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Getting Ready For Great Books Summer Program

Now that you have registered for the Great Books Summer Program, it is time to begin to prepare for the session. Following is some useful information to make coming to camp an easy and enjoyable experience for you and your child.

Great Books strives to create a warm and secure environment where your child can have the experience of a lifetime. There are a few things that we would like you to keep in mind as you prepare your son or daughter to spend some time with us this summer.

While we don’t have an official camp motto – we are quite fond of Walt Whitman’s line from Song of Myself; "I am large, I contain multitudes". Great Books provides students with an opportunity to try on new aspects of their personality. As we remind them at the opening meeting, no one at Great Books knows who they are at home. This is a great opportunity to be the version of themselves that they have always wanted to be. Encourage your child to see camp as an opportunity to explore new elements of themselves.

During their session, students are presented with curriculum choices to round out their daily activities. They will choose both an art and a literature elective. We make every effort to insure that everyone gets their first or second choice selections. Should your child change their mind about their choice, please use the opportunity to have him/her learn to advocate for themselves. Encourage a visit to the office where they can request a class switch. I assure you that we will be responsive and it will be a great first step in reaching academic independence.

At Great Books Summer Program, students meet other kids with the same interests. That leads to almost instant friendships and strong bonds that form over the course of the session. We know that you will be eagerly awaiting word from your child about their experience. Understand one key feature of summer camp, if your child is having a good time you will not hear from them. Please take the silence as an indication of your child’s joy! We have created a special login section where you can go to see pictures of various events happening at camp and see our daily schedule. Just think of all the great stories that you will hear on the ride home from camp or the airport!

We are delighted that your child will be joining us and look forward to seeing you on campus.

"I am deeply impressed by many aspects of this program, including the warmth and professionalism of the staff, the rigor and creativity of the curriculum, and the physical beauty of its setting. But what impresses me most, are the students themselves."

Dr. Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

"Every summer, all I have to do is mosey on down from my hilltop home overlooking Amherst College, and walk into an ongoing conversation about the Big Stuff. It always feels like an intellectual transfusion."

Dr. Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

"I will mark Amherst as my most memorable event of the year, simply because of the smartest and most generous kids I was surrounded with. I wish they could be my students forever..." "

Da Chen, award-winning, best-selling author

"What a terrific curriculum and an enthusiastic group of young people. Made me want to drop everything and sign up."

Barry Eisler, best-selling author

"The students were such an engaged and smart and interesting group. I really enjoyed talking to them but mostly just appreciated being asked such a varied array of questions. It was a lot of fun."

Jacob Lewis, former managing editor of The New Yorker magazine and co-founder of Figment.com

"The Great Books program is a midsummer night's dream- I adored the kids and it all felt so alive and was so much fun! The faculty was warm and embracing. So important to keep literature alive and connect with kids who want to read books! "

Laura Shaine Cunningham Memoirist, novelist, playwright and journalist

"I enjoyed talking to and listening to the your kids. They are an impressive bunch. "

Dr. Richard Reeves Award-winning author, journalist and documentary filmmaker

"I loved my experience with the Great Books Summer Program. The students were brilliant and involved even beyond my expectations, really the ideal young audience for a writer. "

Peter Straub, Award-winning author

"I give a lot of talks to a lot of groups all over the country and world, but I've never had a more engaged, interested and interesting audience than the students at the Great Books Summer Program. They were clearly primed to learn and think. I hope I gave them some useful ideas about writing and the writing life; I know they inspired me. "

Kurt Andersen, Award-winning author, editor and co-creator of Studio 360 radio show

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