Kids VT, Spring 2022

SPRING 2022 — THE CAMP ISSUE NATURE CAMPS FOR KIDS

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Vermont Ballet Theater School Center for Dance presents Celebration 2022 SUMMER of Dance 2019 VERMONT BALLET THEATER SCHOOL CENTER FOR DANCE PRESENTS

Classes

Our annual showcase of talent from ages 4 CELEBRATION through pre-professional OF DANCE 2022 will dance their way onto the Flynn Main Saturday, May 28 Stage in Burlington for 2 exciting performances, at 1:00 & 6:30 p.m.

• Week-long ballet and jazz camps Our annual showcase of talent from ages 4 through pre-professional will dance their way onto the Flynn Main Stage in Burlington for two exciting performances.

Classes & Camps 2019 SUMMER

Braces for Children & Adults

DRS. RYAN and EATON • www.champlainortho.net ST. ALBANS OFFICE

80 Mapleville Depot • 527-7100

WILLISTON OFFICE

287 Blair Park Road • 878-5323

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& Camps

• Week-long ballet themed camps for ages 3-9; Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker and more!

for ages 7 – 12

• All That Jazz Musical Theater Camp, plus STORM Dance Co. Summer Intensive with Kate Stevens

Saturday May• Week-long 25, 2019 ballet Mini-Intensive for ages 12-18, at 1:00 & 6:30 pm.for the serious dancer looking to stay in shape for

various summer-long intensives For show & ticket information visit • Weekly ballet classes for young www.vbts.org. dancers, beginners, and advanced For show & ticket information

visit www.vbts.org.

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• Weekly classes Learn to flip,ballet fly, juggle and clown! for young Join us at our overnight camp in Greensboro, VT dancers - adults - beginner - advanced

photo by Hi

lary Packard

• Ongoing yoga and fitness classes for adults

“Ev

ab -C

pre-professional dancers

VBT Summer Intensive 2019 Auditions Sat. March 9th for ages 8 & up.

Visit website or call for details!

VBT Summer Intensive 2022 Auditions are Sat. March 5th for ages 7 & up.

June 19-24 All Around Circus Camp Age 8-16 This come dance with the at VBTS! June 26–July 8 Allbest Around Circus Camp Age 8–16 Visit website or summer call for details!

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“Everyone says it’s “Everyone says it’s magical...it’s magical absolutely...it’s true.” absolutely true.”

-Carly, camper -Carly, camper

July 10-22 Intermediate Camp Age 12–18 SIGN UP AT For schedule and enrollment information, visit us at WWW.VBTS.ORG, July 24-August 12 Interm. Skills Intensive Age 12-18 This summer come dance with the best at VBTS! 24–August 12 Advanced Camp Age 12–18 or call 878-2941, or emailJulyINFO@VBTS.ORG For schedule and enrollment information, visit us at WWW.VBTS.ORG, September 2-4

or call 878-2941, or email INFO@VBTS.ORG

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FOLLOW US

2/8/22 2:59 PM

DIANE SULLIVAN

STAFF QUESTION

What helps you clear your head and think creatively?

STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS

WALKING is pretty much my religion at this

point. I take several walks a day around my neighborhood to clear my head, energize my body and help me refocus.

COPUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Cathy Resmer

cathy@sevendaysvt.com

BENJAMIN ROESCH, CONTRIBUTOR

COPUBLISHER

Colby Roberts

colby@sevendaysvt.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

It helps me to have a DESIGNATED PHYSICAL

Alison Novak

SPACE to work in. That helps me get into a

ART DIRECTOR

clear, creative headspace.

Kirsten Thompson MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST

MARIA MUNROE, CONTRIBUTOR

Cat Cutillo

Corey Barrows

corey@sevendaysvt.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Kaitlin Montgomery kaitlin@kidsvt.com PROOFREADERS

Carolyn Fox, Martie Majoros PRODUCTION MANAGER

John James CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Don Eggert DESIGNERS

Jeff Baron, John James, Rev. Diane Sullivan CIRCULATION MANAGER

Matt Weiner BUSINESS MANAGER

Marcy Carton CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Keegan Albaugh, Corey Barrows, Heather Fitzgerald, Elisa Järnefelt, Maria Munroe, Benjamin Roesch

P.O. BOX 1184 • BURLINGTON, VT 05402 802-985-5482 • SEVENDAYSVT.COM/KIDSVT

Published 4x per year.

Circulation: 35,000 at 800 locations throughout northern and central Vermont. © 2022 Da Capo Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.

Editorial content in Kids VT is for general informational purposes.

Parents must use their own discretion for following the advice in any editorial piece. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute service/product endorsement.

Da Capo Publishing shall not be held liable to any advertiser for any loss that results from the incorrect publication of its advertisement. If a mistake is ours, and the advertising purpose has been rendered valueless, Da Capo Publishing may cancel the charges for the advertisement, or a portion thereof as deemed reasonable by the publisher.

Da Capo Publishing reserves the right to refuse any advertising, including inserts, at the discretion of the publishers.

Lots to Learn

D

, B, A, Y, G, L, U: What’s a word that uses all these letters? That’s the question I kept asking myself the other day while playing the New York Times Spelling Bee game on my phone. I’d come back to the puzzle periodically, shuffling the letters and trying different combinations.

I’ve always loved word games and have even competed at Scrabble tournaments, but I stopped playing them in March 2020.

For a year and a half, I focused on work, spending time with my family and getting us all through the pandemic.

Over the holidays, something shifted.

Our relatives canceled their visit because of Omicron, and I had some downtime. I started playing the Spelling Bee game, and it became part of my daily routine. Each day, the Times serves up a different set of seven letters inside hexagonal boxes, with one letter in the center of the cluster. All the words have to use that letter. There are a limited number of possible combinations.

I tend to focus on figuring out the longer words, especially pangrams, which use every letter. There’s always at least one. The more words you find, the farther you rise through the game’s nine levels, from “nice” to “solid” to “great” to, finally, “genius.”

I realized recently why I’m drawn to the game: It’s helping me look at situations differently and find solutions that might not be obvious at first. And the euphoria of getting to “genius” or discovering a pangram gives me energy. I can harness that momentum to tackle one more challenge — like finishing this editor’s note. Yep, this piece is brought to you by the word LADYBUG. Two years into the pandemic, we’ve all developed new coping strategies — ways of getting ourselves and our families through this time and learning whatever lessons it has to teach us. For our kids, so much of that learning has happened outside of traditional classrooms.

EDITOR’S NOTE Yet another unpredictable school year has made me pay closer attention to what my two teenagers are learning from nonacademic activities. I’ve seen them embrace music, sports, cooking, crafting and Dungeons & Dragons, all of which have enriched their lives in meaningful ways.

This issue of Kids VT is devoted to those kinds of extracurricular learning opportunities. Summer camps offer lots of them. Both Heather Fitzgerald and Benjamin Roesch write about standout local programs in “Good Nature” (page 14) and “Musical Notes” (page 10).

This issue is timed to coincide with our 25th annual Kids VT Camp and School Fair on Saturday, March 5, at the Burlington Hilton. You’ll find write-ups on each of the camps and schools exhibiting at the fair starting on page 19, along with quotes from local kids about what they love about camp — and tips on how to pay for it.

Our other columnists look elsewhere for life lessons. In “Secondhand Style” (page 13), Maria Munroe explains what she learned by thrifting with her mom. Cat Cutillo talked with tae kwon do teacher Kellie Thomas, a “Vermont Visionary” who found direction through martial arts (page 16). “Pop Culture” columnist Keegan Albaugh reflects on how his daughters have inspired him to work on lowering his stress level (page 12). Kids VT marketing and events director Corey Barrows gave birth last fall and learned more than she ever wanted to know about her pelvic floor — she shares some of that valuable insight in “Use Your Words” (page 35).

We hope this issue inspires you to find creative ways to cope — and we hope to see you in person at the Camp Fair. Register for your free ticket at campfindervt.com.

© DREAMSTIME.COM / ALIASCHING

cat@sevendaysvt.com MARKETING & EVENTS DIRECTOR

Clear head? I usually prefer CHAOS for creative thinking. Probably because I was the youngest of eight kids.

DIANE SULLIVAN, DESIGNER GOING OUTDOORS and WALKING IN THE WOODS — basically, stop trying to solve or invent anything for a moment.

ELISA JÄRNEFELT, CONTRIBUTOR

CONTRIBUTOR’S NOTE COREY BARROWS

(“I Made a Kid,” page 35) is the marketing and events director for Kids VT and Seven Days, as well as a certified Buti yoga instructor. But it was her standup comedy training that was most useful in writing her essay about recovering from childbirth.

CATHY RESMER, EDITOR, COPUBLISHER KIDS VT CAMP ISSUE 2022

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KIDS VT CAMP ISSUE 2022

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Essex

7 Carmichael Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 Phone: (802) 878-8348

Burlington

1127 North Avenue, Ste 7 Burlington, VT 05408 Phone: (802) 862-0770

Shelburne

5070 Shelburne Road Shelburne, VT 05482 Phone: (802) 985-9797 2/8/22 3:25 PM

CAMP ISSUE 2022 Welcome 5 Editor’s Note Staff Question Contributor’s Note

Short Stuff Contests 9 Competitions Fundraisers

Camp Therapy

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• Sending kids away this summer could help boost their social skills and sense of connection • Read about the exhibitors at the 2022 Kids VT Camp and School Fair

Just for Kids 32 Coloring Contest 33 Coloring Contest Winners

A Haven for Young Musicians in Westford Kinhaven Music School marches proudly to its own beat

Columns 10 Musical Notes 12 Pop Culture 13 Secondhand Style 14 Good Nature 15 Mom Takes Notes 16 Vermont Visionaries 35 Use Your Words

On the Cover

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How to Be in the Woods

14

Nature camps teach kids to be comfortable outdoors

© Robert Kneschke | Dreamstime

Looking for

something

30 State St | Montpelier MON-FRI 10-4 | SAT 10-5 | SUN 10-3

to do?

