Highlights and Observations from the 5th Week of the Good Neighbors 2010 Summer Day Camp

Following our very successful four-week enrichment program in Bedford County we took a one week break before beginning the Franklin County program. The interns, Shearer and I met at Trinity Ecumenical Parish on Sunday afternoon on July 18^th to get the rooms organized and our materials unpacked for the opening of camp the next day. We are grateful that Trinity opens its doors to us and allows us to use most of the building for our program. This is just one of the ways that Trinity has supported and nurtured the Good Neighbors programs from the beginning.

We have 52 children registered for the Franklin County camp. They come from Dudley, Burnt Chimney and Windy Gap Elementary Schools. This is a significant increase over 2009. The beginning of this camp overlaps with the last week of summer school so some of the children could not attend the first week of our program. We welcomed 39 children on Monday morning, July 19^th and had a great first day. The numbers fluctuated the next three days and on Friday we had 42 children with us. We anticipate that attendance will average around 45 children each day during the next three weeks.

We had enthusiastic volunteers during this week and, as usual, it was wonderful to see the interactions between the children and their Reading Buddies. Bonds form quickly and the children truly love this time. As Jim Mullens has reminded us, the one-on-one attention given to these children may be the most important thing we do. It is hard to quantify or even describe these relationships but if you witness these interactions it will leave your heart tender.

The first week was excellent. The interns continue to do excellent work in planning and managing the daily work with the children. Additionally, it is clear that they have formed a close-knit community and are very good friends. This makes them a very effective team; there is a synergy that results from these relationships that brings color, texture, humor and passion to the daily work. I often remind myself that part of our mission is to provide vocational exploration experiences for the interns. We are meeting this objective.

A Few Highlights and Observations

Our program themes this week centered on nature, the interconnections and interdependence between all things in creation, environmental stewardship and how Good Neighbors live as part of, not apart from, all that exists.

• This was a great week for Shearer. She was able to take off her hat as the manager of the daily camp details (at least part of the time) and put on her hat as a nature and environmental educator. This is what she truly loves to do. As some of you know, Shearer works for the 4-H Center and the State Part as an environmental/nature educator so this knowledge and experience was perfect for the emphasis this week. We still worked with the 4-H staff and they came to camp with their resources. However, Shearer reorganized some of the cycles and facilitated some of the stations. We all agreed that the afternoon enrichments were excellent. These same themes were good at the first camp, but more dynamic and stimulating at this camp. It was clear as we watched Shearer lead the children through these programs that she loves nature education. By the end of these enrichments on Thursday I think she was exhausted but pleased with the week. And then, on Friday, she put her camp director hat back on and returned to the less edifying but critical task of managing the endless details that keep the camp running.
• Have you ever heard of the Green Gorilla? Well, Angela connected with the website – greengorilla.com and used two of their short videos to teach the kids about Mountain Top Removal and problems with Plastic Bags. These are great animated clips. A great way for the children to see examples of human activities that are destructive to our life support systems.

• On Thursday Jeff, from the 4-H center, brought live animals to teach the kids about respecting other species. Of course the highlight was the corn snake. Great program.

• The last event of the week was Family Night. At 6 p.m. on Friday evening we welcomed many of the children and their families for a short program and refreshments. The interns led the program that ended with some of the children singing their favorite camp songs. It was more like a celebration than a program. The families loved it. And – the remarkable part – we had a great turnout. There were 75 of us in attendance. Another success that exceeded my expectations. I think we are reaching more and more of the families we hope to serve.

Week 1 of this camp was a good week. Week 2 will focus on Peace Education. It will be very busy but, if it is like the Peace Education week at Moneta Elementary School, it will be excellent. Helping the children learn ways to live peacefully is one of our central objectives; I think we are planting seeds.

Russ Baskett

Program Coordinator

Highlights and Observations from Week 4 of the 2010 Good Neighbors Summer Day Camp

This was the last week of the Bedford County Camp. It was a different kind of week for several reasons. First, we met on Monday, July 5^th that is part of the extended holiday for many people. So, we had only 22 children on Monday. Second, the Bedford County Summer School program began on Tuesday. Eighteen of our campers were in summer school until 12:15 but many of the campers in summer school joined us for the afternoon. By the end of each day we had 42 to 46 kids with us.

