An American Summer Camp

13-14 April 2013

With scavenger hunts, ultimate Frisbee, charades, a talent show, line dancing, pillow fights, science experiments, relay races, and ice pops, An American Summer Camp was a huge success. My first English camp brought 38 Form 1-3 students, 8 ETAs, and all of my English teachers to school on a Saturday and Sunday. The fear of sleeping overnight in the dark and scary Block F didn’t deter my students who were so excited to practice and improve their English skills while spending time with new and old friends.



The students participated in many activities typical of an American summer camp. A few of their favorites including the ETA Scavenger Hunt, Line Dancing, and Ultimate Frisbee. For the scavenger hunt, the students had to use English clues to locate the ETAs who were stationed around the school campus and then complete various tasks. For example, the students had to spell words with their bodies, talk about their favorite foods and subjects, write a rhyming poem, identify money from various countries, summarize their favorite story, and tell and English joke.



My favorite part of camp was Sunday morning line dancing. We all piled into the Block A hall after breakfast for an hour of dancing. The Electric Slide, the Macarena, and the Chicken Dance were big hits. Several of my students now want to dance the Macarena for Teacher’s Day in May.



And then of course I loved teaching them ultimate Frisbee and watching them laugh as their attempted throw sent the disc straight up into the air. Surprisingly enough, my students are quite good at Ultimate, despite their never having seen a Frisbee before this year. Every time I bring it out during co-curricular time, the students who join me are able to throw a mid-range backhand with little difficulty and can also catch! They seem to learn the skills much quicker than the students I coached back in the United States.



After 21 hours of fun, games, and little sleep (due to excitement and a huge thunderstorm), we all left the school tired and happy. Thilaga was incredibly generous to have prepared a meal of thanks for all of the ETAs. I don’t know how she found the time and energy to cook for all of us. But it sure was delicious and a fantastic way to end an exhausting and rewarding weekend.


Group photo