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SHORT STUFF BY CAT CU TI L L O & CAT H Y R ES M ER

Find more family-focused events in the Seven Days calendar, online at sevendaysvt.com

Save the Dates

Go Jump in a Lake

Contests, competitions and family-friendly fundraisers

Who in their right mind dives into an icecold lake in the winter? Kids, families and groups who sign up for the PENGUIN PLUNGE, an annual fundraiser for Special Olympics Vermont. The nonprofit provides opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to participate in sports. Teams of plungers collect money for the cause, then line up along the Burlington waterfront, often in matching T-shirts or costumes, for their turn to rush into — and out of — Lake Champlain. In 2020, Penguin Plunge events brought in $614,000, nearly 40 percent of the organization’s operating budget. Participants can also qualify for fundraising incentives, including Skida products, Darn Tough socks and complimentary stays at Burlington hotels.

H.L. GLENN PHOTOGRAPHY

Two separate plunges take place on Saturday, March 12, in Burlington, and Saturday, March 26, in Manchester. Find information and sign up at specialolympicsvermont.org.

— C.R.

2020 Penguin Plunge in Burlington

The deadline to sign up is March 21. Find more details at bonniecabbageprogram.com.

Write an Earth Day Essay Attention, fifth and sixth graders: What do you love about Vermont’s environment?

What are your concerns about its future? Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan wants to know, in 1,000 words or less. In honor of Earth Day on April 22, his office has organized its second annual EARTH DAY ESSAY CONTEST for fifth- and sixth-grade students. Why? Because the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division enforces laws protecting Vermont’s environment. All submisTI M E MS EA sions will be posted on the attorney general’s website, and R |D A participants will be entered into a drawing for a virtual visit from Donovan himself. Last year’s entries included an essay from Senji, a fifth grader at Oak Grove School in Brattleboro, who loves swimming and fishing in Vermont’s lakes and rivers and wrote: “Every time I go to my special fishing spot with my friends, it makes me feel more joy in my body than I did before.”

AE ISH

IA L

OLES

Nathan Gardzina

Got a third grader with a green thumb? Now’s the time to sign them up for this year’s CABBAGE-GROWING COMPETITION, organized by Bonnie Plants. The Alabamabased company will send participants a cabbage plant, along with instructions on how to care for it. A winner in each state, chosen in October — after the harvest — gets a $1,000 scholarship. Nathan Gardzina, a third grader from Malletts Bay School in Colchester, was the 2021 state winner; his entire class entered the contest. Even with minimal gardening experience, he managed to grow a 13-pounder in a raised bed in his yard. He watered it daily. “Every day I looked outside, and it got bigger,” he said.

V

Be Vermont’s Next Cabbage Patch Kid

The deadline to enter is April 1. Find details and submission information at ago.vermont.gov/earth-day-essay-challenge.

— C.C.

Recruit Volunteers for the Green Up Cleanup Crew

— C.R. Green Up Day 2022 poster art

by Marina Hallisey, grade 7, Shelburne

When the snow melts at the end of a long winter, it leaves behind all kinds of junk, especially along roadways and in other public areas. That trash doesn’t just look bad — eventually it ends up in our rivers, lakes and streams. So, on the first Saturday of May, known since 1970 as GREEN UP DAY, volunteers across the state spend a few hours picking it up. Last year, they filled 41,019 bags with litter and collected more than 16,250 discarded tires. The nonprofit that organizes Green Up Day relies on K-12 students to help spread the word and motivate participants through art, poetry, jingles and videos. The winners of last year’s jingle competition were a team of Burlington fourth graders who participated in the Good Citizen Challenge. Their group came up with this catchy lyric: “Pick up trash, do the math, helping each other is such a blast. Pick up trash, it’s so fast, garbage will soon be part of the past.”

The deadline to enter the Green Up Day poetry and essay contest is March 1; the deadline to submit video commercials and jingles is April 1. Find rules and information about prizes at greenupvermont.org.

Spectrum Sleep Out

Sleep Out in Solidarity With Homeless Youth The end of March isn’t the most enjoyable time to spend a night outside in Vermont. But discomfort is kinda the point of the SPECTRUM SLEEP OUT. This annual fundraiser for Spectrum Youth & Family Services invites participants to imagine what it’s like for homeless kids and young adults, who endure these unpleasant conditions daily. Sleep out at one of the public events on Friday, March 25, or in your own backyard that night or on a different one. The money raised helps Spectrum provide counseling, housing and job training to roughly 1,500 youth and their families each year.

Sleep out on Friday, March 25, at Technology Park in South Burlington or at Taylor Park in St. Albans. Find more details and sign up at spectrumvt.org.

— C.R.

— C.R. KIDS VT CAMP ISSUE 2022

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Amal Biskin at Kinhaven Music School

www.mscvt.org A child-centered alternative education, dedicated to the philosophy and teachings of Maria Montessori.

Children ages 18 months to age 12 *A prequalified, 5 STAR program accepting Act 166/ Universal PreK funding.

Barre, VT

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MUSICAL NOTES B Y B EN J AM IN R O ESC H

A Haven for Young Musicians in Weston

A

mal Biskin has been playing the violin since age 5. Her parents, both musicians, required it. “It was as fundamental and obligatory as doing my homework or brushing my teeth,” she said. A New York City native, her training included private lessons and attending an intensive music school from kindergarten through eighth grade.

In 2017, when she was 14, she learned about the Senior Session at Kinhaven Music School in Weston — a unique six-week immersive experience for top-notch young musicians like her.

At first, Amal was skeptical. She’d spent two weeks at a music camp the summer before and found it “full of fiercely competitive 13-year-olds, harsh teachers and exclusive social cliques.”

She worried that she wouldn’t enjoy a month and a half in an environment like that.

Fortunately, that’s not what she found at Kinhaven. When she arrived in Weston, students and faculty both greeted her with “overflowing warmth and enthusiasm,” she said. “I could tell I was in a very different place.”

Indeed, Kinhaven is a music camp that marches proudly to its own beat.

Situated on a 31-acre former dairy farm, Kinhaven specializes in classical chamber music, orchestra and piano education. Students live, rehearse and perform on campus. The school hosts a variety of musical programs each summer for middle and high school students, as well as adults, though it’s perhaps best known for Senior Session, attended by 100 elite-level high school musicians from across the country.

The students who come to Kinhaven

Gabriel Roth at rehearsal

are serious musicians, and around 70 percent go on to study music in college, often at prestigious programs such as the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music and Manhattan School of Music.

It’s tough to get into Senior Session, said trombonist Anthony Mazzocchi, who has codirected the program with his wife, violinist Deborah Buck, since 2011. Around 40 of the 100 slots are filled by returning students — once they’re accepted, they don’t have to apply again.

That leaves just 50 to 60 slots open to newcomers, and hundreds apply each year.

But while each student has to pass through a competitive audition process, “that’s where the competition ends,” Mazzocchi said. Instead of a Hunger Games-style competition or the bruteforce teaching methods depicted in films like Whiplash, Kinhaven gets the best

out of its young musicians by focusing on community, collaboration and fun.

This approach has been part of Kinhaven’s mission since it was founded in 1952 by pioneering music educators David and Dorothy Dushkin. The couple established the School of Musical Arts and Crafts, now known as the Music Institute of Chicago, before moving to Vermont. They remodeled the old barn on their property into music studios and living quarters for the original cohort of 13 students. The Dushkins envisioned an immersive musical experience centered on singing and chamber music — classical music that’s performed by a handful of players rather than a full orchestra.

They believed that students, set free from the stresses of their daily lives and surrounded by open air and blue skies, could thrive there.

That was true of Amal, who spent

three summers at Kinhaven. She said to 10 or 12 chamber pieces. “It’s very playing chamber music with her peers intense,” he said. was transformative. “It enabled me Kinhaven’s focus on chamber to discover a new relationship with music helps students become better music that was completely unique overall musicians, said faculty member to me and no longer connected to my Carolyn Wahl, who plays French parents or my school,” she said. And horn with the Florida Orchestra. In a being surrounded by other musicians chamber music setting, “You have to in this idyllic setting helped her listen. You have to adjust. You have to discover “the delight and camaraderie move together,” she said. of playing music ... I realized that it Most faculty members, like Wahl, was something that could bring me teach in universities or play in closer to people, rather than forcing professional orchestras and chamber me into a practice room alone for ensembles. Many have been Kinhaven hours every day.” instructors for decades. At Kinhaven, At Kinhaven, students spend at they work closely with students, least four hours a getting to know day playing music. them musically But after morning and personally. rehearsals and Students and lunch, they can hit faculty eat meals the pottery studio or together, help clean the tennis court, or the facilities side by walk two miles into side, and even just Weston to buy candy hang out. at the Vermont This kind of Country Store. instruction isn’t Softball games, cheap. Though swimming and tuition went up spontaneous folk this year for the dancing are part of first time in a Violinist Lana Auerbach the experience, too. decade, 2022’s (left) with cellist Frida Rahmani at Kinhaven Some Kinhaven all-inclusive cost first-timers are for the six-week surprised by how Senior Session much time they spend without their is $7,200. During his tenure as instruments in hand. For example, each codirector, Mazzocchi has worked evening closes with all the students to make Kinhaven more accessible. (and some faculty) gathered together Need-based financial aid is available. outside to sing a set of madrigals and Mazzocchi and Buck have also develBach chorales together. oped partnerships with organizations New Jersey native and three-time in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles attendee Gabriel Roth, a current to enable more students to attend. first-year at Oberlin Conservatory of Roughly 20 percent of Kinhaven Music, said students singing together attendees are now students of color. under the stars “is probably my favorite Kinhaven doesn’t attract a lot of local Kinhaven tradition. You hear beautiful students, though; just a handful each music waft over the campus and see a summer hails from Vermont. tightly knit community of music lovers Though Kinhaven was forced to making music together.” cancel its 2020 session due to the panMazzocchi called it “the most magidemic, students returned last summer cal part of the camp.” and will be back again in June.

