My Wonderful Summer

As Reading Camp season draws to a close I find myself reflecting on my experience at each Camp I attended. I call June and July of 2008 “My Wonderful Summer”. All four of the camps used the same six Learning Centers to reach out to the children and give them the tools to improve their reading and writing skills. Each camp had a dedicated staff of directors, teachers, support people, and counselors. Authors visited to read from their books and explain how books are published. Every Camp had a different theme and activities aimed at giving the children confidence in themselves. All campers were sent home with a bag full of books and a place in the hearts of those who worked with them.

At Danville's Reading Camp we were swept into the magic of reading by a Harry Potter theme. There is singing before breakfast every day. We read to them at lunchtime. We have the advantage of resource people from Centre College and there are interesting places for field trips in the afternoons. There was a wonderful chemistry magic show this year. Swimming every day is a highlight, too. There is a traditional flavor about the Danville Camp which is held at historic Trinity Church and is a Day Camp. Many of the children already know each other when they come to camp and are comfortable with one another. Danville is a lovely small town where people smile and make us feel very welcome.

Reading Camp at the Cathedral Domain is a residential camp. Here the children learn archery and how to rappel. There is hiking and a trip to the Bat Cave and campfire singing with S'mores and a night swim. Meals in the Dining Hall are noisy with happy chatter. The children are showered and in their bunks when adults come with lanterns to read them a chapter or two from the book chosen for the year. Reading Camp teachers and support staff at the Domain stay in the Conference Center and enjoy hanging out on the porch in the evenings. This forms a strong bond. The children come from different school systems and areas and it is wonderful to see them bonding as a group. It was most rewarding this year that we had a Counselor who was a camper in the very first session of Reading Camp six years ago. The theme this year was Circus and we had a wonderful week of magic tricks, plate spinning and clown instruction capped off by a grand parade around the camp road on the last evening of camp.

The Reading Camp held at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County had our very first out of state camper this year. Sam came from Missouri because his father found out about Reading Camp on the Internet. Our staff included people from Pennsylvania, Northern Ohio, Minnesota, Georgia and Germany as well as Kentuckians. The campers come from Middlesboro, Harlan, and Harlan County. Pine Mountain is a beautiful place with a rich Appalachian heritage and is also a residential camp. Here we also read the children to sleep each night. We use three buildings and walk across a small bridge to the Library for the Centers. Deer can be spotted and there is a beaver pond and a garden where vegetables are grown for the dining hall. The Environmental Education program provided by the Pine Mountain Settlement School staff each afternoon and the crafts taught to the children are especially enriching. The children learned about sustainable gardening. Our theme this year was Astronomy and Space. A Ranger from Cumberland Gap National Park came to teach us about the planets and constellations and we took blankets out to lie on the ground and stargaze. At Pine Mountain we hold a Graduation for the campers going into fifth grade and they are so proud of their Certificates. We were so proud of them. There wasn't a dry eye in the Chapel!

The Mission House Camp held in Lexington is a Day Camp and draws children mostly from the neighborhood. They are primarily from two schools downtown. We use the bus from the Church of the Resurrection to collect many of them each morning and take them home at the end of the day. The theme this year was Horses and Mission House was transformed. Bales of hay, jockey silks, wonderful murals of horses in green fields and colorful paper horseshoes hanging in the entry hall all reminded us that we live in the Horse Capitol of the World. A trip to a farm where each child had the opportunity to ride on a horse and learn about grooming one, a trip to the stable of the Mounted Police in Lexington, a visit to an equine hospital, swimming every afternoon and hiking at Raven Run gave city children new experiences. They were encouraged to read by the presence of a canine friend named Blue in the Pleasure Reading Center. Visitors interested in starting Reading Camps in their towns came during the week to observe how a Reading Camp functions. They are always welcome. Volunteers from several parishes provided lunches for us each day. We ate on the porch and the children jumped rope, played games and used colored chalk to adorn the sidewalk.

I have come to these conclusions:
All children respond to individual attention.
They all love games involving water balloons.
They bond with the Counselors and love singing loud songs.
The adults discover the joy of giving these precious young people an extra boost in life.
All children everywhere are our children.
It doesn't matter whether they come from a city, a small town, a rural county or a place far across the ocean.
They need the attention we give them and we are blessed to be able to give it.
My life is ever so much richer for being a part of Reading Camp.

-C.C. Johnson is a member of St. Raphael’s, Lexington and is volunteering at four Reading Camps this summer