Date: Tentative: July 14 - July 20, 2024
(7 days and 6 Nights)
Price: TBD posted in Nov. for 2023-2024 Girl Scouts. (Estimate ball park: <$375)
Ages: 8 - 17 at the time of camp
Location: Dumfries, VA - Specific Site Announced in early Jan.
Enrollment Status: Prepping. Would you like to be owled when program is finalized?
Description:
Due to the degree of the immersive experience, it is strongly recommended that you enjoy fantasy, solving mysteries, using your imagination to make-believe, and going on dungeon crawls.
This camp is a live-action role playing (LARP) experience. With LARPing, participants physically act and pretend to be their characters as they seek to achieve a series of goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world while make-believing with each other. Previous attendees have likened this to a real-life video game and/or immersive movie.
During the Summer Session term, your actions and decisions throughout the day will directly influence your journey during the week as well as the story to come for years down the road. Think of it as the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure. The interactive world is brimming with adventures to be had, villains/monsters to be battled, and mysteries to be solved.
Note:If you have any questions or encounter any problems, please reach out to Ash, the camp director. She is more than happy to help!
Please check our registration faq to learn about the process and the answers to some common registration specific questions.
In order to access a scholarship or financial aid opporunity, the camp registration will need to be completed with a min of a $10 deposit.
Families are strongly encouraged to apply for financial assistance early because all GSVSC affiliated camps share the same pool of money.
Here is the Financial Assistance Instructions & Application.
The turnaround time is approximately two weeks. The guardian will be notified of financial assistance eligibility status and next steps. If awarded, the guardian will need to return to GSVSC Camp Brain to pay the remaining balance of summer camp registration fees to keep the slot.
Please see the Registration FAQ to learn about the process and the answers to some common registration specific questions.
If you have any questions or encounter any problems, please reach out to Ash, the camp director. She is more than happy to help!
Once the invoice has been received, a confirmation & welcome email will be sent from Ash, the director.
It will contain a link to the student community center (your centralized hub for information/post enrollment forms + tracking sheet), your student ID number and more.
Refund requests must be made in writing by the parent/guardian and must be received by the director, and the director will confirm the receipt. If you do not receive confirmation within 48 hours, please contact the director again.
Starting | Ending | Slimes 1 & 2 | Slimes 3 & 4 |
---|---|---|---|
8:00 AM | 8:30 AM | Students Get Up | Students Get Up |
8:30 AM | 9:15 AM | Breakfast | Kapers |
9:15 AM | 10:00 AM | Kapers | Breakfast |
10:10 AM | 11:10 AM | House Time | House Time |
11:10 AM | 12:00 PM | Activity 1 | Activity 1 |
12:10 PM | 12:55 PM | Lunch | Slime Mischief |
12:55 PM | 1:40 PM | Slime Mischief | Lunch |
1:50 PM | 2:40 PM | Activity 2 | Activity 2 |
2:40 PM | 3:10 PM | Activity 3 | Activity 3 |
3:10 PM | 3:40 PM | Gathering W/ Snacks | Gathering W/ Snacks |
3:40 PM | 5:40 PM | Adventure Time: Dungeon Crawling |
Adventure Time: Dungeon Crawling |
5:50 PM | 6:35 PM | Dinner | Free Time |
6:35 PM | 7:20 PM | Free Time | Dinner |
7:25 PM | 8:05 PM | Evening Activity | Slime Time | Evening Activity | Slime Time |
8:10 PM | 8:40 PM | Showers | Showers |
8:40 PM | 9:00 PM | Slime Night time Routine | Slime Night time Routine |
Individuals will be sorted into one of four houses:
There will still be a house competition this year because house members will be assigned to different Crunchy Slimes based on one's relative age.
Houses will have a dedicated house period each day. This is to provide time for the house to bond and carry on their traditions.
Towers in each Crunchy Slime will be grouped by houses as much as possible.
Houses will also have a house community board in the Great Hall where they can leave messages for each other.
Students will also get to see some of their other house mates in other slimes during meals while evening activities are with the entire camp.
The units, Crunchy Slime aka Slimes, will be organized by relative age. There will be members of all four houses present and buddy requests made through the camper preference survey will be honored as much as reasonably possible.
At the academy, we believe that actions have consequences, and inaction is an action. Because this is an interactive universe, it seems only fair to allow the decisions of one slime to directly impact the other slimes and as well as the level of difficulty of their objectives. These impacts can be both positive and negative. For example, taking care of a patrolling set of Westgaards could make it easier for another slime to be successful on a stealth mission. Failing to notify another slime of a discovered hidden pit could result in that slime falling into a pit.
Furthermore, slimes will be able and encourage to chatter to each other via walkie talkie. You will be able to eat meals with another slime, and evening activities are with the entire camp.
You have been accepted into Trefoil Academy of Magery and Sorcery for Gifted Young Mages. Students from around the world flock to Trefoil Academy to receive specialized training in a wide range of subjects beyond what is normally found in their wizarding schools back home. Are you ready to begin your advanced instruction in the magical arts?
Each day tells a chapter in a story. After hearing the story introduction for an activity, the slime will have a chance to vote as a team on the level of the difficulty that they would like to try. The level of difficulty does alter the objectives as well as the possible rewards if the team is successful. The outcomes of their efforts will then impact the next activity, unlock new opportunities for other slimes, the dungeon crawl for that day as well as Friday's. The success counter resets each day. The day builds up to a dungeon crawl, which can be done via tabletop or LARPing.
