The last months of grade 8 are a flurry of activity, and believe it or not, our end-of-the-year trip to Camp Kawkawa actually gives teachers and students a chance to catch our collective breath. Sure, we have lots of great stuff planned to make the most of our time at camp, but a big part of this trip is to allow us all to hang out.

By late afternoon on the first day, we’ll have four workshops under our belts and be ready for a break.  Before a delicious supper (prepared by someone else!), some of us adults will haul out our lawn chairs and sit by the lake, supervising the students as they find their friends and decide how to use their free time.

Here are the kinds of things we usually see and talk about (I mean, what else IS there to talk about other than your students?):

  • That kid over there catching hundreds of giant tadpoles and his amazing Here I Stand project on recycling. He did such a great job when he went out to complete the HANDS portion of his project, that they offered him a job…
  • That pair of boys as they head out to the middle of the lake in a canoe. The Korean student has never been in a canoe before, and is looking a little precarious…
  • That group of students playing beach volleyball. A couple were some of the 16 students in grade 8 who just competed at Track and Field provincials a few weeks ago, with a number of them finishing in the top 8 in their events…
  • The trio of girls walking along the lake, who were so inspired by the Mythbusters episode on Pirate Patches we watched in Science, they designed their own mini-experiment to try it out in the Othello Tunnels…
  • Those five students from the grade 8 Morning Announcement Crew (MAC) practicing their Talent Show presentation for this evening…
  • Those students up in the field playing Frisbee. They built such great relationships over the year with elementary students they met while doing their Service Learning at Alexander Elementary…
  • The group of students preparing to lead a short worship time around the campfire. They have had a lot of practice this year from their time on the Chapel Praise team…
  • The Korean student who is waiting for a turn in a kayak. None of us will forget his reaction to worms while we were digging holes to plant trees during our Earth Day project at Willband Creek Park on Earth Day…

It’s almost a shame to break things up with supper, but that mountain air sure makes us hungry, and we have hours of activity ahead of us—time together at the campfire, the Talent Show, some Oreo Cookie race competitions, and a good game of Capture the Flag when it finally starts to get dark enough, before some devotional time together in our cabins and (hopefully) some sleep.

Wish us luck on that…