Cellist Frida Rahmani, in her first Mazzocchi said being on campus year at Purchase College at the State there provides relief from the stress and University of New York, admits that, as fatigue of daily life in a pandemic. “The a 17-year-old, she was embarrassed by world needs places like Kinhaven more displaying vulnerability. “The thought now than ever before,” he said. of my singing voice being heard or Amal, who’s now a first-year at people seeing me dance genuinely Yale University, said her experiences sent chills down my spine,” she said. at Kinhaven were nothing short of “But in the end, I miss the singing and life-changing. “I saw myself transform the dancing just as much as I miss the from a shy 14-year-old to an outgoing orchestra and the chamber music, if not rising college freshman who took more.” younger students under my wing (just Those activities make the demandas the graduating seniors did for me),” ing musical education more bearable. she wrote in an email. She went “from a Students work extremely hard to single individual to a part of something perfect each week’s chosen scores. much larger than myself.”

Performances every Friday and Sunday That’s what Kinhaven is all about. K are open to the public. Mazzocchi said To learn more about Kinhaven Music that by the time students leave, they’ve performed six orchestral works and up School, visit kinhaven.org.

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POP CULTURE BY KE E GA N A L BA UGH

picked up the ukulele and started playing and singing again.

And after a month, I felt a heck of a lot better.

If you can relate, and you’re interested in ways you can teach your children about managing emotions, here are some tips: • MODEL SELF-CARE. Show your kids that you’re actively engaging in activities that make you feel better. Go for walks, play music, read, paint, connect with friends or spend time outside. Do things that make you happy.

• MODEL SELF-SOOTHING. When you notice that you’re feeling stressed and triggered, how do you calm down? Maybe it’s deep breathing. It could be listening to music. Puzzles are great. Find whatever works to keep you from spiraling downward, and show your kids how you do it.

Coraline’s drawing

Get a Grip: Rules for Emotional Regulation

I

was cleaning the kitchen in early January when I came across a stack of artwork my 5-year-old daughter, Coraline, had brought home from school. I took a break from cleaning to glance through her recent creations: houses, animals, people. The usual. However, as I flipped through the pile, one image in particular caught my attention.

The drawing showed four people standing next to each other. Three of them had big smiles on their faces, but the fourth person, who was larger than the rest, had a wide-open mouth full of sharp teeth. It was clear that this person was angry and yelling. After looking at the picture and reflecting a bit, it became clear that this person was me.

And I’ll be honest, the image looked pretty familiar.

An accurate title would be something along the lines of “Daddy losing his cool while trying to get everyone out the door.” As hard as I try, I regularly struggle with managing my own stress in front of my children, especially on weekday mornings.

But what struck me the most about the drawing was just how aware of my feelings and energy Coraline had become. And I wondered, What was I teaching her about managing challenging emotions? What was I modeling?

I know I’m not the only caregiver feeling high levels of stress these days. We’re two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and most parents I know have been struggling to stay afloat after being challenged with the nearly impossible task of juggling all the things: working, cooking, cleaning, raising children, keeping up to date with school protocols, laundry, attempting to maintain a relationship with their partner, etc. It’s been so exhausting and stressful.

Coraline and her 3-year-old sister, Penelope, are clearly noticing that stress.

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When it comes to teaching our children, many of us immediately jump to topics like reading, writing, counting and riding a bike. But regulating emotions is important, too.

How often are we actively teaching them what to do when they’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, sad and/or angry?

And what kind of example are we setting?

What was I teaching her about managing challenging emotions?

What was I modeling?

The month of December was not a great one for me.

Blame it on the darkness. Blame it on the cold. Blame it on COVID. Blame it on the hectic holidays. All of it was constantly feeling like too much, and I was basically just attempting to crawl across the 2021 finish line. As a result, I found myself regularly relying on unhealthy coping strategies for managing my stress. I was staying up late, drinking alcohol every night and passively parenting pretty much all the time — staring at my phone, acting annoyed whenever my kids asked for something, counting down the minutes until bedtime. I was just trying to get by.

When I reflect on challenging stretches like the one in December and think about what my children are observing, I’m not proud of it.

So, in January, I decided to make a few changes in an attempt to better manage my emotions — for myself and for my children. I took a break from drinking alcohol. I went running regularly. I gave up coffee and went to bed earlier. I

• EXPLICITLY TALK ABOUT HOW YOU’RE TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF. Whenever you’re practicing self-care or self-soothing, talk about it in front of your children. Use statements like: “I’m going for a run because it makes my brain and body feel better” or “When I’m stressed, I like to draw, because it gives me something else to focus on and calms me down.”

That will help your kids connect the dots between the activity you’re engaging in and the intention behind it.

• MAKE AN EMOTIONAL REGULATION TOOLBOX WITH YOUR KID. When I was a teacher at the Centerpoint School, an alternative high school in Winooski, one of our standard practices was to help students create their own toolbox that they could access whenever they felt triggered. Inside the box, there might be fidget toys, coloring pages, music, books — whatever worked for them. My partner and I have done this with our own children and learned that they both like to do puzzles in their bedroom when they’re upset. It’s amazing how quickly they can calm down after connecting those interlocking pieces for five or 10 minutes.

• EDUCATE YOURSELF. There are some great some books on emotional regulation. I’d recommend The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, as well as Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields. Additionally, check out everything Vermont-based Alyssa Campbell and the wonderful folks at her company, Seed & Sew, have to offer.

I’ve been doing a lot better lately, but weekday mornings continue to be stressful. Last week, we were running late and I was trying to get both daughters to put on their coats so we could head out to the car.

Unfortunately, Penelope had other plans as she continued to play with her baby dolls. As my pulse began to race and the tone of my voice changed, I heard Coraline’s little voice.

“Dad, just breathe,” she told me. So I did. And it was just what I needed. K Keegan Albaugh is the founder and executive director of Burlington-based Dad Guild, a nonprofit that supports and empowers fathers by offering opportunities for connection, education and community engagement.

SECONDHAND STYLE BY M A RI A M UN ROE

M

y daughter has officially entered toddlerhood. She’s no longer content to play with a toy while I work; she wants to be involved. It’s made me excited to have her participate in all my favorite things, including thrifting.

Any time I’m chasing my girl down a thrift store aisle, I remember visiting similar stores with my mother when I was a kid. It’s a hobby my mom loves, and she shared it with me. It became our thing.

Looking back now, I realize that our outings didn’t just teach me to love secondhand shopping. Thrifting with my mom taught me lessons that I’ve carried into every area of my life, lessons that I hope my daughter absorbs, as well. Here are three of them.

FILE: CAT CUTILLO

Three Things I Learned From Thrifting With My Mom

IT'S TIME TO PUT YOUR HEALTH AND WELLBEING FIRST Maria Munroe and her daughter, Malia, shopping at Boho Baby in Williston

CREATIVITY IS A SKILL

PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF This was probably the first lesson thrifting taught me. Leaving a secondhand store empty-handed is just part of the process. Even if it was an hourlong hunt with no treasure to be found, my mom never left disappointed. She wasn’t ecstatic, but she was never upset. She taught me that not every attempt will yield the desired results, but if you

keep hunting, keep trying, eventually the treasures do come. When people ask me for the secret to finding things secondhand, my answer is simple: It takes time and effort.

That same “secret” is true for so many other parts of life.

HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF

PHOTOS: MARIA MUNROE

When you’re staring at what is literally a pile of other people’s junk, it can be hard at first to see anything worth saving. But I watched my mom pick through those piles, select seemingly random things, bring them home and blend them beautifully into her décor. She taught me that creativity can be developed with practice. Thrift stores are where I got my practice.

And in a thrift store, you can afford to practice a lot.

Over the years I’ve gotten better at it. Now my own home is furnished with things I envisioned a new life for: old baskets turned into planters, two sets of dishes blended into one, an old cabinet with a fresh coat of paint (pictured). Creating a home this way is one of the things I’m most proud of.

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My mom is a serial hobbyist, and many of her projects start with thrift finds. In order to turn her visions for old junk into reality, she quilts, sews and solders. She once bought a tile cutter at a garage sale, and a few YouTube tutorials later, she was retiling our bathroom floor. Thanks to After her example, I’ve never really questioned my abilities. I truly believe I can do — or learn to do — anything I want.