Every afternoon this week the Roanoke Children’s Theatre worked with the kids preparing them to present the play “Cooking It” at the end of the week. This is part of our focus on Healthy Living.

Then the difficult part – saying goodbye to the children and their families after our closing celebration on Friday. We do become family during these four weeks of life together.

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Some of the Highlights

• Monday morning began with local author and storyteller, Becky Mushko reading her children’s book, Ferradiddledumday, to the kids. This is an Appalachian version of Rumpelstiltskin. This gave the kids a chance to ask questions about writing stories and publishing books. I was good for them to meet and talk to a working author since we spend time everyday in writers’ workshop. Maybe we have a “budding writer” in our midst! Again, a big thank you to SMAC. They purchased enough copies of the book for each child to take one home.

• From 12:30 to 2:15 every day this week the kids worked with Pat Wilhelms, Artistic Director for the Roanoke Children’s Theatre, and others from the theatre staff. This also required the assistance of all of our interns. The kids continued learning theater skills but they learned the songs, dances and some of the script for “Cooking It”, a musical play about healthy eating. This was a big task to accomplish with 40+ kids. The themes and messages in the play are great and timely with characters such as Brock Broccoli and Brussel Sprout teaching us about the good foods to eat and the bad ones we are addicted to. There were times when I wasn’t sure we could get the kids to focus enough to actually make this work. But - and this is not uncommon - my fears were unfounded. The kids were great. They got in to the story, the songs and the movements. This is a great and subtle way to teach the basics of eating and healthy living.
• From 2:15 to 2:45 every day the kids are in Writers’ Workshop. The older kids are generally able to do some writing. But the youngest (the Koala Bears) are a challenge. Many of them are very beginning readers and writing is beyond their grasp. But, Nalina Nop and Angela Massino, the interns who work with this group every day, were very creative and helped the kids write and illustrate a book based on their own ideas. Nalina and Angela took the basic, disconnected stories of the individual kids and knit them together into a complete story. They had the kids do illustrations for the parts of the story that came from their ideas. All of this was then put together in a book. It was great to observe Nalina and Angela guide the kids through this activity. It was a lot of work for them and a great community activity for these kids. Working with six year olds is a challenge!

• Angela completed her first video about the program. It is a 10 minute program that highlights the elements of the program. It is very well done. It captures what life at camp is like, educates people about the real content of the program and, the kids loved it. Great job Angela; we now understand why you win awards for your video documentaries.
• During the morning on Friday Elizabeth told us a wonderful story. Here is the short version. Jesse, one of our campers, was very upset and crying. He was crying because this was the last day of camp and he didn’t want it to end. Although most of the kids didn’t cry about the end of camp, Jesse’s feelings were typical – a good witness about how the children feel about the program.
• At 2 p.m. on Friday our closing celebration began. It exceeded anything I expected. By the time the program began, there was standing room only in the gym – the bleachers were filled with family, friends, volunteers and a few board members. The kids were perfect. Working with the Children’s Theatre staff, they performed their songs and moves with enthusiasm to the delight of the audience. “Cooking It” is a great play about healthy foods and our addictions to foods that are not so healthy. It is funny but truly has a big message. We were really proud of the kids. At the end of the play, Mary Bova, one of the authors of the play, led the kids in one of the songs they taught them as part of their work about the Peace Child. It is about accepting our differences and living together peacefully. The words of the chorus are something like this – so you be you, and I’ll be me; that’s the way it’s meant to be; and we’ll live together, you and me… differently. A great message for children and adults – maybe we can learn from the children!

At the completion of the theatre program, Angela's video about the four weeks of camp was shown. I think anyone who hadn’t spent at least one full day at camp was amazed by the depth and diversity of the activities the kids do during the four weeks. You can imagine the applause. It is too bad that we didn’t have media present. As we know, it is not possible to explain what goes on at camp - it has to be experienced. Now for the good news - since I was recording the program on video, I have no still photos to include in this report.

Finally, we all moved to the cafeteria where we had ice cream, clowns, tattoos and other silly things for the kids and families. And then – all of us who came to know and love these children had to say goodbye. These are transforming experiences for many of us. Our lives are changed by this work and I hold the belief that it is transforming for many of the children.

