Summer Camps Keep Kids Engaged
By Anna Ferguson Hall
The Brunswick News
Although it may sound like an amusing way to spend an afternoon of play, the “summer slide” is anything but enjoyable for students and educators once school returns each August.
Known as the lag in educational growth during the seasonal stretch between school letting out at the end of May and convening again, which this year will be on Aug. 7 in both Glynn and McIntosh counties public schools, these weeks of untapped educational stimulation can generate a significant loss in knowledge gained from the previous school year, according to the Georgia Department of Education and the Get Georgia Reading Campaign for Grade Level Reading.
For students in the Golden Isles, though, the weeks away from the academic calendar have offered more than just time off from the traditional classroom. Instead, leaders in community organizations have been actively working to keep kids’ minds and hands busy as the summer rolls on.
At Glynn Visual Arts, (GVA) Artistic Manager Michelle Register teamed up with several artistic-minded partners for a host of hands-on, creative crafting which helped spur educational energy while students were seemingly at play.
A prime example of that was their inaugural Create a Character: Hand Puppets. What happens at a hand puppet camp? Register is quick to answer: Exactly what it sounds like.
Through the leadership of puppeteer Ann Lochstampfor, this camp, which was held once in June and will be held again next week, offers campers a range of materials to dive hands-first into the world of hand puppets.
During this unique four-day experience, campers ages 6 years and older, learn about lip-sync techniques, hand movement magic, as well as storytelling and set design by crafting stages and scenery for their tales in a showcase performed by the campers for an audience.
In an avenue of teaching campers a variety of storytelling tactics, GVA also hosted an Illustration Creation, as well as their Wrap it Up Jewelry crafting camp, Stitching Station sewing course and Clay and Collage camps, all taught by local artisans.
In the same effort to generate learning experiences, which offer educational value but on a non-traditional academic pathway, Heather Heath has developed a ready schedule of activities for students to study both on and off the stage of the Ritz Theatre. This was seen this summer with the nonprofit’s Camp Create, where slightly older students, ranging in age from 12 to 14 years old, focus on more complex theatre games and ideas. The outcome, Heath said, is seen as students focusing “more on developing creativity. It is something that can be learned if the opportunity to try out new things can happen in a safe and supportive environment.”
As much is presented at the end of the four-day camp, when students perform the play they wrote, she said.
During the weeks of summer acting, writing and directing camps hosted through GIAH, Heath said she is continually encouraged by how students grow and mature, with shy students often breaking out of their shell, and even students with learning disabilities reaching new goals, simply by having the option to interact with peers and mentors in a less-regulated space.
“There are always great moments that happen in every camp, from the very shy young person stepping out of themselves and onstage performing a character, to just some of the amazing ideas that they come up with,” Heath said. “Most recently, our younger campers created a play that had them traveling through different dimensions searching for magical keys that could help them get home. (That) was pretty cool.”
Throughout the school year, Golden Isles students can look beyond the classroom and to community-based, nonprofit organizations such as GVA, GIAH and the YMCA to keep unique educational projects and programs at the ready.
The Golden Isles YMCA, for example, is a hub for not only stopping the summer slide, but also for educational, and after-hours, experiences on students’ agendas. Tyree Shelton, branch director for the YMCA, which offers services to Glynn and McIntosh counties, said he and his staff have worked with, and continue to work with, students of all ages to keep their minds and bodies active with different art projects, educational games, STEM activities, and gym games. This is seen during the summer months and when school is not in session, he said.
During the months of summer slide prevention, that meant a new camp theme every week, including the “super cool” and popular STEM camp complete with an astronaut obstacle course, he said.
“Camps are a great way for children to work on their social skills and learn the importance of working together. Camp allows children to meet new friends and try to new things,” Shelton said. “Attending camp can help prevent summer learning loss. We practice fine motor skills in art and STEM and read each day for 30 minutes… (which are) activities that stimulate the child’s mind.”
What’s more, camps offer learning and leadership opportunities for older students, Shelton said, noting that the YMCA, for example, “has local high school students (who) provide sports specialty camps this summer. We just completed soccer camp and will have a volleyball camp.”
In the summer months, Shelton noted, camps summer camps have the “added benefit of offering safety around water and swimming lessons to all of our campers.”
Be it with hands as puppets, splashing in pools or minds crafting new scripts, camps of all variations act as a bridge between the educational arena and leisure time, both of which are critical to building a rounded educational foundation.
“After a week at camp, children should be excited to come back (to school) because they have made new friends, tried a new sport, game or activity,” Shelton said. “It is also our hope that they create a bond with positive role models and feel comfortable in their own skin.”
Plus, Register added, “Camp is the perfect way to help children gain confidence in constructing with their hands. Plus, it’s fun.”
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