That belief has empowered me to push through my graduate program, my first year as a young professional and now motherhood. I know my daughter will face challenges that will make her feel like she isn’t enough. I hope she can center herself on this idea: I know what I’m doing; if not, I can learn. My mom taught me well. I hope I can do the same for my daughter. K

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GOOD NATURE BY H E AT H E R FI T Z GE R A LD

How to Be in the Woods

Campers at Green Mountain Conservation Camp at Buck Lake in Woodbury

FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CAMPS MENTIONED HERE:

I

f you want to get your child off the screen and into the woods this summer, there are many camps to choose from.

Many of them offer an up-close experience with nature. But those experiences vary dramatically, and it’s important to understand how before you put down a deposit.

Some years ago, I spent a week with family and friends at a family camp that had a nature-y name. We had so much fun that week, but I can still remember my friend Pete, one of the best naturalists I know, saying plaintively at one point, “Oh, sure, everybody here likes nature, but do they actually know anything about nature or actually do anything in nature?”

We had been swimming and hiking all week, but nobody there (besides Pete) was really investigating our surroundings. Pete told us about his experience as a staffer at the Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies in West Virginia, a summer camp where he had worked after college and taught kids hard-core nature skills.

Last year, my family found the Vermont version of the Burgundy Center: GREEN MOUNTAIN CONSERVATION CAMP, an overnight program for 12- to 16-year-olds run by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

Each year, nearly a thousand campers — 90 percent of them Vermonters — attend weeklong camps at one of two locations: Buck Lake in Woodbury and Kehoe Camp in Castleton. Each site hosts single-sex 14

KIDS VT CAMP ISSUE 2022

sessions for girls and boys; each session costs just $250 to attend, and scholarships are available.

GMCC has been running the programs since 1966. Campers learn lessons in botany, aquatic ecology, hunting, trapping and fishing. Fish & Wildlife director of outreach Ali Thomas described the core curriculum as “nature connection.”

The counselors are called natural resource instructors, and Thomas noted that working there is “not your usual after-high-school gig.” These adults tend to be in their mid-twenties and often have degrees in natural resources. State game wardens, wildlife biologists and foresters also share their expertise with campers. The lessons “come straight from the people who bleed this stuff,” Thomas said. “There’s so much love in the curriculum, and you can’t teach that and you can’t prescribe it.” Sounds just like what my friend Pete described at his camp.

GMCC offers a very structured experience. Thomas noted, “It’s a more rigorous education than a craft, play, laissez-fairestyle camp.”

My son enjoyed his time at a basic camp session as a 13-year-old. He came home with various certifications — hunter firearms training, bowhunter education — but when I asked him what stood out most, swimming, belly flops and the mud were some of the first things he mentioned.

He also liked sleeping in a cabin and the

•

Camp Bread & Butter, breadand butterfarm.com/summer-camp

•

Crow’s Path, crowspath.org

•

Green Mountain Conservation Camp, vtfishandwildlife.com/ learn-more/gmcc

•

Nature Explorers Camp at Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center, beec.org/ what-we-do/youth-programs

•

New Village Farm, newvillage farm.com

•

North Branch Nature Center, northbranchnaturecenter.org/ camps

Find more nature camps in the Summer Camp Guide that starts on pg. 19.

voluminous food choices the cafeteria offered. When it came time to sign up for an advanced session this year, he was all in.

But that kind of organized approach isn’t the only way to appreciate the outdoors. Recently I read Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation by the biologist Edward O. Wilson, Jim Ottaviani and C.M. Butzer. “A child comes to [nature] with a mind prepared for wonder,” Wilson says.

“Hands-on experience at the critical time, not systematic knowledge, is what counts in the making of a naturalist.”

Wilson describes a key summer he spent on the ocean as a child and concludes, “Better that summer ... was not an educational exercise planned by adults.”

The experience Wilson describes seems similar to the offerings of CROW’S PATH, an educational nonprofit that runs camps and weekly field school programs at Burlington’s Rock Point. My son has been

attending them since he was in first grade.

Crow’s Path gets kids out in the woods and on the shores of Lake Champlain. But what they do there is up to them.

I asked youth programs director Ross Doree about the difference between Crow’s Path and nature camps like GMCC. He suggested that camps like GMCC followed a “planned” curriculum, whereas Crow’s Path’s curriculum is “emergent.”

“In emergent curriculum, the games are more likely a product of the weather and season and the kids themselves. And by engaging with those things spontaneously, there will be any number of smaller lessons and experiences that educators can highlight,” Doree said.

My friend Susan, mother of two Crow’s Pathers, attended the field school with her children for a semester some years ago. When I asked her about the experience, she told me there was a strong rhythm to each day, but the adult mentors were open to what students wanted to do, whether it was going on a hike, building a shelter, identifying animal tracks or carving spoons out of downed tree branches.

Because there was no set agenda for the day, participants had to ask themselves what they were in the mood to do.

“It forces a sort of introspection, which can be vulnerable and awkward but deeply satisfying,” Susan said. “It allows us to grow the ‘invisible’ skills of selfdirection, intuition and deep listening.”

When I asked my son whether he learned a lot at GMCC, he nodded emphatically. What about? “Hunting and fishing and how to identify fish and how to gut an animal,” he told me. When I asked whether he’d picked up lessons at Crow’s Path, he nodded more slowly but then said, “Definitely.” What did he learn there?

“How to be in the woods.”

We’re fortunate in Vermont to have access to so many programs that teach kids to be comfortable outdoors. In addition to these two, there are many others, including NEW VILLAGE FARM CAMP and CAMP BREAD & BUTTER in Shelburne, NORTH BRANCH NATURE CENTER in Montpelier, and NATURE EXPLORERS CAMP AT BONNYVALE ENVIRONMENTAL

EDUCATION CENTER in West Brattleboro. As you consider the options, think about which approach is right for your child, and ask camp staff about how activities are structured.

Whether programs are planned or emergent, focused on goals and knowledge or on passion and connection, they’re giving kids an experience that’s harder and harder to get in our technology-driven society. Not every camp teaches the same lessons about nature, but right now I think we need them all. K

Heather Fitzgerald teaches field ecology and environmental science at the Community College of Vermont, University of Vermont, and Saint Michael’s College.

MOM TAKES NOTES BY E L I S A J Ä RN E F E LT

S

ome years ago, soon after I had started using Pinterest, I saw a sentence on someone’s board: “Julia Child didn’t start learning to cook until she was 37.” This notion that someone could begin a successful career later in life mesmerized me. It contradicted everything I had thought before. I had believed that to be good — to truly succeed — you had to start early.

My belief was formed in practice.

I was 5 when I started figure skating, and I was late to the sport. My friend, who had skated longer, was in the group of skilled children practicing at the other end of the skating rink. From the first lesson on, I had only one goal: to get in that more advanced group. I was a fast learner and made it there, but those who started later than me never had a chance. With competitive figure skating, you either started small or not at all.

This message and mentality were repeated many times in my young life.

When I applied for funding for my PhD research, I was not able to apply for certain grants because they were for scholars who were under 25 years old.

I was 26 at the time.

I learned about Julia Child almost a decade later, and you can imagine why it stood out for me: Why could Julia Child start learning a new skill at 37 and become good at it, but I had been almost too late already at 5 — and definitely by 25?

My daughter will be 5 this spring, and for the first time, we will sign her up for a camp or two. I can sense my old beliefs waking up and sitting on my shoulders: “We should think about what to focus on so that she will not be too late in the future. Or are we already too late?” But then I take a deep breath, gently lift the belief away and say: “We will do it differently this time.” K

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VERMONT VISIONARIES S TORY A N D P H OTO S B Y C AT C U T IL L O

Kellie Thomas, Tae Kwon Do Instructor T

hree years ago, when Kathy Atwood’s granddaughters began taking tae kwon do lessons, she and her husband, Bruce, began going to the school to watch the girls take the tests required to advance to the next rank. The two girls punched, kicked and broke boards with their feet. It looked so fun that Kathy convinced her husband and daughter, Samantha Atwood, the girls’ mother, to join the class with her. Now, all five of them attend classes together, twice a week, at TaeKwon Do K.I.C.K.S. in Orwell.

“It’s a great opportunity to be able to share something with our granddaughters,” Kathy said. “A lot of grandparents don’t have an activity that they share with their grandchildren.”

Family-style classes are the norm at TaeKwon Do K.I.C.K.S. That’s the way owner Kellie Thomas learned the Korean martial art when she was a child.

Her experience was so positive that she brought it to her four schools. In addition to Orwell, TaeKwon Do K.I.C.K.S. offers classes in Middlebury, Vergennes and Hinesburg. Students range in age from 18 months to seventysomething.

Thomas takes inclusion beyond siblings, children, parents and grandparents. Not only does she encourage people of all ages to enroll, she also recruits people whose lives vary widely. She works regularly with students who are nonverbal and those who live with Down syndrome, autism, epilepsy and ADHD. A page on her website spells out nine ways that martial arts can help kids who learn and think differently.

For example, martial arts focus on individual growth as opposed to team competition. They work toward specific goals, emphasize self-control and concentration, and help with coordination. Dallasbased pediatric occupational therapist Keri Wilmot reviewed the list, which also includes acceptance. “Respect is a core value in martial arts,” the list says.

All TaeKwon Do K.I.C.K.S. classes begin the same way: The students count to 10 in Korean. One student who doesn’t communicate verbally participates with an iPad-generated voice.