A Few Parting Thoughts

We did have a terrific four weeks. The program operated with no major problems and only a few minor issues. Being well prepared explains much of this success. But, in my opinion, even more important are the people who worked with the kids and managed the camp every day.

• Shearer Rumsey did a great job as the new Camp Director. She managed the dozens of details necessary for the daily routines. These included opening the building every morning, greeting all the kids and their families every morning, working with the reading buddies, making certain that breakfast and lunch was set up on time, dealing with behavior problems, calling parents as needed, being the nurse, signing out the kids at the end of the day and on and on and on!!! Multitasking is a way of life in that position and Shearer did it well. As we were doing our final closing activities at the school I asked Shearer how she felt about the job at this point. The big smile on her face said it all; she didn’t need to say a word.

• All of our interns are excellent. But, for this report I want to single out Hannah Sizemore. Hannah is our lead intern and she has been a very effective team leader. And, she has taken ownership of the program. She is the “go to” person for dealing with most of the issues about the daily work of the interns and the schedule. We made a very wise decision in inviting Hannah to return this year as our lead intern. I have truly enjoyed working with Hannah and have the highest respect and admiration for her work and for her as a person.

• The Intern Assistants and Camp Facilitators have been invaluable in keeping the program running smoothly. The assistants are attached to a group of kids and their two interns. From taking kids to the bathroom, mopping floors and setting up lunch, to working with disruptive kids – we truly need these volunteers.
• And then, there are the behind the scenes volunteers who quietly support the camps. These are the people who purchase all of our food from Second Harvest Food Bank and Shop Rite, pack lunches, pack backpacks, and deliver all of these to the camps. All of this work requires 30 to 40 volunteers who do this work every week. This team is led by Colleen and Jerry McNulty. They work quietly at TEP (backpack packing) and LCM (lunch packing) and without benefit of air conditioning. We are not only dependent on these volunteers, we are grateful to them for supporting this mission.

Our moving company loaded all of our materials and supplies at Moneta E.S. this afternoon and delivered them to Trinity Ecumenical Parish. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 18^th, we will meet at TEP to unpack all of our supplies and get our rooms organized for the Franklin County Camp that begins on Monday, July 19^th. At this time, we have 48 children registered and expect a few more. Between now and the 19^th, I will relax and play with my family and savor dozens of wonderful memories of my experiences at the camp we just completed. We are so blessed to have this opportunity to work with these children.

Blessings and Peace,

Russ

Highlights of Week 3 of the 2010 Good Neighbors Enrichment Camp

The third week of camp at Moneta Elementary School was excellent. We have had no major problems or issues and that is a blessing. We were concerned that we would not have enough volunteers for the third week but the number was fine. Part of this was because attendance dropped to between 35 and 38 during part of the week, but was back to around 45 on Friday. These swings in attendance are not unexpected; we have had the same experience every year. There are family issues, sickness, transportation problems, etc. And, the number in attendance does not affect our programming; things go on as normal.
The morning program is very much the same every day with the cycles of reading buddies, art and planned physical activities/games. All of this was very good again this week. It is the afternoon enrichments (1 to 2:15) that are unique each week. The theme this week was Global Education and Cultural Diversity. This focus is one of our stated programmatic objectives.
• Monday – Haiti
Marion Wagner and Patsy Smart from Resurrection Catholic Church came with many items for the kids to see and talk about. They learned a bit of geography, and talked about life in Haiti. This included housing, schools, roads, climate, poverty, the orphans, etc. The kids were very attentive and asked good questions. Actually, we could have used more time for their program. We have the children divided in to three groups by age. As one group meets with the guest facilitators, the other groups are working with the interns on activities related to the main theme. On this day they had a program about food in Haiti and got to taste foods like plantains. In the third group the kids were making simple kites. This is a popular activity in Haiti. Every 25 minutes the children would rotate to another station. By the end of the program each child had taken part in all three activities. Managing the schedule can be a challenge! It was a very good day and the kids do like the diverse activities.

• Tuesday – Malawi
Pastor Philip Bouknight from Trinity Ecumenical Parish was our facilitator today. Philip has spent a lot of time helping the people of this small African country. Again, the kids were very interactive with Philip as he talked about life in Malawi. As with all the countries we visited, the children learned a few words of the local language. Today it was Chichewa, a language commonly spoken in Malawi along with Swahili. The children could see the contrasts between life in America and life in Malawi. I think the idea that these children have so much less than children in the U.S. makes an impression. You can hear this in their questions.

