Conclusion

After completing these activities, camp counselors Catherine and Colleen have concluded a few things. First of all there seems to be two themes emerging from our four activities. The first two focused around equality and rights of Americans. The right of Americans to vote is equal for everyone who is a citizen and equality is what helps us to bring us together as a nation. The second two labs were involving the use of technology, whether correct or incorrect. This world is progressing rapidly. Technology improves every day. And this new technology is great. It helps connect the world and make it seem a little smaller. Allow different cultures to understand each other and bring people from opposite sides of the globe together. But it’s important that we give ourselves a break. Americans don’t know how to say no. In focusing so much on long distance connections we often disconnect with those around us, those closest to us. So we need to learn how to balance out our use of technology. Only then can we be unified and equal as a nation and hopefully, eventually a world.

Thanks to all the campers this camp was a success!!!!!

Activity # 5

Activity # 5 (Lab 14) Get to know the Campers!

We asked everyone to go out and meet someone knew. Here's an interview with one of our campers:

(Sorry this video didn't work either)

Understanding other cultures is not only interesting, it’s important for our country because we aren’t isolated and we have to be able to interact well with anyone and everyone. Foreign exchange students are one example of countries working together to increase social awareness and compatibility. Technology is another way the helps connect the world, but only when used properly. We would encourage everyone to be more connected with people around them since they are with them every day and in some cases more important than those far away.

Activity # 4

Activity # 4 (Lab #7) Story Time!

Ok Campers it's story time. Lets hear about some family vacations!

Wireless in the Wilderness

By Catherine Pratt

"For years now, my family has taken an annual summer vacation to a wilderness resort in Michigan. There, the seven of us were joined by the rest of my mom’s family: her parents, her brother, his wife and two daughters, and her sister, her husband and twins sons. Because it is in the middle of nowhere, there was no cell phone service or internet connection available for the residents. So we were always guaranteed a great time of family connection because there were no outside connection options. All our activities: canoeing and tubing, hiking and wildlife watching, fishing and eating were done as a family. It was great to get away from the world for a while; to feel completely isolated and unified in our little family unit. We would arrive exhausted and completely worn out from a year’s worth of stress and worry and leave rejuvenated and reinvigorated, ready for the next year. The parents really appreciated the break from work and life’s pressures as well as the fact that the teens had to interact with everyone else rather than just “tune out” and be plugged in with their friends back home. Of course the teens were a little annoyed that their phones and laptops wouldn’t work but we all had fun so a week without friends wasn’t too bad.

"But last summer everything changed. When we got to our massive log cabin we discovered that there was limited cell coverage and free Wi-Fi across the entire resort. The whole vibe of the vacation was thrown off. My uncles and dad were checking their work emails and getting work related phone calls all week. My grandparents kept calling the men working on their house repairs and all the teens were constantly on facebook and texting our friends instead of interacting with the rest of the family. Only my mom and my aunts seemed to be able to resist the pull of technology while we were there. But they quickly got frustrated that everyone else was using their phones and on their laptops instead of relating to the family. So after a few days they put a ban on technology except for late at night when the majority of the family was asleep. The men seemed to appreciate the block, and though the teens were bummed at first, we quickly forgot about our lack of connection as the vacation started to feel much more like it had in years past. After we locked away the cell phones and laptops, everyone cheered up and had an enjoyable time, just like any other year. The ability to use technology that was putting a damper on our vacation but we cleared it right up and had fun in the end. Vacation is just not the place for technology, we needed a complete break to truly catch up on sleep and interact with our extended family."

Away from the “O.C.”

By Colleen McCollough

"Growing up with two brothers and two sisters was, at times, a three-ringed circus. Although there were hectic times, we also had great opportunities to spend quality time with each other. The best moments I remember with my family is traveling. A vacation was something that we all needed; something we planned and put aside time for. My family rarely would have spontaneous vacation; not only because of my Dad’s work schedule, but because of all our sports events, recitals, etc. It was a nice break for us, away from the bustle of our home town. Driving to the Rocky Mountains in our thirty-one foot motor home was a yearly occurrence with my family. As usual, all seven of us would occupy the front one third of a vehicle that had a kitchen, dining area, bathroom and a double bed in the back bed room. Everyone had their own spot and none of us kids would fight about who sat where, because we were just happy to be going on a trip. We were all confined in a small area, didn’t have cell phone services, and there would be no computers where we were going. There were defiantly limited activities, but we always would try to make it fun. We quickly discovered that it was easy for us to have fun with each other in a very different way then what we were used to at home. We were forced to interact with each other, but we slowly grow to love it. All and all my vacation experience was a positive one and made me realize a break from technology is good to help strengthen our relationships. As you know it is hard to survive and keep up with the world without technology, but I strongly advice you should try living without it for a while!!!"

Wasn't that fun? Here's what we think about it:

The average American takes 13 days of vacation a year. And even while on “vacation” 88 percent of Americans carry electronic devices to communicate with work and 40 percent log-on to check their work email. Our families are clearly no different from the average. But in both cases, things improved when we took a break from technology for a while. These days, life moves quickly and it’s hard to catch your breath, so when you have the chance to take a break and slow down for a little while, do it!

Activity # 3

Activity # 3 (Lab 18) Craft Time!

Alright campers we put our creative juices together and this is what we came up with...

Great Job everyone, for coming up with this seasons camp slogan!

(Its says: "Equality = Liberty, In Fact There Is No Liberty Without It.")

We are bringing the video to class, sorry, it wouldn't upload)

Activity # 2

Activity # 2 (Lab 16)

Due to the overwhelming participation of campers in all of our other activities, this trust building exercise was deemed unnecessary and thus postponed until further notice.

Thanks!

Activity # 1

Activity # 1 (Lab 10) Would You Sell Your Vote?

Ok Campers! Here we go with our first activity. We wanted to know if you would sell your right to vote? And if so, for how much? So we went around the camp and asked you to write down your answer and then allow us to document the moment for future reference. Here are some of the participants in this poll:

After our survey was complete, we were surprised that so many of our campers said "NO". We were expecting a much higher percentage to say they would sell it because, to us, it seems that money is more important due to our current economy, than our rights. However, this is clearly a false assumption on our part. Even campers who don't currently have the right to vote, being too young, said no. It's possible this is because they haven't really been able to use their rights yet and so are excited about that future prospect. All U.S. citizens have the right to vote. And though many take this for granted, the majority still value it. So we are connected as a society because we are all equal as voters, no one has an advantage over another, unless we don't use it.

C.A.M.P. G. Agenda

Good morning campers!

Welcome to CAMP G (if you're wondering where the name comes from, just check out our initials: Colleen Ashly McCollough and Catherine Grace Pratt).

We hope you have adjusted easily your new environment and had a good night's sleep cause this weeks gonna be packed!

Our goal for this season is to have the highest social capital ever in camp community. So you have a ton of fun community based activities planned to make this plan a reality:

Activity # 1 We're going to plan a round of Would You Sell Your Vote!

Activity # 2 Do You Trust Your Neighbor? We think you should. So time to partner up, close your eyes, and fall...lets hope there's someone there to catch you.

Activity # 3 Guess what. It's craft time! Yes that right. Put your creativity to the test and come up with a great symbol to help inform our community about how we can improve.

Activity # 4 Next up its STORY TIME! Yay!!! We want to know how your family vacations. Spare no details.

Activity # 5 It's never to late for an Icebreaker! So find someone you don't know around the camp fire tonight and ask them all of your burning questions about their current view of the camp...like? dislike? friends? you get the point.

Alright campers, you know the drill. Lets get to it. Have learn lots, get messy, and have fun!