Camp Courage

This past week I had one of the best experiences of my life. Since we had a week between the end of the school year and summer school, I had the opportunity to try something I've never done before, I went to summer camp. Of course my first camp experience wasn't as a camper, but as a counselor.

A few months ago a fellow AmeriCorps member mentioned to me that she was going to talk to one of our supervisors about being camp counselors during our week off. This wasn't your typical summer camp though. She had previously been a counselor for Camp Courage, a week long camp for children who have lost loved ones. I immediately was interested in being counselor, but mostly because I wanted a chance to go to camp since I had never gone as a kid. After she began telling me more about the camp, I was really excited about the idea of not just getting to take part in camp-type activities, but also being able to work with kids who are dealing with a loss.

When we met with Becky Byrne a month before camp, she explained more about the camp, and I was ecstatic. I could tell from listening to her how passionate she was about this program. She runs Annies Hope, a non-profit that helps children and their families deal with death. Camp Courage is the big project that happens at the beginning of each summer. I knew from her enthusiasm, that I would be in for an incredible experience.

Last Saturday, less than 24 hours after my last day of school, I was on my way to Camp Courage. The first day was basically a chance for counselors to get to know one another, get proper training for the week and to start decorating in preparation for the kids to arrive on Sunday. There was a chance for some fun time, which for me was a 6-mile canoe trip down the Meramac River in the rain with 4 other counselors. After spending a few hours with all the counselors as well as the backbones of the camp, Ali and Annie, the assistant camp director and program director, I again realized that I was in for quite a week. Everyone had so much energy (it was a bit overwhelming for me at the time, but I think it was mainly because I was exhausted from the end of the school year) and seemed so dedicated to making it the best week possible for all of the kids. On Sunday, we continued to decorate for the Hollywood theme of camp as well as put together short movies with small groups that would be shown at the Academy Awards to all of the kids. By the time the kids were ready to arrive, there was so much energy that any exhaustion was quickly wiped out. Of course we ended up having to wait an extra 3 hours for the kids to arrive due to a falt tire on one of the buses.

As the buses pulled up, all the counselors were dressed in wacky costumes (I was a lobster) and ran along side the buses as they were coming up the drive. After the kids got off the buses and were given refreshments, the introduced each kid as they ran through a tunnel of counselors cheering them on. Now, I've never been to camp before, but I'm pretty sure this is unlike any other camp experience out there. I think the idea is to set a tone that even after a loss there's a lot to celebrate and be excited about and by having counselors get crazy and excited, it rubs off on the kids. After dinner and a quick meeting with the cabin (I was with teenaged boys) the whole camp went down to the river for a candle lighting ceremony where all the campers are invited to share their loss and light a candle. To hear some of these kids' memories and what they had experienced, I was deeply moved. It's amazing what some of these children had experienced at such a young age, but so many of them had the courage to speak publicly and openly about their loss. I began to see how mature these kids were at such a young age.

Working with middle schoolers all year, I was very comfortable being a counselor for teen boys. Most of the guys were in high school or about to go to high school, so they were slightly older than the students I worked with, but I was at ease when I was getting to know them. I think most of them could tell that I was comfortable being around teenagers which put them a lot more at ease with me and allowed them to trust me almost immediately. It was important to me not to be simply a counselor, but a friend as well.

As most of you know, when I get the chance to act and play like a kid, I rarely turn it down, and being at camp gave me several opportunities to act like I was younger than my age. The guys had a natural rivalry with the teen girls which included the kidnapping of mascots. I helped them create a ransom note as well as take pictures of the captured mascot ready to be totured. Besides those activities I also got to raft, swim, do some arts and crafts and take part in an all-out mud fight that included silly string and whipped cream. I think in one week's time I made up for all of the fun I missed out on by not going to summer camp.

Besides being a fun experience, I learned that despite how mature many of these kids were, they were all still kids (even the teen boys). Sure they had dealt with a lot that made them wise beyond their years, but deep down they still wanted and needed others to comfort them and care for them. I had a couple of guys who freely shared with me the struggles that they've been dealing with daily since their loss and how they try and cope. I took walks in the morning with one of the campers just to talk and listen, and I came away amazed at his maturity. Another boy who started the week as a quiet, observant kid, was dancing crazy at the dance by the end of the week and taking part in cheers before meals so we could be served first. By the end of the week I was sad to see the campers leave. I gave many of them my e-mail and phone number so if they ever want to get together or have a chat.

I'm hoping I'll be able to make it back next year, otherwise, I'll be sure to get back in the future. I knew going in to the week I was in for an awesome experience, but it went way beyond my expectations. If for some reason I never make it back to Camp Courage, I'll still have memories of 1 week that should last me a lifetime.

Last Day of School

This blog is long overdue, but because I had so little time between the last day of school and leaving for Camp Courage early Saturday morning, I never had a chance to post my thoughts on the last day of school. I'll write a separate piece on my week-long camp experience as well, which should be coming soon.

I'll start by commenting on my birthday at school. I can't recall having more than one birthday where I was still in school when my birthday rolled around, so I was excited to be able to celebrate my birthday with all the people at school. It couldn't have been a better day. My teammates got some of the kids to sign a card for me and while I was sitting in the cafeteria talking to kids and taking pictures at lunch, the disciplinarian announced to the students that it was my birthday and led them in singing "Happy Birthday." After being serenaded by the students I went out to lunch at Qdoba (my favorite restaurant ever) with my teammates. When I got back to school, a few more kids and even a teacher made some individual cards for me. What amazed me was that some of the kids weren't even kids that I've had a lot of contact with this year. Since it was the second to last day of school, things were very laid back so kids were able to just hang out in our room, listen to music and play games. On Thursday night I had some friends over to celebrate my brithday. It wasn't anything big, but it was nice to have a few people over to share my day with.

