Pioneer Adventure Club Camp
Written by Joey Iwen
Camp. I have such fond memories from the camp I grew up attending and have such a special place in my heart for it. Fast forward to me as a parent, though, and the word “camp” usually induces some panic and stress. I start receiving all the brochures and emails about all the summer camps in February. You’ve got to get your kid registered at the exact minute it opens or it fills up. The dates and times don’t ever seem to match up for my kids that are 2 years apart, and am I really going to travel 2 hours a day to drop off and pick up from camp? Do they want nature? Or art? Or adventure? Do they even want to go? And the pressure and stress of committing to something so far off in the future when I don’t know our summer travel plans or sports schedules yet gets me so flustered that I usually just don’t even bother.
Until this year. The Pioneer Adventure Club, which is the Before and After School program under the direction of the Fort Calhoun Community Schools Foundation, created two summer camps: Summer Olympics-Go for Gold for a week in June, and Pioneers Go Wild for a week in July. When my kids heard about these camps they were so excited to go! There was no anxiety of not knowing other kids or being in an unfamiliar place, because the camps are hosted at the elementary school for Fort Calhoun Elementary students. It checked all the boxes of nature, adventure, art, plus STEM activities and free play. It was so easy to sign them up, no rush, no worries it would fill up, very affordable, super convenient, amazing curriculum, and at a place I trusted with adult counselors I knew and trusted. They would be busy and engaged every day for a week (times two!), and I would get two really productive weeks out of the summer, too. Win-Win! This was the easiest and best thing I could do for them with regards to camp!
My kids had the best week ever at the first Olympic-themed camp! They were bubbling over with excitement every day when I picked them up and couldn’t wait to tell me what they did, show me what they created, and share stories about their day. Kassie Hanson, who directed the camp, obtained some of the curriculum from the Olympic Foundation. In addition to having sports-themed activities throughout the week such as field, ball, running, and even pool noodle events, they also learned about the history and values of the Olympic Games. Kids learned about Olympians who had overcome adversity and worked hard to achieve their dreams, as well as the importance of sportsmanship and trying their best. Campers could earn medals at the end of each day for sportsmanship, teamwork, helping out and listening, as well as for silly things like best dance moves. My kids were so proud of those medals they earned and didn’t want to take them off until bedtime!! In addition to creating Olympic-themed art projects that stretched their imaginations and sparked creativity, each day campers worked in groups to create a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) project. Kassie told me that one of her favorite parts of the camp was watching how hard the kids worked on these projects through experimentation, problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork. Another favorite was watching the kids, (even the older ones who were reluctant at first), just acting silly and having fun singing and dancing. My kids enjoyed putting shows on for us after dinner each night of all the fun camp songs they learned, complete with funky dance moves. I still can’t get a song about short-legged buzzards out of my head. I couldn’t have dreamed of a more successful camp week for them. They had fun with friends, met new kids, got to be silly and expend energy, spent time outdoors, were challenged to be creative and critical thinkers, and tried new things.
“In addition to creating Olympic-themed art projects that stretched their imaginations and sparked creativity, each day campers worked in groups to create a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) project. Kassie told me that one of her favorite parts of the camp was watching how hard the kids worked on these projects through experimentation, problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork.”
The success of the camp can most definitely be attributed to the talented and experienced team leading it. Pioneer Adventure Club camps were the brainchild of Dr. Don Johnson, Executive Director of the Fort Calhoun Community Schools Foundation and prior Superintendent. He wanted to create something fun for kids to do during the summer that also incorporated fun learning opportunities. Kassie Hanson, a Fort Calhoun graduate, was instrumental in coming up with fun and engaging activities for the kids. Kassie, a speech and language pathologist, also has a lot of experience leading camps and before and after school care. Like Kassie, the rest of the camp counselors are all Fort Calhoun graduates or current students, which is really awesome to see them coming full circle to lead younger Fort Calhoun students. Cole and Kennedy Bradburn are currently obtaining their degrees in Elementary Education, and Kloey Appel is a recent college graduate. Kylie Points, Director of the Pioneers Go Wild camp session, is certified in Early Childhood and has a lot of early childhood care experience. Landon and Owen Miller are current high school students, and their Boy Scouts experience will come in handy for the Pioneers Go Wild camp where they will do compass-led scavenger hunts and other wilderness activities. You might think it would be challenging to appeal to such a wide variety of ages in the same camp, but this team of leaders has figured out how to make it fun and engaging for campers who’ve just finished kindergarten up to fifth grade. They divide the campers up for STEM projects so that the older ones can work on more challenging projects and the youngest campers can work on projects that are appropriate for their age.
Kassie hopes that they can create more camp sessions next summer since they’ve seen such success in the first camp. The possibilities are endless, but potential themes could include animals, plant-life and farming, ocean theme, and even repeating the nature and Olympics themes since those encompass such fun activities and were loved by the campers. Having the splash pad across the street has also been a fun part of camp that all the kids enjoyed. She was proud of how well the leaders worked together and adapted things to what worked best for the campers. While it was challenging, the most rewarding part and greatest accomplishment of the camp was making everything really fun and engaging, while teaching the kids without being overly academic. Almost like tricking the kids to learn by deep thinking, problem solving, and using their imaginations without realizing they were learning! (I love sneaky learning!)
If you ask my kids about camp, my 7 year-old son will tell you that “It’s really fun!” “I love camp- I love everything about it!” My 9 year-old daughter will tell you that “It’s really crafty and entertaining and creative, I get to be with my friends, and it’s like so fun and all the leaders are super nice and it’s just a super fun experience!” When asked if they will go back for more camps, they said, “yes, definitely!” When asked about their favorite parts, they said that STEM projects, snacks, free time, and the splash pad were some of their favorite things. I will say, they had the most creative snacks that tie into the themes- pretzels as tree trunks and grapes as leaves, ice cream cones with Cheetos as the Olympic torch and flame- I love the creativity!! They light up when they talk about the STEM projects: building a water slide and a pool for lego figures complete with mini beach balls and accessories, creating a mini golf course, constructing tinfoil boats to see how many pennies it would hold before it sank (apparently they can hold quite a lot!), building a miniature trampoline, and yesterday they even got to build their own bow and arrow sets and targets to practice with during the first day of the Pioneers Go Wild camp.
I’m so excited that my kids get the opportunity to have this camp experience this summer, and hopefully for many more years in the future. I figured my daughter would love it, but am so happy that my son loves it just as much! I’m very grateful for the leaders who made it possible, and look forward to what they come up with next year and years to come!
