Contributed by LIFRC Staff
It’s the last week of July, and we’re busy at the Lopez Island Family Resource Center. We’re in the midst of preparing for over 75 kids to join us for five different workshops at Lopez School this week. In addition, six middle-schoolers will be leaving midweek for the Seafaring, Voyaging and Camping trip, a Sea Kayaking Fundamental Skills class for adults will be taking place, a free “open gym” will take place Thursday night, and we are co-sponsoring a Barn Dance with Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. It’s going to be a fun-filled week!
One of our largest classes this week is the Girl’s Circus Camp, based out of Eugene, Ore. Darcy, the energetic and charismatic leader of this camp, talks a lot about “GIRL POWER!”, and with 25 girls in this camp, we can see why. Darcy and her assistant teach the kids a variety of skills, including baton tricks, hula hoop stunts, acrobatics, juggling, tumbling, theatrics and, of course, teamwork! One game involves the girls forming a tight circle together, carefully leaning back, bending their knees, and ultimately the group is all sitting on each other’s laps in a circle formation. Darcy informs me they are the first of her camps this season to successfully accomplish this! On confidential surveys given out to the girls at the end of camp, responses varied from, “I would suggest having this camp for two weeks instead of one because it was so fun!” to “I got much stronger and flexible in my body,” to simply, “I LOVE IT!!!!!!”
Meanwhile, kids at Lego VEXIQ are creating some impressive robots. As one of us watched, Willem Scholten (who coaches one of Seattle’s top performing Lego Robotics teams) helped a child program a robot to pick up and throw a ball into a goal. A kid cheered as his robot made the perfect shot. We could see why, according to Scholten, Lego Robotics “…is a perfect way to teach students teamwork and to have kids experience the wonders of applied math, physics, biology and the sciences in general as well as computers [STEM].” This workshop, as well as the afternoon Lego WeDo class, appears to be teaching the kids in a hands-on, accessible and exciting way, and the kids just love it! As one child put it, “This [camp] was amazing.”
In the Music Room, Rachel Buchman is running two music camps, one for 3-4-year-olds and another for 5-6-year-olds. Buchman has twice been a Grammy award semi-finalist for children’s music, and is the current teaching artist for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. Due to popularity, the camp was lengthened this year to four days, and kids seem to still be eager for more. The class that one of us observe starts off with a focus on learning musical scales in a fun, simple way. As Buchman plays an ascending scale on the piano and sang “Will you please stand up?,” the kids stood up together. As the scale descended and Buchman sang “Will you please sit down,” the kids collapsed in giggles on the floor. We love how fully present and engaged the kids were! My favorite part of the class was when Buchman set each child up with an instrument – such as a drum or marimba – and had them play along to a song they previously learned to sing. She also made sure that they rotated instruments, so that they could try everything!
A lot of the kids from the Music Camp also show up for the Barn Dance. Kids love “riding” the hay bale horses (complete with saddles), and Buchman, accompanied by local musicians ages 11 to adult, calls a variety of dances that are great for all ages. Children skip around the room with each other, with their parents and with their adult friends. Buchman does some silly dances, but then also does some more classic folk dances, and the room resonates with song and dance.
At the end of the week, we are all happily exhausted, and surveys are showing positive responses. By mid-August, we will have provided a total of 84 summer workshops, had over 385 people in our workshops, and filled 743 spots. With community support, we will have provided over $7,000 in scholarship money to 63 local children and teenagers, so that they were able to have a fun, educational summer alongside their friends.
