Interview With
Ashley G. Barr
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas has hosted Summer Camp since the 1950s at our multiple locations.
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas offers Summer Camps at three locations each summer. Camp Bette Perot in Palestine, TX. Camp Gambill in Paris, TX. And Camp Rocky Point on Lake Texoma in Denison, TX.
Girl Scout Camp is a place where girls can learn new skills, create memories, make new discoveries, and develop lifelong friendships. We strive to make camp a place for girls to become the best they can be, learn to care for and protect the environment, and become leaders in the camp community and beyond.
Our camps offer girls the opportunity to spend a week, in a girl-only environment, where they are free to seek challenges, try new things and take the lead on their own adventure. The Mission of Girl Scouting is to build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. An amazingly fun environment, where girls get to explore, create friendships and discover the world around them. Our camps are really camps. We do have air conditioning and other amenities, but Girl Scout Camp is about exploring the outdoors and spending time understand nature and the world around us in a fun, exciting way.
Our camps offer a wide-range of activities based on location.
At Camp Bette Perot girls will experience an array of exciting outdoor activities such as horseback riding, swimming, campfires, ropes course adventure, hiking, archery, tie-dye, skits and songs.
At Camp Gambill girls spend time swimming, kayaking, hiking, aiming for a bull’s eye at the archery range, creating cool craft projects, singing songs, tie-dying a shirt, and making new friends.
At Camp Rocky Point girls will spend the summer enjoying fun activities such as sailing and kayaking in Lake Texoma, swimming, making new friends, cooking out dinner, doing arts and crafts, creating and performing skits, and archery!
We also offer volunteer run day and twilight camps. Girls who may not be ready to spend overnights away from home can experience the adventure, fun and excitement of Girl Scout Camp through Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas’ Day and Twilight Camps! Girls attend the camp during the day or evening and return to their homes at night.
We offer weeklong camps (Sunday through Friday) ranging from $370-$450 for Girl Scouts. We also offer shorter sessions (Monday through Wednesday and Wednesday through Friday) so campers can give camp a try if they aren’t comfortable with attending for a full week just yet. These shorter sessions range in price from $205-$220 for Girl Scouts.For the first time this year, we are offering two, 10 day sessions at Camp Rocky Point. These sessions are $575 and $600 for an in depth Sailing Experience for Girl Scouts. We also have a financial assistance program for campers who might not otherwise be able to experience Girl Scout Summer Camp.
We have 2 Camp Directors. Our Summer Camp Staff is made up of about 100 counselors, medical and administrative team members and we have 1600 girls attending Summer Camp each year. Our summer camp staff are recruited both domestically and internationally. Many of our counselors were Girl Scouts and grew up camping at our camps. The tradition and their experience bring them back year after year. We also employ several international counselors from countries like England, Australia, Ireland and more. These counselors bring new knowledge to campers and broadens their view of the world. Whether it’s learning that Londoners eat baked beans at breakfast or Australians call sunglasses, sunnies, our campers get a kick out of the cultural differences they see in their counselors.
Girl Scout Camp is a unique experience for girls. They will spend the week in a safe, all girl environment where they get to have fun, make new friends and learn new skills, often without even realizing they are learning. That’s the power of Girl Scouting. Many schools have removed large components of experiential learning and we are committed to ensuring that girls still receive this invaluable opportunity. At Girl Scout Camp, girls learn to be more independent, they will each take part in planning and executing a meal on cookout night. From making a shopping list for our staff to fulfill, building a fire, preparing, cooking and serving the meal, girls learn how to plan and execute a project as a team.
Camp enrollment begins in March and continues throughout the summer as long as there is still availability within camp sessions.
Girl Scout Camp isn’t just for registered Girl Scouts. Any girl can attend Girl Scout camp and have a blast! There is an additional $15 fee for non-Girl Scout campers.
Parents can register their daughter online at any time. They should visit www.gsnetx.org/camp to see all available sessions and sign up for camp.