“Master Thomas does a great job of making everyone feel included and comfortable in where they are,” Mark Deering said. His 15-year-old son, Michael Sayre, has septo-optic dysplasia, which causes

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eo Watch a vid g n ri tu fea as at Kellie Thom m/ co t. sevendaysv d n a t kidsv V. -T X A C W on

Holden, age 3, training with Kellie Thomas at her preschool class in Vergennes

symptoms like epilepsy and interferes with his gross and fine motor skills, including speech. The Bristol teen has a high red belt, the rank just below black belt. He has been practicing tae kwon do at Thomas’ Vergennes school for nearly five years, and, as a result, his balance, strength and confidence have improved, his dad said.

Michael’s mother, Liz Sayre, wrote in an email that students are expected “to raise the bar” in the kindness and encouragement that they show others.

“The community has been a source of strength on hard days and inspiration,” she wrote. “There are no limits on a student’s ability to grow.”

Thomas recognizes students’ accomplishments, large and small. During a December class, everyone clapped for the student who had just earned his driver’s license and driven himself to class that day.

Tae kwon do was developed in the 1940s and named in 1955 by a South Korean general, Choi Hong Hi, who is

widely recognized as its founder. Based on an earlier form of self-defense, it is used to build the mind and body. Students observe five tenets: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. Traditionally, Thomas said, there are 10 belt colors, including black, the highest level and the only color that includes 10 degrees of rank.

Thomas teaches students to carry the tenets of tae kwon do with them when they leave class. Last fall, she assigned homework to younger students, asking them to perform “10 random acts of kindness to five different types of people in their community.” The kids “ate it right up,” she said. Their acts included helping a grocery clerk bag groceries and sitting next to someone at school who was feeling sad. The higher you go in belt ranking, Thomas teaches, the more you should give to others.

“It’s no longer supposed to be about you as a person,” Thomas said. “It’s supposed to be about what you give back. I’ve always tried to make sure that I give back and my students learn how to give back.”

Every spring, Thomas sponsors

Kicking for a Cause. Kids and adults break a board for every $10 pledge they collect, and the money is donated to local charities.

In 2016, Middlebury Parks & Recreation gave Thomas the Robert E. Collins Award, which recognizes a community member who exemplifies recreational teaching, volunteerism and community spirit.

Thomas, 51, first tried tae kwon do when she was 11 and went to class with her younger brother. Her father shuttled the two of them from the Fairfield dairy farm, where they lived, to Dion’s Taekwon-Do in St. Albans. One day, her dad asked the instructors, Richard and Laurie Dion, if he could join the class, instead of just sitting there waiting.

Thomas trained alongside her father and brother for several years and remembers “how magical it was.”

“It remains ... some of my favorite childhood memories because, growing up on a farm, there wasn’t a lot of fun family time,” she said. “There was a lot of family time working, but not always a lot of fun.”

When she was around 14 years old,

A testing day in Vergennes

she quit tae kwon do because her family could no longer afford it. “I always missed it,” Thomas said.

“Sometimes you do something, and you know it’s you.”

She struggled with feelings of self-worth and depression when she was in high school, she said, and was suicidal while attending the University of Vermont, where she earned a degree in animal science.

“It was tae kwon do that kept me from following through with any of that.” She joined a tae kwon do club at UVM, and the instructor happened to have studied at Dion’s Taekwon-Do, too. “I like to tell people that tae kwon do literally saved my life,” Thomas said.

She earned her black belt in 1992, when she was still a UVM student, and started teaching tae kwon do in a Colchester school the Dions owned.

She taught there until 1999, when she moved to Middlebury. She married, had two kids, and thought her days of practicing and teaching tae kwon do were over.

Then, in 2006, her 5-year-old daughter’s Friday athletic teacher had to cancel, creating a vacancy in the school’s athletic series. Thomas offered to fill in. After the series ended, a couple of parents asked whether their children could continue taking tae kwon do with her.

“My first class had three kids, one of them being my daughter,” said Thomas. In 2008, while working part time as a dairy record specialist for Feed Commodities International, she officially launched her school in Middlebury, naming it TaeKwon Do K.I.C.K.S. The acronym stands for “keep fit, inner strength, confidence, kinship and self-defense.”

She and her husband separated in

2009, and Saturdays became her ex’s day with the kids. Instead of “pouting around the house,” she found the silver lining and expanded her business. She added a second location in Vergennes, despite working full time at Feed Commodities International.

In 2015, realizing that she could no longer balance both, Thomas quit her job to run tae kwon do schools full time. She now operates four locations and teaches weekly at preschools in Whiting, Starksboro and Middlebury, teaching a total of 280 students each week.

Kathy and Bruce Atwood are still among them. The Shoreham couple, their daughter and two granddaughters, Avery Clark, 8, and Addison Atwood, 11, now hold first-degree black belts. Addison got hers last July, and the rest of the family followed, in January. Kathy and Bruce, ages 68 and 71, respectively, admit that it’s been physically challenging. Thomas supports them, they said, but she does not go easy on them.

“We’ve all been disciplined,” Samantha said, and the rest of the Atwoods laughed.

“More than once!” Bruce added.

Earning a black belt typically takes three or four years, Thomas said. She herself took 10 years. “My heart and soul was made for tae kwon do, but my body was not,” she joked. She now holds a sixth-degree black belt, which she earned in 2019, despite three hip replacements and fibromyalgia.

“It really becomes a lifelong journey, which is what tae kwon do means: the foot and hand way of life,” Thomas said. “The whole reason I teach is, I want to help people increase their self-confidence and self-worth.” K

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Sending kids away this summer could help boost their social skills and sense of connection

I

t’s a tough time to be a kid. In December, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning about the mental health crisis facing youth across the country. “Even before the pandemic,” he said, “an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade.

“The COVID-19 pandemic further altered their experiences at home, school and in the community, and the effect on their mental health has been devastating,” he continued. “The future well-being of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation.”

Parents didn’t need an official reminder — we’re seeing this up close with our kids. I’ve lost count of the number of times friends and relatives have told me that their kids are feeling anxious or depressed; they won’t get up to go to school; they feel cut off from friends and activities; they’re feeling

BY CATHY RESMER discouraged and mourning missed opportunities.

A colleague of mine reflected on this recently and pointed out that probably the best thing parents can do for their kids this winter is to sign them up for summer camp. She had life-changing experiences as a kid at a camp in the Adirondacks in the ’60s and ’70s. A city girl, she spent weeks in the woods, climbed mountains and developed a sense of self-reliance that has carried her through tough times as an adult. She made new friends, too, many with whom she’s still in touch today.

I think she’s probably right. I didn’t go to overnight camp every summer growing up, but my own kids, now teenagers, started attending sleepaway camps when they were 7 or 8. When both of their camps canceled the 2020 season, they were crushed. It was the pandemic loss they felt the most.

Fortunately, their camps held sessions last summer and are gearing up for this year. Now that kids 5 and up

can get vaccinated against COVID-19, camp directors on the whole seem to be looking forward to a mostly normal summer, according to Tom Rosenberg, president and CEO of the American Camp Association. His organization accredits summer programs and provides camp staff and parents with resources.

A former camp director, Rosenberg is well versed in the opportunities that summer sessions offer. “It’s an opportunity for kids to connect with their peers and slow down a little bit,” he says. “To have time to think and play and move their bodies.”

He thinks young people are experiencing a social-emotional health crisis, as well. Kids have been isolated from each other. Camp intentionally brings them together. Campers often have to express their feelings, regulate their emotions and be part of a group, whether that’s a collection of cabinmates or computer coding partners. “They’re learning to live CAMP THERAPY, P. 20 »

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with people who are different than themselves,” he says. They’re learning how to argue in a healthy way, “to have positive feelings, and not so positive feelings … They become more adept at expressing themselves, and I think that helps their self-confidence level and their self-esteem.”

Jon Hammond, director of Hosmer Point Camp in Craftsbury, points out that camp social life is “so different” from what kids experience in other areas of their lives. His traditional

It’s an opportunity for kids to connect with their peers and slow down a little bit.

To have time to think and play and move their bodies.

TOM ROSENBERG, AMERICAN CAMP ASSOCIATION overnight camp is designed for kids in grades 4 through 9. The older kids help the younger ones adjust. That means a 15-year-old will often sit with a 10-yearold to eat breakfast in the dining room.

“That never happens in a school setting,” he says.

Overnight and day camps also help kids learn to take risks of all kinds — social, physical, academic — away from their parents and school friends. “Camp is a safe place to fail,” Hammond says.

Community Sailing Center campers in Burlington

Another crucial component: Most camps don’t allow digital devices. “Your face is not in a phone,” Hammond says.

And once they get to camp, most kids aren’t actually clamoring for more screen time, Rosenberg notes. “In 2020, the most common thing I heard from camp directors, day and overnight, was: ‘These kids really want to talk,’” he says. “They just want to talk with each other. They’ve been alone for too long.”

He says some camps have adapted their schedules to allow more opportunities for campers to talk with each other. Some programs have also built in time for yoga, mindfulness and stretching, to help those who have missed out on physical activity. “These are still things that kids need more than ever,” he says. K

Historic machines evolve to modern technology in a National Historic Landmark.

SUMMER OF MAKING STUFF!

“It was really outdoorsy and creative. I went with two of my close friends, but I also made a lot of new friends. We made these mandalas with flowers and sticks on the ground.

We also went paddleboarding and did yoga poses on the paddleboard. We definitely fell into the water, which was fun! I loved all of it, and I really loved just being outside and the sunny weather.”

LOUISA L., AGE 9 OF CHARLOTTE WENT TO YOGIRLS AND SAILING AT THE COMMUNITY SAILING CENTER, BURLINGTON

See page 22 for a list of the programs that will be exhibiting at the 25th annual Kids VT Camp and School Fair on Saturday, March 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Burlington Hilton. Register for your free ticket in advance, and check out more local camps and schools, at campfindervt.com.

