In preparation for summer, Golden Independent School's popular set of exciting, educational camps for children aged 5-12 are getting a make-over... and a new name. Since 2003, the camps have been called Summer Adventures-this year Camp Director Courtney Kallas has re-named them Summer
Endeavors to more accurately describe the project-oriented nature of the camps.
"An endeavor is a more hands-on, more self-directed discovery process than an adventure. You could describe a pre-packaged trip on a cruise ship as an exotic adventure, but you and your friends would have to read the map, sail the boat yourselves, and trade dances with the island natives before you could call it an endeavor!" says Dr. Erika Sueker, Director of Golden Independent School.
Who? Where? When? Why? How? and perhaps most importantly, What if? Questions bubble from children's minds and float through their conversations as they explore a different aspect of the world during each Endeavor.
From June 18 through August 10, different age groups of children endeavor in weekly themes to investigate, build, sing, experiment, travel, create, swim, dance, write, and share their explorations with others. Teachers are guides to children's experiences, not task-masters or sports coaches. "It's childhood-- we want our campers to have fun, but mostly we want to inspire them to make connections between people and ideas, and to develop as life-long learners and self-responsible citizens," says Kallas, who has a degree in anthropology and has been involved with Golden Independent School since it opened in 2003.
Social studies, focusing on people and what they do, form the core of the curriculum at Golden Independent, and the core of each Summer Endeavor camp. Six other subject areas, Language, The Arts, Thinking with Numbers, Historical Thinking, Healthy Behavior, and Scientific Thinking are then integrated into each social studies theme.
In 2007 the Endeavor themes will be Fantasy Role-playing; Wood Model Architechture; Bicycles; Melodrama; Nature Arts; Radio Stories; Bicycles; and Life on the High Plains (including trip to Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY.) The Derailer Bike Collective from Denver will sponsor the bicycle camp.
To ensure that everyone has fun at camp, ach Endeavor is arranged for two age groups within a specified age range (5 to13 years, depending upon the topic of the Endeavor; see camp brochure or website). 5-year-olds must have completed Kindergarten OR have completed the process for entering Kindergarten at Golden Independent School (including attending a visiting day) and be self-sufficient with toilet needs. As a bonus, 2007 camps will be discounted to 2005 prices! Only $150/week.
For more information, please visit
www.goldenindependent.org or call 303-279-3708 to request a Summer Endeavors brochure.