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Neighborhoods |
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| Fun for all ages |
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| By Jill Murphy Neighborhoods Correspondent |
Friday, August 14, 2009 |
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When Colleen Francisco started Camp Lean on Me in Sykesville earlier this year, she wanted to provide a unique summer camp experience for children. With this in mind, she offered a different theme every week, including a
“4-H Life on the Farm” experience, “Time Travelers” and “Kids vs. the Wild.”
But what made this camp really different was how Francisco combined her camp kids with residents from the assisted-living home, The Homestead of Sun Valley, that is located on the same property.
“We love it! We think it’s a great idea,” Chrissy Kanther, owner of The Homestead, said of having the camp kids come hang out with the residents.
She also said that the seniors enjoy sitting on the porch and seeing the kids play: It has been a great way to get everyone outside and socializing.
Taking it one step further, every Friday Camp Lean on Me tries to combine its theme of the week in a culminating activity with The Homestead. One week they brought over some of the 4-H animals. “We got great feedback from that,” Kanther said.
And then there was the Camp Lean on Me summer play. On June 26, campers dressed alike in tie-dyed T-shirts that had their roles written on them. There were cats, trees, directors, narrators and more.
The children spent the week learning about stage direction and stage make-up, and learning lines and finding out just what putting on a play is like. Then they took their act on the road, so to speak.
They walked down the driveway to The Homestead, where the residents were treated to a front-yard production. “We really liked it,” Anna Slouck, who lives at The Homestead, remarked. “We enjoy the kids and thought they were all real good.”
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Rebecca Shorr directed the play. She is one of the counselors for Camp Lean on Me and studied theater at Towson University. “Even though it wasn’t perfect, they did a great job,” Shorr said.
When the theme for the week doesn’t lend itself to an activity for the seniors, the camp does something else. It may be something simple like having the children make pictures or cards and then hand-deliver them or something a little more involved like having an ice-cream social. What’s important for Francisco is to keep the partnership going.
“It’s not about the numbers, it’s about being part of a family,” Francisco explained. “We have a Camp Cookout every Friday that’s for all the camp families. We use the grill at The Homestead and they are all invited. It’s just a great partnership.”
And the campers are enjoying the chance to show off what they are learning as well as getting to know the residents. “I thought it was a lot of fun when they clapped,” Katy Pawlak said of performing the play for The Homestead residents. “It was really fun when they laughed. Then it was like, ‘OK, they think we’re funny.’”
Brianna Taylor had this to say of her summer experience so far: “It’s nice to hear what they have to say. It’s like we’re not just a bunch of kids running around in their area. They like to hang out with us.”
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