CAMP ABNAKI

Make it the best summer ever!

• Overnight boys camp in North Hero • Boys learn skills, build confidence, and make friends • Incredible location on the lake, all technology-free • Archery, sailing, campfires, more!

Sign up now! campabnaki.org

Learn more about our summer programs by scanning the QR Code, or visit

The Y’s Community Partner

www.americanprecision.org 20

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2022

WINDSURFING

g lin s nd ive 6 Ki eat 201 Cr nce Si

Weekday Sessions:

June 27-July 1 for ages 7 & 8 July 4 - July 15 for ages 9-11 July 18 - July 29 for ages 12-16

(NEW!)

CAMP

Discover New Skills:

WND&WVS is offering weekly half-day windsurfing camps from Jun 20 – Aug 15 at our BURLINGTON SURF CLUB location. The camp runs from 8:45 am to 1:45 pm, Monday thru Friday.

Acting • Improv • Writing Designing • Music making

with experienced & kind educator-performers

Visit BURLINGTONSURFCLUB.COM/PLAY/CAMPS or call 802 540-2529 for more info.

2022

Create • Innovate • Play • Perform

DETAILS & REGISTER AT:

theaterinthewoodsvt.org 802.235.2050 theaterinthewoodsvt@gmail.com Theater in the Woods Vermont Co. is a 501c3 non-profit organization

in our beautiful site at Burnham Hollow Orchard in Middletown Springs, VT

Explore and Imagine

outside where All the Woods’ a Stage

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Join us...

SATURDAY, MARCH 5 10 A.M.-2 P.M. at the BURLINGTON HILTON

2/17/22 4:41 PM

SCIENCE OUTDOORS ARTS

GYMNASTICS EDUCATION

ANIMALS

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WNDNWVS.COM

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SPORTS

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Meet the Camp & School Fair Exhibitors © SERGEY NOVIKOV | DREAMSTIME

AMERICAN PRECISION MUSEUM Windsor • americanprecision.org Ages: 8-12. Day camp, coed.

What makes the American Precision Museum a special place for kids? Its camps bring together the science, technology, engineering, math and design elements with historic and present-day relevance.

That’s not how instructors describe it to kids, though. Instead, campers consider essential questions — “How do you make machines move the way you want them to?”

— then examine machines from the 1840s, make a battery-powered car, or program Sphero robots. Or they examine repeatability: “What’s the best way to draw a circle? (Trick question!) Or energy transfer: “Why is a pulley and lineshaft system like a circuit?” The museum’s partnerships enhance instructors’ expertise, and bring a one-of-a-kind element to these unique programs.

BOLTON VALLEY’S SUMMER CAMPS

Exhibitors listed here registered before the print deadline — THERE'S STILL TIME to register before the fair! See an up-to-date list of exhibitors and additional programs at campfindervt.com.

Richmond • boltonvalley.com/summer/ summer-camps Ages: 7-14. Day camp, coed.

Kids can get back to the mountains and into nature at Bolton Valley’s Summer Camps, set high in the hills just 30 minutes from both Burlington and Montpelier. Campers will climb, run, jump and hike around thousands of acres of outdoor playground.

Bolton Valley offers specialized camps for mountain biking and skating that also incorporate a diverse mix of games, including soccer, tennis, volleyball, badminton, disc golf, Ping-Pong, foosball, manhunt, stoke-ball and many more. From beginning mountain bikers to advanced mountain explorers, Bolton Valley has camps that offer fun in the mountains — together!

BURLINGTON PARKS, RECREATION & WATERFRONT CAMPS Burlington • enjoyburlington.com/youth-camps/ Ages: 4-16. Day camps, coed.

Why settle for one type of summer camp for your kids when you can give them a variety of adventures this summer? Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Camps offer more than 30 programs that give campers the choice of sports and athletics, science and learning, creative arts or outdoor adventures, as well as a licensed daycare option called Champ Camp. Scholarships are available for all recreational programs, and there are half-day and full-day options throughout the summer. There are adult programs, too!

CAMP BIRCH HILL

New Durham, N.H. • campbirchhill.com Ages: 6-16. Overnight camp, coed.

Camp Birch Hill is a sleepaway camp.

The atmosphere is natural and friendly.

Located at the entrance of the White Mountains 90 miles from Boston, Camp Birch Hill offers an elective program that empowers children to create personalized schedules from a variety of well-rounded activities. The directors are ever mindful of the physical and general well-being of the campers. Camp Birch Hill continues to provide a safe, positive and welcoming environment where both boys and girls are free to explore, engage, create, and develop lasting friendships and memories while connecting with nature.

FAIR EXHIBITORS, P. 24 »

JOIN US this summer!

Weeklong day camps for 1st-8th graders Explore and experience our natural and working lands

Weeklong day camps from July 11-August 19 Specialized camps for preschoolers & kids 6-10 See full istings and sign up at wonderfeetkidsmuseum.org/summer-camps/ 22

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VERMONT YOUTH VERMONT YOUTH VERMONT YOUTH DOCUMENTARY LAB DOCUMENTARY LAB VERMONT YOUTH DOCUMENTARY LAB Sun1n1er Sun1n1er ZOZZ ZOZZ Sun1n1er ZOZZ DOCUMENTARY LAB Sun1n1er ZOZZ 6 6 Fridays Fridays fl fl Jaly Jaly 15th 15th -- August August 19th 19th Ages 15 19 / J 3 Programs// Montpelier 6 Fridays fl Jaly 15th August 19th Ages 15 - 19/ J 3 Programs// Montpelier Ages 15 - 19/ J3 Programs// Montpelier Doc Lab 1: Intro to Documentary Doc Lab 1: Intro to Documentary 6 Fridays fl Jaly 15th - August 19th & Video Production Doc Lab 1: Intro to Documentary & Video Ages 15 Production - 19/ J 3 Programs// Montpelier

& Video Production Doc Lab 2: Intermediate Filmmaking Doc Lab Intermediate Filmmaking Doc Lab 2: 1: Intro to Documentary & Documentary Arts Doc Lab 2: Intermediate Filmmaking & Arts & Documentary Video Production & Documentary Arts Youth Media Artist Youth Media Artist Fellowship Fellowship Doc Lab 2: Intermediate Filmmaking Youth Media Artist Fellowship Registration Open! &Registration Documentary Arts Open!

Night Eagle NIGHT EAGLE Wilderness Adventures WILDERNESS ADVENTURES A unique summer camp for boys, ages 10-14, in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains tipi living ▲ nature crafts ▲ canoeing ▲ backpacking ▲ wilderness skills ▲ tracking atlatls ▲ ’hawk throwing swimming ▲ archery ▲ hiking ▲ cooperative work & play ▲ and much more! ▲

Call for a full brochure:

(802) 855-8661

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ver111ontyouthclocu111entarylal,.co111 Registration Open! ver111ontyouthclocu111entarylal,.co111 Youth Media Artist Fellowship Vermont Youth Documentary Lab is a Project of ORCA MEDIA ver111ontyouthclocu111entarylal,.co111

1/16/19 1:08 PM

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE!

Vermont Youth Documentary Lab is a Project of ORCA MEDIA Registration Open!

Vermont Youth Documentary Lab is a Project of ORCA MEDIA

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Vermont Youth Documentary Lab is a Project of ORCA MEDIA

Youth media makers will learn broadcast TV production, whilecreating studio shows and producing video packages along the way

Summer 2022 ORCA Media Make-TV Camp!

MONDAY - FRIDAY JUNE 27 - JULY 1 9AM - 3PM / AGES 11-14 / MONTPELIER Cost: FREE - $350 (Sliding scale / pay what you can)

High-impact tutoring helps struggling students, fosters academic achievement, and prevents summer learning loss.

Strengthen your child’s reading, writing, and math skills this summer through customized tutoring with an expert instructor.

During our six-week program (2+ hours each week), your child will gain the confidence and organizational skills they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond.

FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL: instruction@sterncenter.org

For more info and to register, visit orcamedia.net/youth-media k4t-VTDocumentaryYouthLab2-0222.indd 1

SUMMER LEARNING MATTERS

sterncenter.org | 802-878-2332 | Williston, VT 05495 2/14/22 5:34 PM

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Rock Point School Summer Session

CAMP TREETOPS AT NORTH COUNTRY SCHOOL Lake Placid, N.Y. • camptreetops.org Grades 4-9. Day camp, overnight camp, coed.

North Country School and Camp Treetops sit in the heart of the mountains in the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Since 1938, NCS has practiced progressive, handson, place-based learning for boarding and day students. NCS provides children who come from diverse backgrounds, cultures and countries with a humanistic education rooted in respect and responsibility for self and others. Its 220-acre campus includes extensive vegetable and flower gardens, a sustainable farm, a maple-sugaring operation, a ski hill, a rock-climbing crag, and miles of recreational trails, as well as a state-of-the-art performing arts center and teaching/learning kitchen.

CIRCUS SMIRKUS CAMP

Greensboro • smirkus.org/smirkus-camp Ages: 8-18. Overnight camp, coed.

Spend an incredible summer full of circus fun in the rolling hills of Vermont at Circus Smirkus Camp! These camps offer fully immersive programming, exploring all aspects of the circus under beautiful, authentic big top tents. At Smirkus Camp, kids find new ways to challenge themselves, improve teamwork and problem-solving skills, gain physical strength and coordination, and enjoy favorite summer camp traditions like creative games, songs, themed costume dinners and more. Smirkus Camp is the perfect place to train, have a blast and make lasting friendships with campers from all around the country!

