Melody Guyton Butts
A STUDENT-DRIVEN EFFORT For Edwards, it’s been a pleasure to witness the maturity of the DA students who have served as directors and counselors. The camp directors’ responsibilities are year-round, and he works to help connect them with the proper contacts and ensure that i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed during school-year planning — but the students are responsible for attending to the details. Edwards is even less hands-on during the week of camp; he checks in a few times a day and is nearby — as assistant director of Summer Programs — to help handle emergencies, but students are firmly in the driver’s seat. “We have an amazing resource in our students,” he says. “They’re so mature in their approach to taking on responsibility. It’s really pretty amazing to see that firsthand. It’s a situation where I’m trusting them to take care of children. They troubleshoot so well — they’re so readily able to take care of problems on their own, which I think is really kind of heartwarming to see.” Edwards sees great value in the skills that students gain by working with SOCK. Essentially,
directors learn how to run a business — organizing the army of people it takes to make the camp run smoothly, setting schedules, meeting deadlines, and raising and budgeting money. And the enhancement to students’ people skills is immeasurable — patience, listening, adaptability and diplomacy are critical when working with people of all ages, from elementary-age campers to adult volunteers. “From its outset, SOCK Camp has been the singularly most fulfilling volunteer activity of my career at DA,” Edwards says. “Working on and with SOCK has always made my heart smile.” Twenty counselors and nine directors worked with just over 40 campers at the 2014 SOCK Camp, making for a counselor-camper ratio that’s hard to beat. Each day of camp centers around a theme, from Science Day to Carnival Day, each with a balance of educational and purely fun activities. The first day of the 2014 camp, Game Day, involved plenty of soccer, a name game and free play. A trio of firefighters treated campers to a tour of their truck and offered fire-safety tips. “Oh yeah, we had a lot of fun today,” one
camper said at the end of the day, as she proudly held up a florescent pink beach pail and water bottle that she had personalized with dragonfly appliques and colorful pipe cleaners during a crafts session. “I wish we could do this every day this summer.” Undoubtedly the most popular day of camp each year is Water Day, when campers and counselors let loose on a huge inflatable water slide, with garden hoses and buckets of water. It’s been a Friday tradition since the very first year. “From slip ’n’ slides to water balloons to a bouncy house and the ever-popular cookout lunch complete with freeze-pops, this was always a day of non-stop fun,” Samantha Leder recalls. “This was also the day when we took our all-camp picture and had time to reflect. Friday signified the culmination of a successful week serving a very deserving population in our community. I will always remember the smiles, the laughter and the thank-yous that came from campers and parents alike on these Fridays, reminding us that we really had, even in a small way, made a difference.”
DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | WINTER 2015 | WWW.DA.ORG
17