Wearing green and yellow silk Hawaiian flower leis and clothes as brightly-colored as their moods, a couple dozen excited and energetic children Friday said, “Aloha” to summer during the first week of Camp Cook, a summer camp for kindergarten through sixth-grade students of the Columbus Municipal School District.
“We keep them thinking over the summer,” Lisa Elmore, a volunteer coordinator and school counselor at Joe Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School, who also serves as the camp”s director, said of the program, which continues through the month of July. “Parents didn”t want them staring at computer screens at home all summer. We keep them moving from the time they get here to the time they leave. We hardly sit down.”
Students from all schools in the Columbus Municipal District are welcome to attend the camp, which is held each weekday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Cook. Parents can drop off their children at times convenient for them, Elmore noted.
“This is just a way our district is thinking outside of the box to provide services for families,” she explained. “It”s also not just child care; it”s academic enrichment.”
Each week of the camp is structured around a different theme; the children participate in accelerated reading activities, benefit from computer educational programs, make lots of crafts and focus on a different character trait each week.
The themes include sports, art, camping for kids, cooking for kids, safety camp and “manners matter.”
Also, during Camp Cook Idol, held the week of June 14, the students will participate in drama and music activities — inspired by the popular television show, “American Idol” — and the week will culminate in a talent show.
During the “Red, white, blue and you!” camp, held the week of June 28, the children will enjoy hot dogs, baseball games and other activities with a patriotic theme.
“My favorite part is learning new things,” Izzy Poros, 6, said of the camp. “We learn how to write.”
Like many of the children, Poros, the daughter of John Poros and Leslie Stratyner, is most looking forward to the week of July 26, when the camp theme is pet care.
The daughter of Gwen Granderson, Alexandra Brown, 11, listed pet care as her favorite theme, noting she has a 5-year-old Jack Russell terrier, named Leche, which is the Spanish word for ”milk.”
“I”m learning not to hit and to be quiet and to share,” Brown said of summer camp. “(And) almost all of the girls are my friends.”
“I”m learning to be quiet, learning how to be safe and learning how to do manners,” said Savannah McCarter, 6. “The hardest thing is learning about being safe.”
The daughter of Kimberly Eddins, McCarter is a fan of “American Idol” and is excited about the Cook Idol theme.
“I like it because it has fun games,” Benjamin Josiah Henderson III, 6, said of the camp, noting playing volleyball is his favorite activity.
“I”m learning how to play games without hurting others,” the son of Bennie and Regina Henderson explained. “Pet care is my favorite (theme) because I have a dog named Gabriel. He”s part German shepherd and part Chow.
“He”s a watchdog,” he added, careful to note the dog actually is “Gabriel II.”
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