Slimes will not necessarily have the exact same activities. Activities will be tailored by age and interest. This is why we request that student preference surveys be turned in as soon as possible.
Each Crunchy Slime (aka unit) is being lead by a dedicated set of faculty members. However, one of them is guilty of a terrible crime. It is up to you to figure out who the villian is in this who-dunnit mystery.
To learn more, please visit:
A dungeon crawl is when a group of adventurers navigates a maze-like environment. They battle various monsters, loot any treasures they may find, and seek to achieve a particular objective. An adventure may use any object that is on them. This can be a protective amulet that was made during an elective or even the flashlight that was in their day bag.
Furthermore, there are two implementation styles of dungeon crawls. You will have an opportunity to select your preferred style when completing your student parchment forms. The implementation styles are:
New or relatively inexperienced to dungeon crawling? Please do not worry! We all were brand new at one point or another. We teach.
To help get you started before the Summer Session begins, please check out:
Evening activities are currently planned be with the entire camp.
There are also optional evening activities that are offered. These activities are not recommended if you do not like being scared. (You will be able to sign up for them when you are completing your student parchments. The early sign up allows us to create fright groups and schedule a time for the adventure in advance.)
You are about to step into a live-action roleplaying experience. Live-action roleplay (LARP) is where participants physically act out and pretend as their characters. The participants work together to seek to achieve a series of goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world while make-believing with each other.
During the Summer Session term, your actions and decisions throughout the day will directly influence your journey during the week as well as the story to come for years down the road. Think of it as the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure.
Trefoil Academy of Magery and Sorcery exists in an alternate Harry Potter universe. (The reason we do a recreation rather a reenactment is that it is hard to go on the ultimate adventure if you already know the outcome.) Are you ready for an adventure that is full of mysteries, plot twists, epic battles, and an ultimate showdown between good versus evil?
An ominous curse has cast its shadow upon Trefoil Academy of Magery and Sorcery, a place renowned for the unbreakable bonds that form within its enchanted walls. At the heart of the Academy's strength lies its cherished community, a vibrant tapestry of friendship woven by students and faculty from seven noble and great houses. Each house is unique and equally dedicated to a common purpose.
But now, an insidious curse has shattered this unity. It has recently been discovered that students and faculty from 3 of the 7 houses have mysteriously vanished from existence. The identities of these houses, their proud traditions, and the individuals who called them home have been erased from the academy's collective consciousness. Until now.
Last year, the students became aware of this malevolent curse and directly witness its power as they sought to convince the faculty. Curses, if not stabilized, grow stronger with time. Trefoil Academy now stands at the precipice of oblivion, its very essence threatened. The remaining four houses teeter on the brink of being forgotten forever, their existence hanging by a fragile thread.
It falls upon you, brave adventurer, to unravel the curse that shrouds Trefoil Academy of Magery and Sorcery. Do you embark on a dangerous quest to discover the origins of this evil curse, to break its devastating hold, and to rescue your forgotten peers and faculty?
Time is of the essence. The future of magic and sorcery depends on your courage, resourcefulness, and cunning. Join us on this epic journey to save our beloved Academy. Together, we shall endeavor to rewrite our fate, to reclaim our identity, and to restore the bonds that have been torn asunder.
The adventure awaits. Will you answer the call?We will either be at Camp 1 (Camp Pleasant) or Camp 4 (Camp Goodwill) this year. Both are residential sites that are located off the same road and are historic summer camp properties. The National Park Service will notify us which site in early January, and this page will be updated accordingly. The amentities below are universal.
Each Crunchy Slime (Slime) will be assigned to a particular zone.
Each zone has:
Because Slimes are organized by age, we will strive to group the individual towers by the respective houses as much as possible. Regardless, each student will receive house decorations to put up in their tower to show their house pride.
We care greatly about providing wholesome and balanced meals. The Summer Session is an energy intensive experience, and it is very important that individuals to have enough fuel to fully enjoy the experience.
A formal and balanced vegetarian meal plan complete with friendly protein options (i.e. tofu, beans etc) is available at no extra charge. You are able to sign up for it when you are completing your online student parchment and may change your mind up to two weeks before camp. If you sign up for it, you will be expected to use it the entire week.
If you change your mind after signing up for it, please contact Ash prior to 7/6. Otherwise, last minute signups are not available unless a previously signed up individual decides to switch.
Because we are a not-for-profit and in order to keep camp affordable to all participants, we are not able to provide other specialized meal plans unless it is for diagnosed allergies only.
An allergy plan from a doctor may be required and should be provided at least one month in advance.
It is important for risk management reasons that your health history and proof of recent physical both reflect any allergies.
If any new allergies arise after you submit, please let us know as soon as possible and submit updated forms. This helps us keep costs down and helps prevent next year's overall camp tuition from spiking.
The Director and Head Medical Officer reserve the right to require an allergy plan from a doctor. Any allergy plan should be provided at least one month in advance.
Please be advised that COVID related requirements are subject to change in accordance to GSVSC.
Some quick overview notes:
Here are some quick overview notes based on last year: