Outdoor Adventure is Putting it Lightly...

Before and after my summer school session, I got to help with the 4-H Outdoor Adventure Day Camps.  We had great campers both weeks, many who I had gotten to know through Agriculture Camp.  Not only was the camp an adventure and learning experience for the kids, it was for me as well!

As we all know, the weather has been a bit crazy this summer, particularly with rain.  Making adjustments to activities happened nearly on a daily basis for both weeks of camp.  For anyone who works with program planning, this is a key skill to gain.  It involves creativity and awareness of your community.  Therefore, Cora was able to keep Outdoor Adventure...outdoors.  This experience showed me first-hand how "the show must go on" and I am very appreciative to Cora for giving me that insight.

Throughout both weeks we hiked, kayaked, fished, and swam throughout the county.  While conducting these activities, the students got to visit treasured sites or discovered new ones.  I know I personally would not have learned about all the wonderful, natural and free excursions that Giles has.  Any Virginia Tech student knows about the Cascades, but not so many can say they have hiked War Spur and taken kids fishing at Glen Alton.  The campers also learned about wildlife, fishing techniques, and watersheds.

Hanging out off the War Spur Trail during Camp #1

Kayaking with Outdoor Adventure Camp has been a bumpy road for me.  Before camp I had kayaked once before with my dear friend Marge in a bay in Malaysia.  That was a fun, stress-free experience so I really did not think twice about kayaking with the campers down Walker's Creek.  Because the water was too wild from all the rain, the first camp did not kayak the New River.  We discovered the bad things about creeks are all the rocks and the small width of the body of water.  This resulted in camper after camper getting stuck on rocks.  Right and left I kept having to get them unstuck, and eventually got stuck myself...until one of the kayaks collided with mine sending it downstream with me, the kids, and the other kayak stuck.  With help from Cora, we made it to the bank and the other campers helped us get our kayaks back.  But at that point, we needed to pack up and go home, even though we never made it to our final destination.

While loading the kayaks, one of the campers was being very helpful and assisting me.  With my track record for that day, it makes complete sense that the kayak would bounce up and hit the camper in the eye.  She was fine, but I sure felt terrible.  When another camper told me: "It's your fault that everyone got stuck and we had to go home." I officially decided that I did not like kayaking, and questioned my ability to work with kids.  Luckily, Cora assured me that sometimes things go wrong, but it's how you react to them is what matters.  From her perspective, I dealt with the situation fine and that everything was going to be ok.

The beginning to a successful kayaking trip with Camp #2 

Then came Outdoor Adventure Camp #2.  Like the first, we did hiking and fishing...and kayaking.  This time we were going to be on the river.  I was so nervous, especially since the waters were still high-ish.  Turns out, it made the trip easier and better because what "rapids" we would have hit normally, were barely there.  I am glad that I overcame my nervousness to kayak again.  I had a great time and the kids were awesome!  Like any career, I will have some days that seem like the worst day ever at the time, like my initial camp kayak experience.  What I gained from this opportunity is to learn from those situations, how to better handle it next time and to not give up.  If I had given up, I would still be terrified to kayak again.  The best part of the second go round was not me getting over my fear though, it was the campers who had a great time trying something new, or getting over their own fears.  I know that I am the adult, but I learned so much from the campers.  

Just Another Learning Experience: 4-H Cloverbud Day Camp

Internships are all about learning and real-life experience while being out of your comfort zone.  While assisting with 4-H Cloverbud Day Camp, I had all of those aspects.  Not having much experience with very young youth I was nervous to work with Camp, even though I was mostly helping supervise instead of facilitating.

Robyn shows the campers chive to pick

For day camp we had ten youth, ages 5-8 for a week.  Each day had a different focus on topics that they have/will study in school and can also be a part of 4-H curriculum.  The first day was about geology where we went to Whitt-Riverbend Park in Pembroke.  There, we went on a trail walk and learned about the different types of rocks and their uses.  Day two was a real treat because we got to tube down the New River at the New River's Edge.  Following that the students learned about watersheds and how runoff and pollution affect water through hands-on models.  Wednesday was my turn to facilitate the activities.  We visited Virginia Tech's Farms and Fields project at Kentland.  Robyn and Alison, farmhands, showed the students around.  Robyn led the students through the demonstration plot where they were able to pick mint, chive, and raspberries, among other things.  Alison finished the tour of the actual plots and then let the students be farmers for a day and plant a row of corn.  In the afternoon we learned about Virginia agriculture through VA agriculture maps.  Even though it stormed something crazy, we didn't let that stop us from making delicious homemade ice cream!  Thursday's topic was on citizenship.  Ken Vittum, the Pearisburg town manager along with a town police officer taught the campers how a town council works and duties of an officer to protect the public.  They had a nice surprise for us and allowed the kids to explore a police car and the town digger!  We wrapped up citizenship day with a little history lesson and GPS exercise by hiking up to Pearis Cemetery.  The week ended with a lesson on financial management after visiting Dismal Falls.

Pearisburg officer and the students with the police car

I'll be honest, day one was a shocker.  A handful of young kids running around is not my normal environment.  After the initial shock, as the week passed my observations helped me to be a better chaperon and facilitator.  The kids grew on me and I gained a better understanding of how they learn and play.  There are still plenty of areas of youth program management that I could really work on.  Effective discipline was and still is the biggest hurdle for me when it comes to young children.  From this week, it did concrete the concept of establishing rules and always enforcing them.  During my facilitation time when I upheld my rules about interrupting, the lesson went better.  I really hope that I can take my experience from Day Camp into the classroom or wherever I may end up.  This opportunity made me further value in experience for education, because the books can only tell you so much.

Keep following for more of my learning and self growth experiences in Giles VCE!