for.the.kids: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

First Week-Session II

The weather man said a 100% chance of rain on Monday...but he didn't say it would rain 100% of the day! I think this is really what Arkansas is supposed to be like in the fall. Arkansas was actually in a drought (and it still might be I guess), so it is good that we got a lot of rain. Unfortunately, the added element of tons of rain made us have to adjust our plans a lot. Good thing we here at Pfeifer are flexible. We practiced building tents in the pavilion, played games on the porch of the classroom and spent some time looking at the Geckos in the Kaufman Building. The girls didn't seem to mind too much and they did very well going with the flow. It is a great thing that we constantly have fires going in our cabin because it helps to dry their stuff out whenever we are in there.
My new group of girls is really doing wonderful so far. They are, for the most part, respectful and eager to learn the ways that we do things at camp. Today is their first full day in the classroom, so we'll see if they keep on liking it :) Last night we got to decorate the cabin and the girls decided to go for a "Santa's Workshop" theme. They made it look very nice. It is interesting seeing the things that they come up. They are definitely full of surprises.
Tomorrow will be the first time we camp out as a group, so I am excited to see how it will go. It sure is getting cold out here, so we just need to make sure our girls stay warm and safe! Keep us all in your prayers, as I keep you in mine.
Peace

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Success Story Session I

Each Session at camp we are asked to write a "Success Story" about one of our campers. Here is mine.

Katoryis arrived at Pfeifer Camp with a shy smile on her face and a quiet demeanor to match it. In fact, for the first few days or so, she did not do anything especially right nor wrong. She slipped right under the radar; a learned trait to help protect her from any kind of attention in general. She was the kind of camper that makes life easy for a counselor that has to give their attention to so many other campers. As her counselor, this realization of how easy she was making life was the first red flag that there was more going on inside her than she was showing. The thing about Pfeifer Camp is that it forces a bunch of children to get out of their comfort zone by challenging them in the classroom and in group building and self-discovery. All of the comforts and distractions of home are taken away and then they are faced with the habits that have been formed in their lives. For Katoryis her habits were self-destructive and she was crumbling from the inside-out. She was the perfect camper for so long because she was putting up a front of being happy and content. In reality, she was breaking and was having the most difficult time keeping up her façade. She was bottling up her emotions and when she was finally faced with them, she slowly got to feel the experience of living her emotions. As the oldest child in her family, she had to put on the perfect face to not make anyone upset. She had to keep her feelings inside because no one had the time or energy to deal with them. Along with this, she didn’t have enough people telling her how amazing and how strong she has been. Gradually, she learned healthy ways of dealing with her emotions and she started the process of loving herself. She learned what an authentic life can look like, which led to a renewed view of herself and therefore a better ability to connect with those around her. She discovered that she had things to share with the group and that the other girls looked up to her for her strength and hard work. The world outside of Pfeifer Camp may not have changed, but Katoryis has. She has found a new voice. A voice that is not stifled by the world, but instead a voice of self-assurance and pride.

Friday, November 12, 2010

What an amazing job I have...

Wow, what a ride?! This first session of ACE is officially over and the camp is now only inhabited by us crazy AmeriCorp people and the Administrative Staff. Here are a few of the fun things that my group of girls did this last session...

The Adventures of Cabin 6!

1. We sang cheers and songs as we walked from place to place. Cheers: "The Beaver Song", "Banana's Unite", and "O-Adele" Songs included: Beyonce's "Halo", "My Girl", and "Lean On Me"

2. We got to watch a movie in our cabin on the last night because we won the Clean Cabin Award!

3. We played so many games after long days working hard in the classroom.

4. We camped out on Wednesdays

5. We had a "Ladies Night" in which both of the girls cabins got to lay out sleeping bags in one of the building and eat snacks and watch a movie together.

6. Lastly, we got to do many team bonding activities that helped us all get to know and love each other.

All of our girls graduated at the end of the session. It was such a joyous occasion. The kids come in and leave to the song "Eye of the Tiger." It gave me the chills and almost brought a tear to my eye as the kids' faces were beaming with pride and their families and counselors were cheering for them. Here is a picture of where all the kids sat. I can't include pics of the kids just because of privacy issues. All of the parents sit facing the kids.

Sometime soon I will have to include the "Touch the Ceiling" poem we say during Graduation as well.

This first session was full of fun. I learned so much from the girls and my co-counselor Jennifer. Since as long as I can remember I have wanted to make an impact in the life of a child. I have wanted to be a role-model and teach them the ways to succeed and love each other and themselves. With this job I feel like I am finally doing it every day. I am feeling fulfilled and challenged to be the best version of myself. This job is great and the people that I work with are so inspiring. I am energized everyday to keep going and am so excited to get my new group of girls in a couple weeks.

Here are a couple pics from our first session and Graduation Day...