From Kelly Bouquet:
It has been a fun and exciting first week in Spanish Camp! After preparing the camp for months, we were
ecstatic to finally meet all of the kids on Monday morning. We have had a blast getting to know each of them
throughout the week and sharing in their successes and smiles as they
learn Spanish!
The campers were immersed in the Spanish language and Hispanic culture through games, lessons, crafts, songs, plays, and imaginative interactions.
In lessons, they learned basic greetings and conversation,
colors, numbers, family words, food words, body parts, and we have
explored the Mayan culture. We were thrilled and proud to hear that the campers practiced their Spanish at home and to see
them remember and implement new words into our camp activities and
conversations! Most of all, we have enjoyed having fun with the kids and watching them gain self-confidence and friendships as they explore a new
language and culture.
Spending time with the fourteen campers in the first week has really energized and excited us for the second week of camp! Many of the children will
be returning for the second week and we will also have several new
campers. We look forward to writing to pen pals in Nicaragua, learning
about Nicaragua and its unique beauties and struggles, learning about El
Día de los Muertos and the ancient Aztecs, and enjoying many more fun
games, skits, and crafts. The two of us agree that the best part of running Spanish Camp is that it enables us to help both our friends in
Nicaragua and to teach Spanish and cultural awareness in Missouri. We
couldn't have asked for a more supportive community or a better group of children. We are thoroughly enjoying our Spanish summer camp experience
and we are excited to share it with you!
There has been a wonderful outpouring of generosity for our camp; two teenagers have volunteered to come each day and help with crafts and
lessons (and they have truly been a blessing!). Also, several people read
our newspaper article and made completely unsolicited donations to the project. In one case, a grandmother whose children were too old to attend
the camp decided to donate $125 in order to provide a scholarship for a
needy child in Jeff City (also knowing that the money would ultimately benefit the children in Nicaragua). We have always found that people are
very caring and generous; sometimes, they simply need an opportunity to
give!
Hopefully our second week will be just as successful as the first. We only hope that the kids are enjoying this experience as much as we are!
From Tyler Severance:
The camp itself was truly incredible. Although some people will point to the overall financial gain and
claim it was a success, I know that I will
first define the camp's achievement based on the feelings of the campers.
Everyone who attended truly loved the experience and we received countless requests from parents and children alike to run the camp again
next year. On top of that, I can guarantee that both Kelly and myself had a blast running the camp and teaching the kids. It was
incredibly rewarding to watch them learn something during an educational morning activity and then apply it to a competitive afternoon game or
challenge.
It was also rewarding in the sense that we were able to connect the kids
here in the US with needy kids abroad. They all understood that their
attendance at camp would directly help another child somewhere around the
world.
Con amor,
Kelly Bouquet and Tyler Severance
(a.k.a. Señorita Kelly y Señor Tyler)
