Around the Park: Severn summer campers serve community
Reprinted with permission from author Sharon Lee Tegler of the Capital Gazette
Back from a morning at the Arnold volunteer fire station, Severn School summer campers were grabbing a bite of lunch with their counselors at Teel Academic Center. Julia Dworkin, Maddie Howell, Grace Curtis, Ava Andrews and Tori Griffin gathered at one table, while twins Victoria and Vivian Miller and Brett Schultheis and Finn Spiers shared another. Summer at Severn program director Laurie Wachs said the kids were in their final week attending the school’s unique community enrichment camp. Read this article in its original location.
“Between 9 a.m. and noon each day, our students volunteered with various organizations doing whatever was needed,” she said. “They arrived back at campus for lunch followed by a swim at the Severna Park Community Center pool; then rallied back here for games and conversation before dismissal at 3 p.m.”
Seven summer camps were offered at Severn’s Upper School campus with additional ones geared to ages 3½ to 5 at the school’s Chesapeake campus. Themes ran the gamut from science, engineering and art to a “Survivor” course based on the TV show.
The six-week community enrichment camp scores high marks for its impact. Julia, a ninth-grader who normally attends another school, enrolled in the camp for the fifth year because she really enjoys it. Referred to by Wachs as “ our little rock star,” Julia has amassed more than 350 hours of community service.
Community Enrichment camper Julia with Severn Summer Programs Director Laurie Wachs. “The places we volunteer change each year and I’ve liked them all,” she said. “Today at the fire station, we learned first aid. We’d already learned how to put out a fire. On our third visit, we made the firemen lunch.”
“My favorite place this summer was the Queen Anne’s County Animal Welfare League which has cats and dogs and even mice. We all loved playing with the kittens.”
Brett, Grace, Ava and Tori seconded Julia’s opinion that “socializing” kittens in the cat room was incredibly fun.
Finn, who’s adventurous, relished the time he spent at the firehouse learning fire suppression techniques and strategies like how to map a route out of his home in case of fire.
Victoria and Vivian liked volunteering with the Services From the Heart Backpack Buddies program where they stuffed backpacks with enough food to sustain the children receiving them through a weekend. Grace and the twins found visiting Sunrise of Severna Park residents and running bingo games interesting and fulfilling. They liked talking with the older adults who, in turn, found their youthful exuberance uplifting.
Maddie said her favorite volunteer hours were spent reading to dogs at the Senior Dog Sanctuary of Maryland in Severn. She initially felt sad the dogs were old, but it made her happy to see how happy they were when read to.
“The dogs would bark as we approached them but became completely quiet as they listened,” she said.
Wachs remarked Severn’s camps always have flexible schedules allowing students to attend for one week, two weeks or all six weeks.
