1959 Highlander Way · New Market, TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424
e-mail: hrec@highlandercenter.org

Children's Justice Camp - 2006

Highlander's annual Children's Justice Camp was held June 25-July 1, 2006. Nineteen children attended the camp, along with the camp director, four senior counselors and three junior counselors.

This year's camp theme was "I Want to Be Your Neighbor." The focus of the camp was to help the children gain an understanding of people from other cultures in order to accept them as our friends and neighbors. Due to the media's coverage of Latino immigration issues over the last year, greater emphasis was placed on the Latino culture. Through the theme, the children learned the importance of respecting the differences of others and recognizing commonalities shared with people from cultures different from their own./

To help implement the theme, each day campers participated in several exercises that gave them a chance to test their powers of observation in recognizing correct and incorrect behavior associated with non-verbal language or indirect clues while assessing their own reactions and feelings to the behaviors. The exercises helped the participants learn that the "whys" of human behavior do not always lend themselves to simply neat concepts and answers.

The campers also learned that each person sees the behavior of others through their "personal glasses" which are colored by their own personal and cultural experiences. The children participated in role-playing exercises, and shared true-life stories about how they or someone they knew demonstrated neighborly friendship to someone of Latino heritage. At the end of each day's theme class, a Latino folk tale was shared with the children.

The campers also chose one of three week-long interest classes to be a part of. Class choices included a drama class in which the children developed and wrote a play that focused on the camp's theme. The play was performed for parents at the camp's conclusion. A rocket building class was also offered in which the campers built rockets to shoot off for parents at the end of the camp, and a piñata making class where they designed and made their own personal piñatas to take home.

In addition to learning opportunities, daily camp activities included fun events. The children enjoyed publishing a daily newspaper, playing dominos, Latino dance lessons, tie dye, nature hikes, and making bean bags, pillows, tote bags, planters, and a group piñata. Each evening, the children participated in a new group activity.

Evening activities included a hayride, outdoor games, interactive music with Guy and Candie Carawan, a visit from a wildlife rehabilitator, several videos, group discussions, a picnic and swimming at a community pool, skits, an individual talent show, and overnight camping in Highlander's pavilion.

A campfire ceremony was held the last evening of the camp. During this ceremony, the children broke the candy filled group piñata they had made, and each camper shared what they head learned from their Highlander experience and from that experience what they planned to share with the rest of the world.

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