Welcoming Unwelcome Campers

This duck got a rude awakening when a camper barked
viciously at her to get the away!

                I shouldn’t really be surprised at this point with the reactions of the girls when a few ducks decided to trespass on out campsite at the beach this week. One little girl chased them away as she barked loudly while other quivered on their towels, worried that the ducks might eat the applesauce. All in all, it provided for an amusing day at the beach. You know the kids had a great time when the bus ride home is almost silent because everybody is asleep!  

                Like I said in a previous post, I left my book at home for the bus rides to the lake this week, and I think that it really paid off. The girls love having conversations with you even if they are about completely pointless stuff. One girl spent almost 15 minutes telling me how much she liked Grapes! In my journals that I passed in for my Senior Seminar class, I discussed how normal conversations allow you to earn the kids’ trust. Even though it may be a fairly insignificant conversation about grapes, maybe in the future they will feel comfortable enough to come to you if they had a larger problem.

I am having a great time washing police
cars with a groupof girls!

                I remember being eight years old and going to the recreation department’s summer camp in the town I live in. I idolized the camp counselors and clung to them like glue. It is enlightening now being on the other end of the spectrum. Although sometimes it is annoying for a kid to come sit next to you all the time and have the constant need for your attention, it should really be flattering—this girl see’s you as a role model. That is the whole purpose of my project. I was having a conversation two older campers while swimming in the lake. They are both high school students and were telling me about their disciplinary records. I was amazed to hear that one has been suspended from school over 10 times! As a high school student myself, I can hardly imagine what you have to do to get suspended. Anyways, during this conversation I found myself thinking about the positive influences in this girl’s life. I have plenty of positive influences and surround myself with a group of friends that also does not get into trouble. However, this one camper probably wasn’t so fortunate. I was able to sneak hints into the conversation about why bad disciplinary records can harm you in the future and it is my hope that this camper was able to take something away from it.

                Outside of Girls Inc I also work at an elementary and middle school track camp. I have a pink streak dyed in the back of my hair, and one day a girl complemented me on it. The next time I saw her, she came running up to me to tell me she had dyed her hair. Knowing that in eight year old dyed her hair because of me kind of made me speechless. That wasn’t really the example I was trying to set for the girls. It just goes to show you how huge of an impact you can make on girls lives. Always remember that someone may be watching.  Think twice before you say or do anything because what you chose to do is what you are teaching a little girl to do. The next week I had the majority of the pink cut out of my hair.

The protective underwear car!

                On Friday at Girls Inc. we finished up making our cardboard cars to take to the drive in Movie Theater! Aka the TV we set up in the gym. When I was a kid I used to love making cardboard forts. I would spend hours in the basement working on intricate designs with tunnels and various levels. None of the cars were quit as complex as the forts I used to construct, but it was great to see the girls’ imaginations in action! It really brought me back to the times when I was ten years old cutting cardboard in the basement for hours on end. My favorite car had to of been one made of a “protective underwear” box. The girls had no idea what that meant, but it sure gave the counselors a good laugh.

The cars are all lined up, ready for inspection
 before they get to go to the movie theater.

                Once the movie was completed, the girls all seemed to disappear, leaving me and one other counselor to clean up the spilled popcorn and juice. I guess that is the price we have to pay for the satisfaction of seeing the girls having a great time watching Big Miracle in their cars. The cleaning wasn’t that bad either. I seem to be doing a lot of it this summer (haha). On a different note, I can really see how my relationships with the girls are transforming. I am having numerous personal conversations with the girls. One camper and I talked about our grandmother for a half hour after discovering that we both sewed quilts with them. It has only been four weeks and I can tell how much of a difference I am really beginning to make already.