• Wednesday – Guatemala
David Fox, also from TEP, was our facilitator today. He lived in Guatemala with his parents and graduated from high School there. So, David has wonderful first-hand knowledge to share. As with the other countries and cultures we visited, the kids were engaged and curious. In addition to the time with David, the kids sampled Guatemalan food and crafts. One of our interns, Alice Ann, is also fluent in Spanish so she facilitated the station on food. Another rich day!

• Thursday – Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska
Today we stayed in the U.S. but traveled to a small village in the Brooks Range Mountains in the Arctic Circle. Sally Johnston, who currently lives and works there with her husband Keith, sent us video clips and other materials for us to use in telling the kids about life in this remote village of about 300 people including about 100 children. It is hard for any of us to imagine living in a place you can’t drive to or go to a McDonalds for a Big Mac. So the kids had many questions and great curiosity. Angela Massino coordinated this enrichment program using the video clips of interviews with some of the kids from the village. Across the hall, Hannah was using other video clips of Inupiat dances to teach the kids some of the dances. Among her other gifts, Hannah took several years of dance as a child. She did a great job of using 25 minutes to teach the basics to kids 6 to 10 years old. And, in another room, the children heard Inupiat words as the interns read through the alphabet book written by children in Anaktuvuk Pass as they colored pictures of caribou; another fascinating afternoon!

Yes… this is our facilitator for today, Angela Massino. This was also imagination day so the kids and the interns were in costume. The videos are even better

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It is a true pleasure for me to watch and listen to the diverse activities at the camp. As a witness to these things I also hope to share what I have seen and what I have heard. Here are a few from this week.
• The time between 11:45 and lunch at 12 noon has been difficult to program with activities that keep the kids’ engaged. The interns (actually I am told it was Angela’s idea) came up with a simple and effective activity – the one minute story time. The kids volunteer to tell a story to their group in one minute. It can be a true story or something made up. It can be a real whopper. It has been a hit and the kids love it. This is another opportunity for the children to practice their communication skills – this time through speaking.
• This seems to be Angela’s week, but I have to tell a quick story. One of the boys had a meltdown during an activity in the gym. He was taken out of the activity and told to sit with me on the bleachers. He began crying and hitting himself and this went on for 10 or 15 minutes. We ignored him while making certain he wasn’t hurting himself. Finally, I took him (still crying) to the next activity in his classroom and then to the next room where Angela was cleaning up the art supplies. The crying continued and I left for a few minutes to take care of another task. When I returned, he had stopped crying and was actively talking with Angela. She was very focused and working with him on anger management using the things we had learned during peace week. She had him practicing jumping off the anger escalator, taking three steps back, taking a deep breath and practicing what he should say to Miss Nalina (his other intern) about the problem. They went over and over this until she was satisfied that he “got it.” It was wonderful to simply sit quietly and watch all of this unfold. I know that seeds were being sown. He was a fortunate boy that morning.
• Near the end of the week Shearer realized that we were ahead on several of the food items and would not be able to use them by the end of this camp. She made the decision to put much of this food out for families to take at the end of the day on Friday. What followed demonstrated what we don’t ordinarily see – many of these families don’t have enough food at home. So, people gratefully helped themselves to our extra food. Small boxes and bags were filled and nothing was left at the end of the day.
• At church today one of my friends was asking about camp and was especially interested in the duties of the camp director. As I described the dozens of tasks involved in that position she then added “and supervising the interns.” This was a teaching moment for me. So… I explained that we aren’t organized that way, that we work in a collegial manner and the director is part of the team. I then explained that the interns don’t really need to be “supervised.” We recruit the brightest and best young adults we can find who are already committed to service work. We provide them with a week of training, a detailed planning format, the resources they need, and treat them like professionals. The results are easy to observe. Our interns are doing wonderful work and it is a pleasure to work with them as a colleague. All of us are blessed to have them in our community this summer.

Next week is the last week of this camp. The enrichment focus is on healthy living and the Roanoke Children’s Theatre will be with us every afternoon beginning at 12:30. They will be teaching the kids a play – “Cooking It” and on Friday at 2 p.m. they will give us a performance. That will be followed by clowns, ice cream and other fun things as our ending celebration.