DAVIS STUDIO

South Burlington • davisstudiovt.com Grades: 1-9. Day camp, coed.

Davis Studio equals happy campers!

PLAN YOUR SUMMER AT CAMPFINDERVT.COM. Imagine your children excited and motivated to go to a summer camp where they have fun and make friends while developing artistic expertise. Choose from dozens of engaging weeklong day camp options for young artists in first through ninth grade.

Davis Studio’s Artist’s Path Summer Camp Program is an excellent fit for those who enjoy hands-on creating while gaining skills in drawing, painting, building, sewing or photography. Students can also explore creative careers such as graphic design and architecture. Davis Studio equals happy parents, too!

FARM AND WILDERNESS

Plymouth • farmandwilderness.org Ages: 5-17. Overnight and day camps; boy-only, girls-only, coed and family options.

For families of diverse backgrounds helping their children explore and develop their own paths, Farm and Wilderness is a life-changing organization that provides camps and programs grounded in trusting young people to explore the limits of their skills, capabilities, leadership and relationships.

HOW TO PAY FOR CAMP All these progrAms sound great, but they can be pretty pricey.

Tuition at some overnight summer programs can cost as much as multiple mortgage payments. If you’ve started researching camps and are feeling a little sticker shock, you’re not alone. And you’ve got options.

Some camps, like Hosmer Point, offer sliding-scale tuition that allows families that earn less to pay less. Many camps also offer scholarships.

Start your search by finding out what’s available from camps that interest your child.

Tom Rosenberg, president and CEO of the American Camp Association, estimates that more than 90 percent of ACA-accredited programs offer financial assistance. “The trick here is, you need to start working on it now,” he says.

The ACA website also includes tips on paying for camp. “If the camper’s parent(s) or grandparent(s) served or are serving in the military, there may be funds available,” it advises. Churches, synagogues, civic organizations, foundations, clubs, sororities and fraternities might

be able to help, too. For example, the Chauncey B. Warner foundation offers assistance to Franklin county families. Find out more at warnerhomeforlittlewanderers.org.

Hosmer Point director Jon Hammond recommends asking the guidance counselors at your child’s school for suggestions. “And it never hurts to ask a director or owner of the camp,” he says.

Depending on the type of program, you may also qualify for a tax credit.

Find more information and tips at acacamps.org.

FAIR EXHIBITORS, P. 26 »

Talent Development

Institute IN-PERSON

June 19-25 &/or June 26-July 2 Providing fun and engaging activities for advanced and gifted students entering grades 4-9.

Celebrating our 25th year at Northern Vermont University — Johnson!

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Trusted Live-in Child Care for Your Family www.AuPairInAmerica.com

SATURDAY, MARCH 5 10 A.M.-2 P.M. at the BURLINGTON HILTON

FREE ADMISSION: REGISTER AT KIDSVT.COM/FAIR

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Building Curiosity, Confidence & Creativity Discover a nurturing educational home for your child.

LEARN MORE AT

davisstudiovt.com PreK - 5th Grade

802-425-2700 916 SHELBURNE ROAD SOUTH BURLINGTON

Art, Music & Drama • Outdoor Learning • Social-Emotional Skills Project-Based Academics • Spanish • Small Class Size k1-DavisStudio0222.indd 1

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GENERATOR KIDS SUMMER CAMPS

Burlington • generatorvt.com/summer-camps. Ages: 9-16. Day camp, coed.

Campers at Shelburne Farms

Generator, located in Burlington’s South End, is a makerspace that sits at the intersection of art, science and technology. Its summer camps provide hands-on, STEAMfocused activities in a dynamic and supportive learning environment. Topics include everything from robotics and coding to graphic design and laser cutter operation.

Camps are based in Generator’s 12,500-square-foot facility, with access to many shops and tools, but campers will get outside and run around every day, too! Camps run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through “I liked it because we barely went inside.

Friday, in one-week sessions.

GIRL SCOUTS OF THE GREEN AND WHITE MOUNTAINS

Multiple Vermont and New Hampshire locations • girlscoutsgwm.org/en/camp/ our-camps.html Grades pre-K-11. Overnight and day camps, girls only.

We went on a lot of walks. We talked about tree types, and we looked at nature.

I saw a lot of different types of birds and some really cool flowers I’d never seen before. I went with two of my cousins.

I liked it because you learn new stuff each day, and the days are all planned out.”

In Girl Scouting, a girl’s experience is limited only by her imagination. Girls MABEL E., AGE 8, OF HINESBURG WENT T O SHELBURNE FARMS make new friends, try new things and explore their passions in a safe, nurturing environment. Girls grow in confidence as they develop their full potential and feel empowered to make the world a better place. At both resident and day camps, girls learn new skills and make new friends in the outdoors, with all safety precautions in place. Girl Scouting has been building girls of courage, confidence and character for more than 100 years.

HOSMER POINT CAMP

Craftsbury Common • hosmerpoint.com Ages: 9-15. Overnight camp, coed; family camp.

PLAN YOUR SUMMER AT CAMPFINDERVT.COM.

Hosmer Point is a place campers call home. With its small size — only 100 campers and a camper/counselor ratio of 3-to-1 — and emphasis on community and inclusiveness, Hosmer Point builds friendships and respectful interactions. Children direct their own schedules, fostering self-confidence as they choose from activities such as sculling, sailing, farming, furniture building and mountain biking.

Other highlights include delicious farm-to-table food, a focus on environmental stewardship and an electronics-free campus. Tuition is on an income-based sliding scale. Hosmer Point offers four two-week sessions for rising fourth to 10th graders, as well as two family camps. All sessions are American Camp Association accredited.

SUMMER DAY CAMPS & OVERNIGHT EXPEDITIONS

LAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY SAILING CENTER SUMMER CAMPS Burlington • communitysailingcenter.org/sailing/kids-camps Ages: 6-17. Day camp, coed.

Community Sailing Center summer camps are designed to teach kids the safety, skill and joy involved in the lifelong sport of sailing. Its camps help young people, from first-timers to seasoned sailors, develop solid on-the-water skills on a variety of watercraft. Organized by age group and led by certified instructors, camp options include sailing-only and multi-activity camps that blend sailing and additional sports or hobbies. Weeklong and two-week camps take place throughout the summer, with several sessions to choose from. Every program infuses friendship, lake ecology, safety, technique and plenty of fun into a memorable summertime experience.

LETGOYOURMIND SUMMER STEM PROGRAMS

Burlington, South Burlington, Essex, Winooski • letgoyourmind.com Ages: 6-13. Day camp, coed.

LetGoYourMind Summer STEM Programs offer structured day programs where kids can experiment with Lego bricks and learn the basics of design and engineering while having a blast! Summer programs run for one week each, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are separate classes for children of all ages to ensure that learning occurs and students are engaged.

FAIR EXHIBITORS, P. 28 »

DELIVERING HOLISTIC EDUCATION FOR OVER 25 YEARS.

AGES 6 AND UP

Rock climbing, kayaking, caving, ropes courses & more ONWARD AND UPWARDYOUR ADVENTURE AWAITS!

Where learning is rooted in relationships.

Ages 3-12

Petra Cliffs Climbing Center & Mountaineering School Burlington, VT | www.petracliffs.com | 802-657-3872 26

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www.bellwetherschool.org

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MATER CHRISTI SCHOOL SUMMER CAMPS

Rock Point School Summer Session

Burlington • mcschool.org/programs/ mcs-summer-camp Ages: 3-10. Day camp, coed.

Mater Christi School Summer Camps are designed to cater to a wide range of ages and interests. Each week has a different focus that drives activities and excursions (i.e., Where the Wild Things Are Week features field trips to local spots in Burlington, growing plants in a community garden). Camp also includes daily games, sports, crafts and water activities built into a flexible schedule. The goal is to provide a fun summer experience filled with engaging activities for all campers.

“I’m going this summer.

You get to do a bunch of activities like climbing, kayaking, caving and going on a ropes course.

I’ve done it two different past summers. All the people who work there are really nice.”

MOVEMENT MATTERS

it. We give children an opportunity to tend animals, explore gardens, play outdoor games and explore the natural world.

Join a fantastic team of teachers at YogaSix in South Burlington for a funfilled week of yoga, dance, art, games and more. Movement Matters camps encourage a love of movement, instill confidence, and teach strategies for coping with dayto-day stress and anxiety. Campers start each day with yoga and learn to breathe deeply, move their bodies and quiet their minds! In addition to movement activities, each day will include art projects, time outdoors, team-building activities, and time for reflection and socialization.

NIGHT EAGLE WILDERNESS ADVENTURES

South Burlington • yogasix.com/ south-burlington Ages: 8-17. Day camp, coed.

NEW VILLAGE FARM

Shelburne • website Ages: 5-16. Day camp, coed; family camp.

New Village Farm is a teaching farm with summer camps, afterschool and year-round farm-school programs. Our programs are designed to reinforce children’s connection to the living world and recognize their place and value within

Wallingford • nighteaglewilderness.com Ages: 10-14. Overnight camp, boys only.

This unique summer camp for boys is located in the heart of the Green Mountains. At Night Eagle, campers live in tepees and do things that boys did hundreds of years ago: learn survival skills (fire making with flint and steel, bow drills, plant identification, tracking, and camouflage); create lots of craft items (birchbark baskets, moccasins); go on hikes; canoe; swim; and play lots of games (Buffalo Robe, Stalk the Chief and Slack ’Em, to name a few). Through these activities and the slower pace of life at camp, boys naturally develop a deeper respect for the land and learn to live and play together in a spirit of cooperation rather than competition. ACA-accredited one-, two-, three-, four- and six-week sessions available.

