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| I just love froggies in the spring. This one is about 2 1/2 inches long! |
We are in full swing here at camp. The third graders have been here for two weeks now, and we have two more left! Third graders are always a fun bunch for many reasons. One way that they are particularly fun is that none of them have ever been through the ACE Program before. Often times, when we have the fourth and fifth grade sessions, some of the campers that have been at camp the previous year or even previous sessions create an atmosphere that just isn't quite the same as having a camp full of newbies. They know how things work (or at least they think they do), they try to manipulate the system (and most the time fail), and they often don't show as much growth because they have done it all before.
Please please please don't get me wrong... I absolutely love all the children that come through these gates and graduate... but third graders are just so rewarding because you get to start from square one!
Another reason they are so much fun is because they are not quite as tainted by the world as fourth and fifth graders. They are more imaginative, creative, and energetic. Along with those traits... they are also extremely emotional, irrational, and have tiny bladders (They literally have to go all the time. And when they have to go, they have to go that minute. On more than one occasion this session, a kid has peed their pants because they couldn't hold it). Whoops! Our counselors are working so hard though, and have shown their strength and passion throughout these past two weeks. They clean up after the pee, they stay up until all hours of the night with a kid doing homework, and they plan tons of activities to make their campers' time at camp the most memorable experience.
We are half way through, and yet, have much work to do. We have made great strides with many kids, and continue to struggle with others. It is so difficult because you deal with a behavior of a camper and think that you've finally gotten through to them, only to see them do the same thing that got them in trouble the next day. You pour your heart and soul and will into them, and they revert to what they know. The counselor mantra that keeps us as sane (as one could be doing this job) is... "They have had 8-10 years to develop these poor habits- we have four weeks- we will do the best we can and hope we see a change, whether that change occurs here or back at home or at their school, or even in the years to come."
This is what drives us. What we see in the present, and what we know they can do. Most importantly, we know that they are important and worth our effort. And when the kids understand that- that they are important and worth it- our mission is complete.
