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Makasan
2008 After Action Report
This past summer camp season was a very successful one for our Oglala site with three weeks of camp being held. This was an expansion from the previous summer where we had two weeks of camp. The camps that were held for 2008 included:
Teen Camp
This camp was a mentorship model camp and offered the teens a choice of three “projects”. The camp had a total of 24 teens and a staff of 11 Baltimore and 7 Ohio folks working with the Oglala teens on the projects.
1. The Leadership Project was a reading/writing/relationship building model where the teens worked with staff using the book Moonstick as a basis for learning about the Lakota moons and depicting the moons in watercolor paintings. These paintings were used in the Elementary Camp as illustrations for the Reading Station as the campers read Moonstick. The teens also read Lana’s Lakota Moons as a basis for discussion and journaling about ways in which our staff members and the Lakota teens connected to the themes in the book. The teens and staff also worked to paint Lakota designs on two 6 foot teepees that were used by the Pre-School campers as play houses. They also decorated individual teepees that the Pre-School campers took home along with clothespin people representing their family members.
2. The Community Work Project – This was a community repair project that took 6 of the Hau Kola staff and 3 teens from Oglala out into to the community to paint, repair screens and do other home repair projects. Reverend Asa Wilson from the Makasan Presbyterian Church in Oglala was our community contact person and helped to identify families that we could go out and help. Two of these teens continued during the following weeks of camp as Elementary and Pre-School Camp helpers.
3. The Community Atlas Project was a technology based project using GIS programs to learn about mapping skills and the computer programs that are used for creating maps. The teens that were a part of this project not only created maps of the Oglala area, but went out into the field to use Global Positioning Technology to map the Oglala recreational trail.
Elementary Camp - This is our longest running camp as we completed our sixth camp season. This camp is an academic enrichment model with stations in Reading/Book Nook, Art, Math, Technology and Sports/Games. The rotation model has served this camp well with the campers being divided into groups of 8 – 10 campers that are guided by a counseling team. The camp was a four day rotation model using the theme of Moons and Stars. This summer’s special event was a Family Supper and Star Gazing Event. Jasmine Rockwell, Children and Youth Librarian for the South Dakota State Library, was a staff member and also brought the Sky Lab with her so that the community could enjoy the wonderful constellations. We had over 100 folks attend this fun event and in addition to the opportunity to visit the Sky Lab, the campers and their family members could visit the Book Nook, make Lakota Star patterns on the computers, and play flashlight tag and other games. We ended the camp week with our annual school supply event and the school supplies were given to all the elementary campers and many of their siblings. We had an average of 50 campers each day with a staff of 18 Baltimore folks and 4 Oglala teens.
Pre-School Baby FACE Camp -This camps were started on a small scale during the 2006 elementary camp season and were expanded to a separate week the summer of 2007. The morning is designated as the Pre-School camp with 3 – 5 year old campers. The campers had breakfast, snack and lunch as a part of their camp day. Each day had a theme that was begun with the story of the day. Activities were planned to enhance the theme of the day and included art, music, literacy, math/science, and free play. The Pre-School camp had 25 campers and a staff of 7 Baltimore folks. The Baby FACE program was held during one afternoon/evening and was a parent/young child education program where parents and caregivers were encouraged to learn along with their young ones. The parents and caregivers were in conversation about their children as they observed them playing with some of the Baltimore staff. Other family members came for a community dinner and then after supper some of the Baltimore staff provided childcare while two of the staff members spoke about nutrition and home safety with the parents and care givers. The Baltimore staff all expressed the need for more staff for this camp as some of the little ones need one on one attention and our staff was too small to always provide this service.
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