Early in the summer, June 25-28, the cafeteria and halls of Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School (EMES) bustled with activity as more than 70 registered campers and 43 volunteers from Baltimore (including 17 from Brown Memorial), North Carolina and Iowa converged for the seventh annual Soaring Eagles Learning Camp.
Directed by Brown member Chrystie Adams who created a carefully crafted schedule, campers in five age groups circulated through six learning stations located in various parts of the building: 1) Story Time/Book Nook, where students listened to, read and selected books to take home; 2) Healthy Me, where students discussed, made and ate healthy treats; 3) Hands on Science, where students conducted interesting interactive experiments; 4) Creative Expressions, where students reacted to their life experiences through writing and art; 5) LEGO Robotics, where students enjoyed constructing and testing their creations; 6) and Math Games, where students practiced math skills in enjoyable ways.
Volunteers served as group leaders, counselors and learning station teachers. The days started and ended with nutritious breakfasts and lunches served by Brown volunteers.
SELC featured a mid-week Outdoor Education Day at beautiful Woodberry Crossing where the children fed farm animals, waded in a stream, played outdoor games and consumed 240 hotdogs and countless s’mores. The campers’ families joined us for the final day of camp, and a farewell luncheon was served.
Thanks to all the adults and youth who served as volunteers and/or contributed money or new books to help make this magical week possible. Start planning your calendars now for next year’s Learning Camp, traditionally scheduled for the final week of June. Also, for those of you just learning about this important church mission, please consider volunteer work, and/or donations of new books (pre-K to grade 5), as well as monetary gifts for books, teaching materials, food, transportation and other supplies.