Between becoming certified at CPR in the day, Trader Joe’s in the afternoon and tag on the Howarth park playground at night, Camp Counseling was a 4 day Intersession in which students balanced learning safety skills with fun, before ultimately camping out at Spring Lake.
On the second week of Intersession, Camp Counseling started. With a group of mainly freshmen and a few juniors, they were ready for this quest. On days 1 and 2, they learned first aid and became CPR certified on baby dummies.
Learning the ropes with safety as a camp counselor puts kids’ lives in your hands. After all, if one thing goes wrong, you will have some angry parents.
But it really wasn’t all serious learning; they would also get to play around and be kids. The following day, they got ready to spend the night at Howarth Park. But first, they needed to get some food. Asher Dobson (‘29) said, “The drive over there was really when our mini groups started to mingle.” They headed over to Trader Joe’s to get some supplies and food, then headed to the park.
They settled in, setting up their tents, playing capture the flag and getting a fire going for food. As Dobson said, “We pretty much ate everything you can put on a stick and over a fire. From s’mores to a banana boat.”
Then, a few of the freshmen took a walk down to the playground. “Howarth Park at dusk is a completely different place,” Dobson stated. They arrived and started playing tag with a few kids who happened to be there. They played on the playground, and as Amaeya Virmani (‘29) said, “It was one of the funnest times of the Intersession.”
After chilling around the campfire and going to bed, it was time to wrap up the session. They came back and were let out at lunch. STEM teacher, Lisa Zavieh, the Intersession’s chaperone, said her goal for the course was to teach useful skills and have a blast: “I really thought it would just be helpful and fun.” In the end, camp counseling was a fun and interactive intersession where you learn CPR and first aid, and have a fair amount of fun with or without your friends.
Zavieh is also excited for Camp Counseling’s future, and leaning into the important lessons the students were taught: “the group decided in following years to maybe have campers to look after on the night to give them better practice.”
