Camp T for Fourth Graders

Camp Tecumseh has to be the panultimate experience of Hershey Elementary. All the fourth graders get to go on a two day campout and live like pioneers. They have been studying Indiana history since the start of school. Camp T let them put the knowledge into action. They got to fish Huck Finn-style, blaze a new trail through the woods, create a log for a log cabin (phew --that's work), make candles, etc. I was chosen (and, yes, it is a huge honor as a parent to be chosen for this trip) to teach Indian sign language. The kids loved it. My class was in a teepee and everything. The girls loved every minute and they even had their best buddies in their groups and mom in their cabin. Of course, they thought this was all just happenstance. God bless those fourth grade teachers.

In the picture above, Paige and her bff are making a candle base. They had to saw a thin log slice and then hand-drill a spot for the candle. Below, Claire and her pal are dipping candles. Both were a long process. The theme of the entire two days was lowering waste. They even weighed our scraps from dinner to show waste. They explained all the energy used to make products and how we should try to lower our energy consumption in all ways. I loved the modern theme on the pioneer life.