Thoughts on SOAR

Posted by Amy Jones on July 29, 2008 - 14:28 PM

What an incredible two weeks of SOAR!  It would be great to blog about our awesome summer day camp while it’s happening, but those two weeks go by so fast – there just isn’t time.

The images of SOAR are powerful, however, and certain memories linger.  For example:

• Six canoes float peacefully on Lake Mary.  The water is clear, the light is golden, the faces of the campers are full of excitement and pride as they learn a new skill, realize a new freedom.  From the farthest shore, in an outcropping of cattails comes a sound, “Hey!  Help us!  How do you turn this thing around?”

• Some campers are experienced fishermen/fisherwomen, but a majority have never cast a worm into the water and waited for the bobber to go under.  Experience aside, the smile that accompanies the reeling in of a big (or not so big) catch is universal.

• Wet and Wild is an activity that allows kids to wade into the water with aquatic nets to dig around in the plants and muck for interesting creatures.  Various techniques are used by campers, ranging from the I’m-not-putting-my-feet-in-there stretch to the up-to-my-armpits shuffle.  The captured creatures go back to the lab for further investigation.  The dirty shoes go home to Mom.

• One session at Bader Park provided campers the opportunity to help restore a Platte River prairie.  A line of kids stretched across the land sowing prairie seeds is a very nice image.  Hopefully they come back again and again to see their prairie grow.

• While insect netting, campers learned the difference between dragonflies and damselflies.  They also learned one similarity – both are very hard to catch.

• For all the energy and enthusiasm they show throughout the week, there is something memorable about seeing 30+ youngsters strewn about the tall grass on a rolling hill intently (and quietly) painting with watercolors.

• The Week 1 SOAR Into the Night hike through Griffith Prairie to the Platte River was an incredible sight.  A storm had moved through the area earlier in the day and the sky was filled with beautiful cloud formations backlit with golden light as the sun went down.  Campers, Peer Leaders and staff enjoyed a hike through a rolling landscape that looked as exotic as any rainforest, desert or mountain range.  It was a perfect night to be in Nebraska.

• The final activity at Wednesday’s night session resulted in each group of 5 or 6 campers (12 groups in all) sitting on a tarp with their Peer Leader.  The groups were scattered across a hilltop at Griffith Prairie so that each Peer Leader could quietly review the stars and constellations and then read a couple short stories recounting the legends behind the constellations.  It was 10:30 p.m., and the hill looked like it held 12 little villages in the darkness, each lit with the dim light of a flashlight for reading.  Voices were low as each camper took in the darkness and the vastness of their surroundings while enjoying the comfort and safety of their group.

• During the Noah’s Ark game, campers are secretly given the name of an animal or insect.  They are to act out the critter in charade-like fashion while looking for another camper that has been assigned the same creature.  The goal is to be the first to pair up.  Not knowing the rules of the game, I happened by to take pictures and wondered why one young man was clinging to the trunk of a tree and making a buzzing noise.  Suspecting a behavior problem, I asked the staff member why the camper in questions wasn’t in the grass area with the rest of the group.  “He’s not being naughty,” she explained.  “He’s a Cicada.”

• Campers spent time each day building a kite from scratch.  Two dowels, some Tyvek, string and plenty of tape were crafted into well-balanced, brightly decorated flying machines.  Launch day was Friday, a.k.a. River Day.  All week the anticipation grew.  Would the kites fly?  Whose kite would fly highest?  The first Friday was too windy.  The gustiest River Day in recent memory.  The second Friday was still.  Too still.  But the campers didn’t seem to notice.  Both weeks they managed to work together, have fun and find a little success.  That success was easily measured by kites in the air and determination on the faces of the campers.

SOAR is truly an amazing experience and I’m hopeful that each camper took home their own set of life-long memories.  Thanks to everyone who generously supports SOAR.  Your investment is making a difference in how kids feel about the land and its people. 

And don’t forget, you can see photos from SOAR in the SOAR/Other Education Scrapbook .