Camp Michigamme Day

So! Camp Michigamme Day was on Saturday and it was fairly successful.. Lots of people showed up for the auction and to walk around the grounds. Good thing my coworkers and I have been sprucing up the place! Aka raking, weeding, mowing, shoveling, etc... Everyone had nice things to say about the camp and it was good to see families enjoying the grounds.

My task for the day was to coordinate Rockland; and Cézanne wanted to help! He was hanging out with mom until the kids came in to work and then I decided to put him back. Some of the kids asked to see him so he made some guest appearances. I think he is going to be a big hit in Rockland this ssssummer :)

Pretty funny snake.. I even had my snake earrings!

My previous post describes the paper making process in more detail, but these are some shots from working with the kids.

Setting up for crafting with the kids! Notice how orderly everything is...

We had some big kid crafters, too! My cabin was very popular with visitors and I think I worked with about 30 kids throughout the day. Everyone left Rockland with at least one plantable paper sheet. The solution to transport them? Transferring the paper to paper plates and then putting them into baggies of various sizes - kids were all excited to take them home and plant them!

Pressing the paper and transferring. The kids really thought that was cool. Press, plate, pat, paper!

Engaged future campers :)

Come on, guys! Use your muscles!

The big reveal..

Taking turns.. everyone was very polite!

This little guy wanted to make a bunch! Him and his sister were doing them together.

Aaaand Craftermath.

I seriously love this little scaly goof animal.

The kids had a really good time with the craft and learned about the paper making process as well! One of them was clever enough to point out that we were making paper out of paper... Haha

I received some very positive feedback from my boss about Rockland. She said some of the parents had doubts about their kids 'fitting in' or being comfortable at the camp, but that I eased their worries with my attitude and rapport with the kids :) Apparently I was good at working with all ages - that's kind of what I pride myself in as a teacher!

Complements were a nice pat on the back after a buggy, sweaty, messy day in Rockland. I enjoyed Michigamme Day a lot. I met many of my future campers and their families - which is always fun. After seeing how k-12 campers reacted to the process I am going to consider using more papermaking in my lesson plans for the other grade levels.. pretty cooooool.

In other news, yesterday I was asked to serve as an interim counselor for the first group of campers! Senior high school students... Talk about a change of pace. I will be chaperoning one of the girls' camper cabins next week AND serving as craft queen. I'm gonna have to make sure I get a good night's rest before the kids arrive or I will be gluing myself to things...

That's all for now! I want to get outside and throw my line in the lake before it gets too dark and buggy.. I was very bad and bought some new top water baits to try out.

Signing off,
Ms. K