By Collette Hayes
There’s a bit of truth in the old adage that if you surround yourself with
clowns, you won’t be surprised if your life resembles a circus and children
attending the Warrior Explorer camp at Windham Christian Academy learned that in
person this summer.
The fulltime camp provides high-interest activities for students entering first through sixth grades and offers afternoon experiences to students in first through eighth grades.
According
to Jackie Sands, Windham Christian Academy principal, the camp kept students in
the “learning mode” over the summer and gave them an excellent opportunity for
a child to continue to learn and develop to avoid the academic summer slide.
Last week’s Warrior Explorer Summer Camp theme “clowning around” included
activities of experimentation, creative exploration and cognitive,
problem-solving, all important learning skills leading to improved academic
skills.
During camp each week, skills are developed around a specific topic or theme. On
Friday afternoon, campers were “clowning around” learning juggling skills,
creating illusions, twisting balloons into animal shapes and exploring clown
costuming and make-up design.
A 7-year-old
camper had no trouble twisting balloons into various animal shapes while Amber
Sands, 13, perfected pin juggling and performed her skills like a master during camp
performance time.
Other
campers practiced creating magic illusions with intense focus and detail. All of
the campers participated in designing their own make-up on a mimeo before
applying paint to their faces. The results caused bright eyes and exclamations
of delight.
“Clowning
Around Week” had specific goals focused on the eight commandments of being a
clown from respecting other clowns no matter how experienced or inexperienced
to always being appropriate for all audiences.
For the
culminating activity on Friday, the campers choose one of four types of clowns:
Auguste, Tramp, Whitefaced or Character. The campers then created their own
make-up and costuming.
For the last two years during “Clowning Around Week,” the camp’s director, Rick
Hagerstrom, has shared his enthusiasm for juggling with the campers.
“I have
had a passion for juggling for the last 45 years,” Hagerstrom said. “It is a
skill which helps the campers build self-confidence. Also, it is a great way
for students to develop focus and experience creative problem solving through
direct experience.”
According to Sands, one of the primary objectives of the annual camp is to
provide experiences to keep students’ academic and learning skills sharp and to
have fun doing it and “Clowning Around Week” helped campers achieve that goal.
“Campers
are going home and sharing their new skills with their parents,” Sands said. “We
have had a lot of positive parent feedback.”
Windham Christian Academy’s Warrior Summer Camp wraps up this week. <
No comments:
Post a Comment