By: Guru, Community Engagement Coordinator
The ETCBC Kids Camp has come to an end, and with that comes learning experiences to reflect on, and knowledge for future Kids Camps. I believe that the Kids Camp was overall a positive experience for all of the kids who attended as well as the coordinators, however, there were a few roadblocks to overcome while planning and during the actual camp session. The biggest challenge was that the camp was solely online, meaning that kids could simply leave of their own volition if they felt bored or uninterested in the programming. Also with an online camp, many fun in-person activities, such as origami are not as fun online. This is because of the difficulties in helping kids with origami if they need help or get stuck with a certain fold. These were a few items that needed to be worked around or avoided and other creative activities were used. Online drawing activities and Charades worked quite well because they were simple and everyone could participate in them, without any specific materials. Overall the camp went smoothly and the process of learning what worked well and what did not work too well was a very interesting learning experience. I believe that the progress and activities created this year could be used at other online events until it is safe to consistently meet in person.
With the end of the internship nearing, I would say that working alongside ETCBC has been a very positive and enjoyable experience. Everyone that I had the opportunity to meet and talk with was very open, respectful and had a positive attitude which I appreciate very much. If there was more time in the internship one thing I would look forward to is a potential extension of the ETCBC Kids Camp. Although it was for two weeks, it was an hour every other day, which is relatively short compared to normal camp, however, the activities were a lot of fun and I believe the kids had a lot of fun as well. Running a summer camp is something I had not experienced before so I was able to learn and develop quite a few skills in programming, planning and leadership.
To end this final blog post, I only have positive comments for ETCBC and I have been able to learn a lot and grow as a person this summer. I have gained a lot of insight on myself, what I need to improve on, and what I am able to do for my community as a whole. I look forward to returning to ETCBC in the future if the opportunity arises once more.