Camp Paradigm 2022

 Week One

June 27, 2022 through July 1, 2022

Here is a brief run-down of the happenings & activities that occured during Camp Paradigm - Week One.

Check out this short video of campers expressing what they like most about camp! The week one pictures & videos have been sent to campers and parents! 

Here are the Camp Paradigm 2022 instructors. These instructors possess passionate hearts and an enormous amount of energy! Their committment to ensuring campers had an amazing time is to be admired! 

---- Shout out to the Cy-Woods high school volunteers that gave up their time to engage with our campers. Thank you, Cara, Jennifer, and Alice. And thank YOU Rebecca Rivard for always sending your best students. We look forward to meeting the next set of volunteers during Camp Paradigm Week Two! [Rebecca Rivard is the National Honor Society Volunteer Coordinator @Cy-Woods high school] ----

Day One

Campers were dropped off at 9:00 am. Camp staff met each camper at their car. Staff used carts to tote camper supplies while also walking campers into the schoolhouse to get their name tags. Everyone socialized and walked around the schoolhouse getting familiar with things.

At 9:30 am, Camp Paradigm 2022 - Week One began in the Recreation Room. Camp staff led campers in a Welcome & Introduction session. Everyone introduced themselves, then everyone played "My name is and I like to". 

At 10:00 am, Dr. Cadarrall led the campers in a problem-solving scenario session. Campers were asked to think about some of these specific scenarios. Then, they were asked what would they do in these scenarios. This activity revealed a need for all campers, students, and children to be introduced & instructed in these areas. Camp Paradigm campers provided examples and asked excellent questions.

After lunch at 11:45 am, campers played a "surface tension" water pouring game. The objective of this game was to take a cup of water and carefully pour a drop of water into a full cup of water without spilling it. The camper or staff that pours the drop of water in that causes the full cup to spill over was out of the game.

At 1:00 pm, Krishna instructed and prepped the campers in a session of Stop Motion Animation using Legos. The campers really enjoyed this session. The camper Lego creations were well thought out and each of them put in a significant amount of time creating them.

At 2:00 pm, the campers were getting very tired so we decided to engage in "chill time". Staff set up a vote and the campers voted to watch Tom & Jerry, the movie. They watched about half of the movie before it was pick up time. Everyone ate popcorn and relaxed together in the group break area.

Day Two 

At 9:30 am, Dr. Cadarrall led campers through a flooding & hurricane lesson. The campers watched a brief video. Then, he discussed floods with the campers. This discussion prepared the campers for Ms. Diane's Survival Scenarios session.

At 10:00 am, Ms. Diane led campers through a Survival Scenarios lesson. She taught the campers survival strategies in the following areas: Fire, snakes, hurricanes, lightening, and tornadoes. Here she is teaching campers about snakes. Here she is after her lesson on fires helping the campers practice using a fire extinguisher.

Also at 10:00 am, the ladies at Crossfit Champions [Debbie & Esther] worked one-on-one with one of our campers. They brought their equipment and built a small obstacle course. These ladies exhibited patience and a passion for what they do. We look forward to working with them again soon so that more of our campers will get to engage in their fitness & agility activities.

At 11:45 am, the high energy Ms. Brittany led the campers in stretching & breathing exercises. After a pretty active morning, the campers and staff all settled in to relax their minds & bodies during this session. After stretching & breathing exercises, Ms. Brittany took the campers outdoors for a hula hoop challenge. Here Ms. Brittany is encouraging the campers!

At 12:30 pm, campers had fun competing in a pretty intense game of musical chairs. Check them out here.

At 1:00 pm, Krishna began her second session of Stop Motion Animation. The campers took their time building and practicing for production day.

At 2:00 pm, campers engaged in a water balloon fight, while some simply just played in the water on that hot afternoon. Here is the beginning of the fight!

Day Three

At 9:30 am, Dr. Cadarrall led campers into yet another survival skills lesson. This lesson was on 911. What it is, what it is not, when to call, when not to call, and the importance of knowing your address. Here he is instructing campers and letting them express what they know.

At 10:00 am, all campers gathered in groups or individually to learn more about each other through this brief questionnaire. This session was specifically set-up so that campers could socialize while also learning about themselves. There were four cohorts for this session in which each gathered in separate classrooms. The camp instructors went through the questions and helped guide the responses of the campers in their cohort. This was a FUN session as campers got to share their likes and dislikes.

At 11:45 am, campers engaged in another session of stretching & breathing exercises with Ms. Brittany. Here are the calm beginnings of this class. So relaxing! After this class, campers and staff went outside to jump rope while singing Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn All Around and one other jump rope song. Other campers played corn hole and some practiced their hula hooping!

At 12:30 pm, campers were provided the opportunity to visually express through painting on canvas. While painting, campers enjoyed calm peaceful classical music. This session was scheduled for one hour. However, the campers enjoyed themselves so much they painted for two hours. Talk about engaged! And ALL of their visual works of art turned out beautifully! Camp Paradigm staff will be hanging their works of art on the walls of the schoolhouse for all to enjoy!

At 2:30 pm, campers voted to finish the Tom & Jerry movie they started on Monday. 

Day Four 

This was a pretty intense day as one of our campers had some difficulties adjusting to being at camp. Everyone did the best they could do in managing their emotions and behaviors and it all turned out fine.

At 9:30 am, all campers and staff gathered in the group area for a brief discussion on the events happening that day and to address any concerns they had. Additionally, we used the last portion of this session to think up questions for our guest speaker from Wild Birds Unlimited. 

At 10:00 am, Ms. Diane instructed campers in martial arts. They engaged in Kali, Karate, punching, kicking, catching, and some long staff exercises.

Also at 10:00 am, Richard from Wild Birds Unlimited presented a visually-engaging presentation on hummingbirds. He also fielded lots and lots of questions on birds, in general. Here he is talking with our campers.

At 11:45 am, Ms. Candice showed the campers how to make Pool Noodle Shooters and Paper Butterflies.

At 12:30 pm, Ms. Brittany set up the campers' yoga mats outside on the school's new deck. After Ms. Candice's class, the campers walked over to begin their afternoon stretching & breathing exercise session. It was a beautiful day for this activity!

At 1:00 pm, campers finished up their Stop Motion Animation project. Krishna filmed each campers' Stop Motion Animation production. [She is making each of them into a .gif which will be shared with campers and camper families upon their completion.]

At 2:30 pm, campers had the opportunity to showcase their canvas paintings. They were asked to stand up to explain why they painted what they painted and how their painting made them feel.

Day Five 

On this day, campers and staff expressed their desire to simply rest and socialize. This group got along very well. 

At 9:30 am, some campers competed in a Switch Mario Kart challenge, others worked on drawing pieces, others watched YouTube videos that everyone wanted to watch, and others sat around and chatted. 

At 11:00 am, Krishna prepared homemade pasta, white sauce, and garlic bread. Everyone ate their lunches and watched The Cat in the Hat Movie.

At 12:30 pm, everyone gathered on the school deck to take a group picture. After the group picture, campers were provided another opportunity to paint on canvas. Others continued to socialize through games and other activities.

This was a fun group of campers. 

Camp Paradigm - Week Two begins on July 18, 2022. During this camp week, campers will be engaging in completely different activities. For example, an obstacle course, regular and liquid limbo, painting a robot, more survival lessons, independent living skills (changing batteries in different devices), how to use a compass, scavenger hunt, throwing darts at balloons, and much more.