photo by Nikita Jukov from Flikr
This summer, WUUC combined with several other congregations in the Pacific Northwest to offer online summer camp opportunities for our children. I had the honor of being a “professor” at the Wizarding camp for ages 5-13 and leading the Rainbow Path camp for grades K-2. There was also a Minecraft Camp for grades 3-5. Each camp was a week long. We learned so much and had so much fun!
My take-aways from our Zoom Summer Camps:
- As always, I was amazed by the creativity of the campers as they created art, music and skits.
- The youth counselors (high school students from the congregations) were so fabulous! They brought excitement, technical expertise, compassion, joy and so much leadership skill to the job of guiding the younger campers.
- The collaboration of the DREs, volunteers and other congregational leaders was such a blessing. When plans had to change at the last minute, or unexpected things arose, there was a network of wonderful people who seamlessly picked up the pieces and put them back together. It was a true group effort.
- The young people in our congregations exhibited so much kindness and patience during camp. They were understanding of tech issues, varying levels of education and skill, and so supportive of one another in ways that warmed my heart.
- The campers’ intelligence and willingness to learn brought me so much hope.
- The joy and laughter we experienced together reminded me that we can still share meaningful moments if we are willing to open ourselves to the silly, the strange, try new things, and are willing to bring our whole selves to our interactions with others.
Hopefully, next year we can hold camps and summer activities in person, but in the meantime, let us follow the example of our youngest congregants and embrace the joy and fun in the times that we can be together, whether in person or virtually.