Julia E's Summer Camp Recap - part 2

Tuesday June 23
As we enter the second half of Summer Camp, things are starting to really level out. Every day I have a steady number of kids which always hovers somewhere around 23, with the same kids returning each time. The script is in print, and I figured out the cast list for my class without any meltdowns over role assignments (major and surprising success). Chris’ music class has turned to dancing, which is great, especially for the older children. Thrilled to dance to songs that they recognize, the kids seem really focused and engaged, a welcoming change. Our project for the day: what is your favorite animal in the sky, under the sea, or on the ground. We had several dinosaurs (and a “dinser”), sharks, puppies, and dolphins - which they were enthralled to hear were the smartest animals in the world, after humans. After classes were over, Elliot, another ATA at Conner, organized a camp-wide game of red-light, green-light which was a huge success!We will start rehearsals later this week for the end-of-camp show. Hope everything runs smoothly!

Friday June 26
The weekend again! We ended the week yesterday with a somewhat unproductive rehearsal, but now that we are more organized, we will have a better rehearsal on Monday. All of our instructors communicated and found a way to include every art form in the program; now we just have to straighten out the logistics. Yesterday, while the kids were not needed on stage, I took my group for project free-time, and set everyone up with quiet individual projects. While most of the boys were entertained folding new models of paper airplanes, everyone else found creative busy projects and stayed happy and focused.Chris also put the finishing touches on the two dance routines, and the kids seem to really enjoy them and are getting really good. Now that we're allowing the kids to dance on stage, even those who didn’t feel like participating are jumping in, which is great. The challenge comes in fitting forty antsy children on stage to dance!

-Julia E.
ps - more pics here!