Virtual Summer Camps in Newfoundland & Labrador, by Sadie Hutchings When the chance to return to Brilliant Labs as a summer tech mentor came around, I did not hesitate for a second. Having previously been a part of the afterschool program as a STEAM mentor I was excited to be back, even if it was during a global pandemic. This just meant that some aspects, such as teaching in person were no longer possible due to COVID-19 restrictions. While this presented obstacles for us, we were equipped for the task. The first day back arrived and the planning, preparing, and getting reacquainted with the technology began immediately. Some things became obvious right away that they would need more planning than others. For instance, having to use the projectors on sight, with a virtual video call for the mentor teaching at the time. Simply packing up and going to the camp locations to teach in person was no longer an option. Making with a projector setup became the most interactive way to teach rather than pre-recorded videos, while still maintaining social distancing. While all the planning was necessary, and things do work perfectly sometimes there will always be limitations and unforeseen problems. To begin with, you cannot plan for how the kids will react in the moment, and at times we found it hard to fully capture their attention being only online and not face to face. Despite also providing the supplies they needed to work with, follow along and create themselves, it was at times hard to bridge the divide. So, 50
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“I
was excited to be back, even if it was during a global pandemic...while this presented obstacles for us, we were equipped for the task.
- Sandi Hutchings Summer Camp Mentor
to work around this we would change up the lessons more, adding more educational games, eye catching demonstrations to get the creative process going and sometimes changing up the leading instructors. Overall, the summer shaped up great, because in my experience nothing is without bumps in the road but it’s about how you handle those bumps that determines where you go from there. In our case even the unsolvable ones were met with an optimistic approach, and working together easily resolved most without difficulties. It is this outlook on a situation that is often the difference between finding a solution or not, and at Brilliant Labs these skills and mindsets are encouraged and developed. Making Brilliant Labs a wonderful, positive,
and meaningful place of work I will always highly regard.
Virtual & In Person Hybrid Camps, by John Barron Brilliant Labs was also able to offer some in person camp experiences working with student pods in municipal run camps in Newfoundland and Labrador. These hybrid camps blended virtual instruction with in person support, reached over 200 students per week.
