It all started with boredom. Daydreaming in a particularly long class, I had an idea for my summer. After a lot of planning, work, help from here and abroad, and countless moments of others (and myself!) questioning my sanity, my idea, my daydream actually turned into a reality.
Camp Jane started with “English Language Week” on July 7. The PCVs signed up to help for that week arrived Sunday evening for a big planning session. And then, D-Day arrived. I was
, of course, nervous, excited, and everything in between. On the walk over to school, I flip-flopped between praying that at least a few of the kids showed up and hoping that none of them did so that I didn't have to do it! But, happily, they showed. A bunch of them. About 60. Awesome.
The week was designed to get the kids a little comfortable with English, enjoy learning, start to try new things, and just have fun. And, I think we succeeded. We broke the kids into 3 groups, with 2 PCVs for ea
ch group. Each day was broken into parts – an hour long “lesson”, recess for 45 minutes, another hour long “lesson”, then a large group activity that involved all of the kids.
The lesson times were great – we did things like play Simon Says and Hangman and teach them songs and rhymes like the ABC song and Miss Mary Mack. We drew pictures and read stories. We attempted some creative writing. We made learning fun.
Recess was a huge hit. Four Square was a big winner from day one. As the kids learned thing in classes, they continued them outside. Once they go
t the hang of Miss Mary Mack and Wonderball, they wouldn't stop. Poor Kelsey – the PCV from Ali Bayramli/Shirvan – got roped into doing hand clap games for 3 days straight at every recess. I think the best recess activity ended up being the jump rope. The kids LOVED it. It took awhile for some of them to get the rhythm. One little girl, Lala, couldn't even get one jump successfully. Then, she had a 10 minute jumping lesson with Bethany (the PCV from Tovuz), and by the last day was the second best jumper with 52 jumps. She was only beaten 
by Cavid, a little boy who was great from the start. I think he got to 74.
The large group activities were probably my favorite part of each day. Each one was different. The first day we had each kid make visors with their names on them. We used those as name tags for the rest of the week. The second day we did a school yard trash pick up. We all taught an environmental(ish) lesson that day, then had them put it to practice. Honestly, I kinda think the biggest reason the kids got so into it wasn't to make our school and Azerbaijan beautiful, but because they were promised a prize if their group collec
ted the most trash. The third day was Capture the Flag. Once the got the hang of the somewhat complicated rules, they were way into it. They hid their flags so well that PCVs ended up playing traitor and leaking information about flag locations to the other teams so that the game would end on time. The fourth day, we taught them the Electric Slide. Some of the kids really loved it, some wanted nothing to do with it. But most of them tried. And I got some REALLY great pictures from it. The fifth day we did a Scavenger Hunt. Competition really motivates these kids. The group that hadn't won the Trash pickup or Capture the Flag made certain that they won this one!
The best thing about this week is that the kids had fun. All of my other goals for camp are, of course, important. But, that's the one that fills me with joy. I would come home everyday exhausted, of course, but also completely enthused and – frankly - proud of what we had done that day and how much the kids had enjoyed it.
I can't begin to thank the other PCVs enough. Bethany, Brent, Kat, Kelsey, Vy, and Whitney were amazing. In many ways, they had the hardest week – the first one, the kinda boring theme, the unknown, dealing w
ith my stress – and they were rockstars. Their enthusiasm, excitement, and ideas were what got me to not only survive the first week, but to really enjoy it. And the kids loved them – they were very sad to see them go. Hopefully the following groups of volunteers will hold up in the kids eyes to the example these PCVs set.
So, Week One down. Three more to go. And, honestly, I can't wait to start the next week. That feels REALLY good to be able to say.
Stay tuned!
Camp Jane started with “English Language Week” on July 7. The PCVs signed up to help for that week arrived Sunday evening for a big planning session. And then, D-Day arrived. I was
, of course, nervous, excited, and everything in between. On the walk over to school, I flip-flopped between praying that at least a few of the kids showed up and hoping that none of them did so that I didn't have to do it! But, happily, they showed. A bunch of them. About 60. Awesome.The week was designed to get the kids a little comfortable with English, enjoy learning, start to try new things, and just have fun. And, I think we succeeded. We broke the kids into 3 groups, with 2 PCVs for ea
ch group. Each day was broken into parts – an hour long “lesson”, recess for 45 minutes, another hour long “lesson”, then a large group activity that involved all of the kids.The lesson times were great – we did things like play Simon Says and Hangman and teach them songs and rhymes like the ABC song and Miss Mary Mack. We drew pictures and read stories. We attempted some creative writing. We made learning fun.
Recess was a huge hit. Four Square was a big winner from day one. As the kids learned thing in classes, they continued them outside. Once they go
t the hang of Miss Mary Mack and Wonderball, they wouldn't stop. Poor Kelsey – the PCV from Ali Bayramli/Shirvan – got roped into doing hand clap games for 3 days straight at every recess. I think the best recess activity ended up being the jump rope. The kids LOVED it. It took awhile for some of them to get the rhythm. One little girl, Lala, couldn't even get one jump successfully. Then, she had a 10 minute jumping lesson with Bethany (the PCV from Tovuz), and by the last day was the second best jumper with 52 jumps. She was only beaten 
by Cavid, a little boy who was great from the start. I think he got to 74.The large group activities were probably my favorite part of each day. Each one was different. The first day we had each kid make visors with their names on them. We used those as name tags for the rest of the week. The second day we did a school yard trash pick up. We all taught an environmental(ish) lesson that day, then had them put it to practice. Honestly, I kinda think the biggest reason the kids got so into it wasn't to make our school and Azerbaijan beautiful, but because they were promised a prize if their group collec
ted the most trash. The third day was Capture the Flag. Once the got the hang of the somewhat complicated rules, they were way into it. They hid their flags so well that PCVs ended up playing traitor and leaking information about flag locations to the other teams so that the game would end on time. The fourth day, we taught them the Electric Slide. Some of the kids really loved it, some wanted nothing to do with it. But most of them tried. And I got some REALLY great pictures from it. The fifth day we did a Scavenger Hunt. Competition really motivates these kids. The group that hadn't won the Trash pickup or Capture the Flag made certain that they won this one!
The best thing about this week is that the kids had fun. All of my other goals for camp are, of course, important. But, that's the one that fills me with joy. I would come home everyday exhausted, of course, but also completely enthused and – frankly - proud of what we had done that day and how much the kids had enjoyed it.
I can't begin to thank the other PCVs enough. Bethany, Brent, Kat, Kelsey, Vy, and Whitney were amazing. In many ways, they had the hardest week – the first one, the kinda boring theme, the unknown, dealing w
ith my stress – and they were rockstars. Their enthusiasm, excitement, and ideas were what got me to not only survive the first week, but to really enjoy it. And the kids loved them – they were very sad to see them go. Hopefully the following groups of volunteers will hold up in the kids eyes to the example these PCVs set.So, Week One down. Three more to go. And, honestly, I can't wait to start the next week. That feels REALLY good to be able to say.
Stay tuned!
2 comments:
Yay! It's so exciting to hear about Camp Jane! It sounds like you all did a fantastic job.
Sounds like a blast, Jane. I am sure the kids will remember the fun they had for years and years.
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