As
Mr. and Mrs. Fish, we, Jeff and Deb Sandler, are considered pioneers
in marine education. For over 34 years we have educated and excited children
about the sea and the world of water in 20 countries and over 30 U.S.
states.
What is most satisfying to us is the fine work we have been privileged to do each summer in Fish Camp.
Fish Camp is a seaside ocean day camp for children ages 7-12, located at the Mr. and Mrs. Fish Building on the beautiful campus of Southern Maine Community College in South Portland, Maine. There you will find aquarium tanks filled with sea creatures, and beaches and rocky tide pools just outside the door.
Fish Camp is first and foremost a place of warmth and laughter as well as a center for fun ocean learning. Mr. and Mrs. Fish and their staff (most of whom were former Fish Campers) want their campers to wake up each morning totally psyched to come to camp.
Thus, Fish Camp is filled with lots of funny skits, puppet characters, live sea creatures and unique activities all designed to make coming to Fish Camp as laughter-filled as possible. The wealth of ocean teaching that takes place happens in a variety of innovative ways that makes learning about the ocean lots of fun.
Choice is a big part of Fish Camp. Each day there are free time optional activities that enable the campers to choose what best fits their mood at that given moment. For example, campers might select mucking in a tide pool, creating a craft project, performing in a skit, playing kickball, 4-square or pillow polo, taking a lighthouse walk, building a sandcastle city or just kicking back for quiet games.
We also have several sweet guinea pigs which campers can choose to play with and hug during free time.
Mr. and Mrs. Fish and the staff try hard to make sure each child is having a fun experience. Campers who seem to have difficulty making friends are quietly assisted by a nurturing staff member.
We are focused on helping children heighten their own personal relationship to the environment. We also try hard to build up their self-esteem and their ability to relate well to others.
Consistent
with this, each session starts with "Tests of Strength, Courage
and Wisdom".
These are fun challenge activities designed with the idea that everyone
must succeed or no one does. Thus, our older campers focus their energy
on helping the younger campers do well too. This builds a "we get
by with a little help from our friends" ethic and sets a positive
tone for the rest of the session. Observing the students in these introductory
activities also gives the staff a good picture of who we have in camp
and what might work best for them.
You honestly cannot do much better than Fish Camp. It is a well-run, safe, heartfelt environment. Jeff and Deb, as Mr. and Mrs. Fish, are highly skilled, masterful educators with years of experience. We are warm, caring people who see Fish Camp as an opportunity to give each child a very special gift.
The staff are a mix of professional educators, college students and high school students. They are chosen mostly because they are good role models for the campers. The ratio of staff to campers is about 7-1.
Fish Camp is like a school day in that it runs weekdays from 9am to 3pm. The staff arrives at 8:30am, so it is not a problem if campers need to arrive a bit early. Fish camp does not provide transportation but we do help parents with carpooling if need be.
Each day our Fish Campers bring their lunch, towel and a bathing suit; we supply a cold beverage. A water cooler in the building means cold drinking water is always available. There is an opportunity to swim in the ocean most days. We do have a professional lifeguard on duty at all times to ensure safety. We are very safety conscious. No children go in the ocean deeper than their waist, and, most of the time, water fun consists of floating with their friends on our huge, rubber truck tire tubes.
We do a field trip or two during camp. Our field trips are fun, safe, and the kids are always well supervised. There are no additional field trip costs to parents, Fish Camp pays for everything.
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2013 is unique in that the 4th of July falls on a Thursday. As a result,
many families might choose to take a long holiday weekend. With that
in mind Session 1 will start on Monday, June 24th and run thru Wednesday,
July 3rd.
Sessions 2 and 3 will also start on a Monday and run thru Thursday of the second week.
Session
4, our one-week special edition, will be held Monday thru Friday.
One of
the special features of Fish Camp is our famous Double Day which is
held on the next to last day of camp. On those Double Days, Fish Campers
will stay until 8 pm for a pizza party, talent show and lots of fun
and excitement. Our Double Days are designed to make up for the lost
Friday. We have found that the extra day between sessions makes a big
difference in having a refreshed and energized camp staff.
This year's
Double Days, affectionately known as "Totally Terrific Tuesday"
and "Wildly Wicked Wednesdays" will be on July 2, 17 and 31.
Our one-week special edition, Session 4, held Monday thru Friday, has
no Double Day.
Cost for
Session 1 is $550. Cost for Sessions 2 and 3 is $625 per session. Cost
for Session 4 (one-week special edition) is $350.
Registration begins the week of January 21, 2013 when our annual Fish Camp mailing goes out.
Last year's Fish Camp families are automatically included in that mailing. If you wish to be included in future mailings, simply contact our Fish Camp registrar, Jan Geyer, either by phone: (207) 767-5517, or via e-mail: janpgeyer@yahoo.com to leave her an address where to best send the registration forms and information material.
All registration for camp will be done by snail mail. Please follow the link below to our registration form.
If you
wish to speak with Mr. or Mrs. Fish directly please call (207)767-3629
or e-mail mmfish@maine.rr.com
During Fish Camp you can reach us at (207)799-6234.
Click here for photos from our camp newspaper “The Daily Fish”
Click Here For Our Fish Camp Registration Form
