements as our High Ropes Course. The Climbing Tower boasts 2 different rock walls, a 200 yard zip line and the Giant Swing! The High Ropes course contains even more rock walls along with other mid-air challenges.
Our ropes courses are inspected and certified for safety before each season by the same company that built the courses and daily by our certified ropes instructors, who also lead the groups through all of our ropes courses.
Choice
During Choice, campers are able to select an activity to participate in for the period during that week. Each week our campers can select a new Choice from an ever-changing list of activities. In addition to the variety of athletic and creative activities, Juniors can also choose to have a role in our annual Drama Production or participate in a special Dance routine. Our annual Dance and Drama Production is known as Showcrest!
Social Development
Throughout the day, the campers in each group have to work together, communicate and support each other. The active role our counselors play creates an inclusive environment where campers learn to interact respectfully and to communicate effectively with other campers and staff members. It is in these shared experiences that the group forms intense bonds and life-long friendships. Oak Crest has zero tolerance for bullying and prides itself on providing a caring environment that allows children to learn the emotional and social skills necessary to succeed in life.