Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, children are unable to play on the playground at the park, go to public pools or have a “normal” summer with friends.
Local summer camps, however, have aimed to ease that isolation and have provided a bit of normalcy.
“We needed camp this year more than any other year,” said Susie van der Vorst, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Camp Spring Creek in Bakersville.
Camp Spring Creek provides dyslexic children from around the world the opportunity to learn new skills and strategies while having the fun experiences of a classic summer camp.
Van der Vorst said summer camps, although different this year, have been imperative for all children, but especially those with dyslexia.
“Our kids suffer from the lack of self-confidence, so they don’t learn very well virtually anyway,” Van der Vorst said. “They really need that one-on-one, individualized learning.
Van der Vorst also noted the “academic slide” that already happens in the summertime is even more obvious this summer.
“Generally, if you don’t have an academic camp, there’s an academic slide in the summertime,” Van der Vorst said. “Our kids have been sliding since March, so they really needed it, even more so this year than any other year because they hadn’t been actively learning.”
Vicki Austin, the Head of School at Spruce Pine Montessori (SPMS), echoed Van der Vorst’s comments.
“Children need face-to-face interactions,” Austin said. “They need the social and emotional stuff. Being at home all day isn’t great for them.”
SPMS has been holding summer day camps since the beginning of June for children ranging from ages three to six.
“We’ve had several parents that have said that it is amazing the change they’ve seen in their kids since they’ve been back and just how happy they are,” Austin added.
Both Montessori and Camp Spring Creek took intense precautions before children arrived back at their facilities.
Van der Vorst said they worked with the North Carolina Youth Camp Association, the American Camp Association, the CDC, the Mitchell County Health Department and local government officials to ensure they were taking the proper steps.
Some of the steps the camp took included isolating the children in their “families” for the first two weeks of camps, taking their temperatures each day and having tutors wear face shields when working with the children. So far, Van der Vorst said these steps have worked.
“We’ve been really lucky so far, knock on wood,” she said. “But I also think a lot of it is because we put a lot of time and effort into planning before camp even started.”
At SPMS, Austin said it took them a long time to prepare the proper policies and put them into practice.
“It was many long hours going over the policies and procedures we needed to put in place on paper and then getting it approved with our board,” Austin said. “The board went over it and over it and over it just to make sure it was right and to make sure it was safe.”
Some of the guidelines the school has put in place include taking each child and parent’s temperature when they arrive, spraying down their items with alcohol disinfectant and wearing masks. Even the children wear masks, on occasion.
“We’re not requiring the children to wear masks, but they are wearing them a lot,” Austin said. “I mean, you can imagine for a three to six-year-old, putting a mask on is confusing at first but they seem to have grasped it really well.”
Austin said they are still learning the best practices, because guidelines are regularly changing, but they are doing their best to adapt.
“It’s obviously still a work in progress because there are changes every day,” Austin said. “So, we’re just doing what we can do and taking it in stride.”
When Camp Spring Creek concludes on Aug. 8, Van der Vorst said parents who have quarantined for two weeks will be allowed to come into the camp and have their kids show them around. However, parents who have recently traveled via airlines or can’t quarantine for that time will just have to pick up their kids in the parking lot.
“We’re trying to really restrict things,” Van der Vorst said. “We’ve done such a great job of keeping them COVID-free during their time here that we don’t want it to come right at the end of things.”