Being connected and working together. The second day of camp's focus was Teamwork! We all noticed the campers growing and deepening their relationships with one another and with our volunteers. We got over our first day jitters and settled into the rhythm of the week, picking team names, and creating team cheers.
Here's some advice. Birthdays at camp are not a good idea. Today happened to be my seventeenth birthday, and Mrs. Thompson convinced Mr. Bryson to lead a camp-wide birthday song during announcements. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but it was one of the many times during camp today that the campers opened up and had fun being themselves, working together to make the quiet kid from crafts feel uncomfortable! It was a drastic change from yesterday. Campers from all the teams were interacting with, working together with, and making friends with each other, and the volunteers. Camp felt much more alive and energetic today, and that, in turn, has given me more excitement and energy for the coming days. The rest of this week is going to be Great! ~Tim Mayer
I have been working with the Yellow team for two days now. These girls are all different ages and they don't all know each other. From the beginning to the end of each day these girls are working as a team, bonding with each other, and opening up with each other more. The highlight of my day and week so far is when I sat down with one of the campers and I asked "how old are you" and she said "umm,.. 18?" I noticed that a lot of the girls say they are 18 +. I stopped and looked at her because she clearly didn't look 18 and I said " I am only 17, you can feel comfortable with me. I am not going to tell anyone your age" After that the girl spit out the truth but she had the biggest smile on her face, knowing that she could feel herself around anyone. My goal for this week is to have the Yellow team girls feel open and comfortable around their team and the volunteers. -Lanie Harper
We ended the day with our annual visit to the Bob Marley Statue!!
With much love, The JASY 2017 Team