Friday was our last day at the school. It was kind of an abrupt end to the school year. I would venture a guess that only about half of the kids were there. Like the rest of the week, things were very, very laid back. Teachers were either showing movies or letting the kids play games while music was played in the background. What's weirdest to me, is that last Friday may be the last time I see a lot of those kids. With the high rate of students moving, many of the kids may not be back at L'Ouverture next year. We do still have summer school which starts this coming Monday and I think a lot of my students (fortunately and unfortunately) have to attend summer school. With my role set to change at the beginning of August, I won't have the opportunity to see these kids everyday. I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to make appearances at school as often as possible, but I can't say for sure that I'll have time to see all the different kids who I have built a relationship these past 8 months. I plan on keeping in touch with my students as best I can and even hope to be able to do some things with them from time to time this summer and next year.

After the day was over, I couldn't believe how quicked the year had passed, and as I and my teammate Monique were leaving the room we both commented on how odd it was to be leaving our room for the last time (summer school is at a different building). It's amazing how in such a short time that we all became so attached to L'Ouverture, and just like that it was over. I that it will be a different group of AmeriCorps members there next year, but the four of us there this year definitely left our mark at L'Ouverture that will hopefully have a lasting impact for years to come.

Having Fun

It seems like a lot of my posts this year have focused more on my service at school, but believe it or not I do have a pretty nice social life. It's not as social as say college life, but I do spend most of my free time with other members in the Corps. Sometimes it's just hanging out at someone's house, other times it's a last minute camping trip and still other times it's checking out some live music in town. Of course, I'm trying to branch out a little beyond AmeriCorps so that I'm not always having to be with the same people. That's where ultimate frisbee comes in.

For those of you who haven't heard of ultimate frisbee, it's one of my favorite sports to participate in and combines aspects from football, soccer, basketball and even lacrosse. The object is to work the frisbee down the field trying to score in the endzone. It's self-officiating and a non-contact sport. That doesn't mean it isn't intense. In fact, I would say that it's probably the most intense sport I've ever taken a part of. Players are constantly running up and down a field and substitutions can only occur after points. Despite be non-contact there still seems to be plenty of bumps, scrapes and bruises, but not from other players rather from making hitting the ground after a dive. Of course one of my favorite parts of the game is what is referred to the "spirit of the game" which is basically a tacit agreement between all competitors that they will fairly officiate their own game. Even when there are minor disagreements, they are settled quickly and without further escalation. There's no doubt that things come up in the heat of the moment, but after the game is over everything is forgotten and opponents will share compliments with one another.

While I've played ultimate a little bit in high school and even a bit in college, it wasn't until more recently that I've really become involved in the sport. I just started in a summer league a few weeks ago, and this weekend took part in my first tournament. Of course the tournament was on Saturday, which also happened to be a hot day with a blazing sun coming down on us. The team I was on made it to the semifinals of the tournament, but after being short-handed all day, the sun and heat finally caught up with us and we lost to a team with some superb players. If nothing else, we managed to tire them out, because they looked like they didn't have the same pep in their step in the championship game. After such a long day and doing more running then I've probably ever done in my life, I was incredibly sore Sunday and today. That's not stopping me from getting back on the field in a few hours for another league game.

So I've found several things to keep me busy for the rest of the summer and probably will be in top shape come the start of my next term.

I hope everyone else is doing well and I'll be home in about 3 weeks and will be able to share more of what I've been up to.

Big Day

Tomorrow, (June 2nd) our site has been chosen by the Corps to host a consultant to the superintendant. We are one of only two sites picked (the other is an elementary school) to "show off" the impact that AmeriCorps St. Louis members are having in the St. Louis public schools.

Our team found out about this last week, and the last few days we've been preparing for the visit. As a group we feel very honored to be chosen for this distinction as it is recognition for the service we've provided to L'Ouverture this year. That's not to say that other schools haven't been great in their own way, but I think the staff at the office and at our school feel we've really stood out all year in what we've given back to the school.

I'm very excited for this opportunity, because my hope (and the hope of the entire Corps) is that by having a high ranking school district official see what AmeriCorps is capable of in a short time, the district we'll continue to partner with us and perhaps even increase our contract so we can expand the program to more schools in a very troubled district. As it stands currently, there's a chance our education program may be cut significantly by the district, meaning there would be fewer schools that would reap the benefits of having Corps members present. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the service we provide has a lasting impact not just on the school, but on the community as a whole, and it would be a tragedy if we were unable to continue to make an impact at as many schools as possible.

The other reason our team is amped for this opportunity is that we believe it may be a signal that we are one of the schools being considered as the champion site for the 11th year. While I didn't come to St. Louis for awards, receiving an award for the best team would be something I would be extremely proud. I guess I feel like the award would recognize not what we accomplished individually, but rather recognizes what can be accomplished when you have a team working hard and working together to make a significant impact. Throughout the year, our team has all been striving for excellence, and we continue to try and find ways to improve the environment in the school. Even if we don't end up winning the award, I will be able to walk away at the end of the year, knowing we didn't just make the difference in the lives of a few students, but in the entire school community.