Hello! My name is Joyce and I am drama counselor at the Arts in Action Camp. This is my first year and it has been amazing. I love the community and the arts so everything has been great. We are all having a really good time! I am going to tell you a little bit about the camp and what we do on a daily basis; but, specifically, I want to tell you about the first day of camp.
Monday we woke up and headed to the center around eight o’clock. The second we got there, students arrived and our job began. We hung out, tried to get the shy ones to talk, had a dance party and before we knew it, all fifty chairs were filled with eager students. I am on the opening and closing committee which means I, as well as three other team members have to plan the activities in the morning and the closing activities as well as the journal prompts for journal time everyday. It’s a big job, but it usually ends in a funny show that the counselors improv. It’s been so hilarious, I am really enjoying it.
So for the first activity, the counselors dressed up really crazy and came in the room to introduce themselves. Because the theme in camp is journey, we all introduced ourselves as adventure guides with funky names. We then broke up in to four groups called hikers, scooters, bikers and skaters (eco-friendly ways to travel). In each group, we gave out maps and told them to begin their adventure where they would go to each art classroom to complete a quick challenge that they would have to perform at them end of the activity. It seemed to be a hit because not only did the counselors enjoy it, but the kids were laughing the whole time and thought our characters were really funny.
After opening activities we broke into our “quests” which is the time the kids get to spend in the art that they see as their first priority. We taught them a few games, we wanted to make a silly and fun atmosphere the first day which seemed to be a success. Our kids all seem pretty excited for all of the other activities. Because opening was two hours and our focus group was an hour and half, it was already time for lunch. We play some pretty sick music during lunch for some intense dance parties.
The afternoon continued as we taught the same lesson that we taught our focus to the other arts as they passed through our classrooms in the afternoon. It was really interesting to see how the artists, musicians and dancers responded to all the different lessons, they were so different but equally exciting. We then closed the day for an hour, doing journals, prompts, sharing and the chant. SUCH AN AMAZING DAY.
For my first year, the first day has already been a life changing experience. The community center is full of passionate and curious people, which makes for a pretty incredible experience and a very unique atmosphere.Stay posted to hear about more of camp. Each day it gets even better and I want to share it with the rest of you!
J-O-U-R-N-E-Y,
Art-in-Action is ready to fly!
