The Wendies Experience
A New Entry Camp Session
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In 2025, the Onaway staff and trustees announced exciting updates to the experience for our youngest campers, the Wendies. Designed to meet the needs of today’s nine-year-old girls completing the third grade, this new two-session, three-week program has already proven to be an incredible success. After this condensed, rich entry-level Onaway experience, campers can transition into our traditional seven-week program, which serves girls from Hilltops (rising 5th graders) through Skytops (rising 10th graders).
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In conversations with many families of 9-year-olds, we have learned that the primary barrier to enrolling—even when a camper is ready to be away from home—has been the length of a traditional Onaway summer. We are eager to offer more campers in this age group the opportunity to take their first step into the magic of the Onaway experience.
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As we monitor the ever-changing landscape our campers navigate, we are particularly mindful of research showing that girls begin to lose confidence around eight years of age. We hope that by offering this three-week session, more girls will experience the joy, independence, and personal growth that Onaway provides at a critical time in their development. Our goal is for them to return in subsequent summers for the full session, armed with new confidence and familiarity.
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The Wendies program offers a true Onaway experience. Campers live in a two-person cabin, share meals and activities in mixed age groups, spend the night in the woods, problem-solve away from home, and build strong friendships. They also enjoy Newfound Lake, develop self-reliance, and learn to create skits as a cabin group! Both sessions offer identical goals and experiences, allowing families to simply select the dates that best fit their school and summer calendars.
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While we are excited about this new offering, we remain firmly committed to our transformative seven-week session for Hilltops through Skytops (rising grades 5–10), followed by OWLEs, our capstone wilderness leadership program for rising 11th graders.
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Parent Testimonial
"The three-week Wendies session was a perfect introduction to Onaway for my 9-year-old daughter. I was happily surprised by how quickly the second-session Wendies became part of camp! My daughter has always experienced a little bit of homesickness--even at sleepovers--so having fun and sensitive counselors to turn to was a huge help. By the time the summer ended, she felt so proud of what a big step she had taken. This past summer, at 10, she was really ready (physically, emotionally, and socially) for all that a seven-week session has to offer. And she had the extra boost of confidence and familiarity from her time in Wendies. It was a perfect stepping-stone for our whole family."
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