Camp offers taste of Waldorf-inspired learning

PALMER — It’s not a typical classroom scene; students with handsaws busily covering the floor in sawdust and wood shavings while crafting wooden boxes by hand.

For the first time, the Birchtree Parent’s Guild organized five-day, 15-hour long summer camp June 9 to 13 for children between the ages of 8 to 14 at the Waldorf-inspired Birchtree Charter School.

Campers could pick from four classes: cake making, wood working, kids adventure camp, or the Birchtree sampler.

Brandt Bowen, Assistant Principal at Birchtree Charter School, said the camp was a good way for kids and parents to get a taste of what a Waldorf-based school is like, or to spend a week learning a new skill in a relaxed setting.

“Some of the things that we did at the camp are fairly typical of the types of things they will see in the classroom,” he said.

Coordinator and Chairperson of the Birchtree Parent Guild, Heather Lee, said the Parent’s Guild began working last September to put the camp together after receiving numerous requests from students, parents and staff members.

“We kept hearing ‘lets do summer camps, lets do summer camps,’” she said. “’We have so many skilled and talented teachers and parents in the Birchtree community; can’t we figure out a way to do this?’”

Lee said there were lots of ideas for how the camp might shape up. She said organizers decided to start small this year and build on the effort in coming years.

“We wanted to be able to provide a high quality product and not spread ourselves too thin,” Lee said.

During the last day, the adventure camp visited nearby Finger Lake for a fishing trip. Parent Jack Horner led this camp. He taught campers skills like building fence, making slingshots, whittling and reading a compass.

“Jack Horner, I like to call Jack Horner a renaissance man,” Lee said. “He seems to be able to do just about anything.”

Cake making was another popular activity for campers.

“As teachers we usually give kids gifts on their birthdays. I make them some sort of cake creation. Just so they can see a talent I have. I want to give to them…” Bowen said. “It’s just not as easy as making frosting and whipping it on. You have to learn several skills to get to that point. We are learning good food preparation skills. A lot of kids don’t get a lot of time in the kitchen. Being able to learn how to measure, how to make sure everything is hygienic and clean; how you prepare something for someone else.”

The camp was open to all Valley children.

Lee said the Birchtree Sampler was created specifically as a way to let kids sample the flavor of the school without enrolling as full-time students.

“We have done everything from watercolor painting, to knitting and crocheting, including making your own knitting needles,” she said.

Based on the success of this year’s camp, Bowen said the plan is to offer the camp annually. He said next summer the plan is to use local media to get the word out so all interested Valley kids can plan to attend.

For more information, visit birchtreecharterschool.org.