New Village Farm Located in Shelburne, VT, New Village Farm invites your family to join us outdoors all year. Our opportunities include:

PAINT & CREATE KIDS CAMP AT BURLINGTON PAINT & SIP STUDIO

Burlington • burlingtonpaintandsip.com/ paint-n-create-kids-camp Ages: 9+. Day camp, coed.

Each week includes five days of art instruction, creative exploration and movement activities. Paint & Create’s artist-educators take advantage of all Burlington has to offer: lunches and art by the lake, socializing games and movement breaks in Battery Park, and finding inspiration for sketching on Church Street. This camp centers on painting techniques and explores art in a variety of forms. Camp days — 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. — consist of outdoor and indoor time, art projects, games, movement exercises, and more. Easy curb drop-off and pickup; aftercare available.

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ROCK POINT SCHOOL SUMMER SESSION

Burlington • rockpointschool.org/ summer-session Grades 9-12. Day camp, coed.

Rock Point School is offering a dynamic summer day session to keep the academic juices flowing while having some great Vermont summer fun! The fourweek session will include different core discipline (English, math, science and history) projects every week, providing experiential class time in the morning followed by various summer activities in the afternoon. Such activities may include sailing at the Community Sailing Center, skateboarding with Burton Chill and geocaching adventures in “secret” locations around Vermont.

PLAN YOUR SUMMER AT CAMPFINDERVT.COM. FAIR EXHIBITORS, P. 30 »

FAMILY CAMPS

at Com mon Ground Center - FARM SCHOOL - CAMPS AND CLASSES - AFTER-SCHOOL - PYO GARDENS - ANIMAL RENTALS

TOWNSEND E., AGE 11 OF HINESBURG WENT TO PETRA CLIFFS, BURLINGTON

Engaging programming for the whole family; local, organic meals and...

NO COOKING OR CLEANING FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!

Where kids bring their p arents (and grandparents) to camp !

July 23-29 July 30-August 5 August 6-12 2/18/22 12:10 PM

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Summer 2022 Programs

ADVENTURE CAMP at Rock Point in Burlington

LEGO Robotics and Coding with Stop Motion Animation!

• Co-ed day camp for ages 8-13 • Kids spend time outdoors on the beautiful Rock Point property on Lake Champlain!

• Campers hike, swim, garden, kayak, paddleboard, play games, do arts and crafts, STEM projects, more! gbymca.org/programs/adventure-camp The Y’s Community Partner

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LetGoYourMind Summer STEM Programs offer structured day programs where kids can experiment with LEGO bricks, and learn the basics of design and engineering while having a blast! Our summer programs run for one week long, Monday through Friday, 9:00am - 3:00pm. We offer separate classes for children of all ages to ensure that learning occurs and students are engaged. Ages 6-8, and ages 9-13.

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AUTHENTIC ADIRONDACK OUTDOOR CAMP EXPERIENCES FOR GIRLS

Don’t wait, book a party today!

2/10/22 3:47 PM

Jungle Party • Admission for 10 Children • Private Party Room – 2 hours • A pair of grippy socks for each guest

Camp Directors: Grace "G" Callahan Megan "Marvel" Shields

Unlimited Play Time

$249

EACH ADDITIONAL CHILD

$17

Juice boxes, plates, cups, utensils & napkins We provide a party room assistant to help.

You bring the cake, camera & kids!

ER M M U S S MC C A M0P

Five 1 Week Traditional Sessions ages 8-17

Funky Monkey

1 Ages 3 -

Everything in the Plus Jungle Special $325 2 Large Pizzas EACH ADDITIONAL

St ar tin g Ju ne 27 th - A ug us t 19 th W ee kd ay s 8A M -

Soft Serve Ice Cream

4 PM Ear ly dro p off ava ilab le 7:3 0-8 :00 AM $10 /D ay

CHILD

$19

+Specialty Sessions for ages 13-17

Monkey Do! T-Shirt or Stuffed Monkey for MIM

7 Sessions:

Most Important Monkey – Birthday Kid

CAMP SIGN UPS

Themed activity weeks www.mcschool.org Field Trips Programs MCS Summer Camp 2022 Extensive Outdoor Time Group Games and Cost: $350 per child per week.

Activities Crafts And more!

Mater Christi School

➡

64 Harvest Lane Williston, VT 05495 MonkeyDoPlaygrounds.com

802.872.7522

50 Mansfield Avenue, Burlington VT 05401 www.mcschool.com

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SUMMAT CAMP BY PETRA CLIFFS CLIMBING CENTER & MOUNTAINEERING SCHOOL

Burlington • petracliffs.com/camps Ages: 6-18. Overnight and day camps, coed.

Each day presents a new experience at SumMAT Camp! Base camp is Petra Cliffs, and from there campers go every which way for a variety of awesome adventures, including indoor and outdoor rock climbing, ropes courses, caving, kayaking (age dependent), and more. Day camps are geared toward both the beginner and the camper with some experience. Leaders present new challenges whenever possible to keep activities fresh and exciting. Groups are age-specific and small, but their adventures are huge. SumMAT Camp offers exciting adventures, healthy activities and summer fun!

“The first half of the day was inside on the ice, and the second half was outside on a blacktop playing street hockey.

It was really fun. It made me a better hockey player. I play hockey from October to March. This summer camp is one week long, and it’s about a one-hour drive from my house, so I stayed at my grandmother’s house in Charlotte for some of it. It helped my skating, and it helped me stay in shape for the season.”

PLAN YOUR SUMMER AT CAMPFINDERVT.COM.

GAVIN K., AGE 9, OF CORNWALL WENT TO HOMETOWN HOCKEY AT CAIRNS ARENA IN SOUTH BURLINGTON

Merck Forest & Farmland Center

SYLVAN LEARNING SUMMER CAMPS

WATER WANDERINGS

Thinking about summer activities?

Keep your child’s mind growing over the summer at Sylvan Learning! Sylvan’s location in Essex Junction offers fun, stimulating and educational camps — designed with families’ busy summer schedules in mind! Offerings include academic and STEM camps such as math, reading, writing, college prep, coding and science. Kids love the handson activities and creative games (perfect for keeping young minds active and growing). Camp sizes are small to create a really engaging experience for each child.

Sylvan’s proprietary STEM curriculum is specifically designed for elementary and middle school students and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Water Wanderings is an environmental education program based in the Green River Reservoir State Park.

It develops resilience and integrity through environmental education that integrates themes of justice, equity and inclusion. Camp is separated into sessions for students ages 9 to 12 and 13 to 5, as well as a family camp for people of all ages. Water Wanderings’ mission is to empower young people through inclusive community building, outdoor adventure and environmental education that nourish resilience and integrity. Its vision is that young people will disrupt oppression by developing healthy and equitable relationships with themselves, each other and the Earth. K

Essex Junction • sylvanlearning.com/ essexjunctionvt Grades 1-12. Day camp, coed.

Hyde Park • waterwanderings.org Ages 9-15. Day camp, coed.

Burlington Parks & Recreation Soccer Camp

TALENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE Johnson • tdivermont.org Grades: 4-10. Overnight camp, coed.

Talent Development Institute Summer Camp is a two-week summer program at Northern Vermont University in Johnson, June 19 to 25 and/or June 26 to July 2, 2022. It combines the relaxed atmosphere of a summer camp with academic and creative opportunities for advanced and gifted students. They have fun with peers while exploring a wide variety of topics, including Explorers of Gem Hollow, Writing and Laughing, Model Roman Senate, Simulating Chaos, Clowning Around, GravityPowered Catapults, Fake News and Propaganda, and Discover BioPlastics. Overnight and commuter options, as well as partial scholarships, are available.

EXPLORE

the wonders of nature & adventure!

AGES 3 THROUGH 7 10 camp weeks will include outside play and time for self-guided exploration.

Weekly themes will include gardening, music, building & construction, LEGO, river explorers and more!

You can find more information on our website

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A parent's to-do list is never-ending.

Let Kids VT lend a hand!

Join us...

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

10 A.M.-2 P.M. at the BURLINGTON HILTON FREE ADMISSION: REGISTER AT KIDSVT.COM/FAIR PRESENTED BY:

OUR 25 th year!

SCIENCE

OUTDOORS ARTS

GYMNASTICS EDUCATION

ANIMALS SPORTS

The Fair is a great opportunity to: Discover dozens of great regional summer camps and schools.

Connect with representatives and get your questions answered.

Get all your research and planning done in one day and have fun, too.

R E G I S T ER ONLINE:

To help us p la about poten n and communicate tial changes to the even please rese t, rve a FREE ticket at:

kidsvt.com/ fair

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JUST FOR KIDS Coloring Contest!

Three winners will each receive an annual family membership to the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium. Send Kids VT your work of art by April 29. Be sure to include the info at right with your submission. Winners will be chosen in the following categories: (1) ages 5 and younger, (2) ages 6 to 8, and (3) ages 9 to 12. Winners will be named in the Summer Preview issue of Kids VT. Send your highresolution scans to art@kidsvt.com or mail a copy to Kids VT, P.O. Box 1184, Burlington, VT 05402.

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Title _______________________________________ Contest sponsored by

Artist ______________________________________ Age _______________ Town ___________________ Email ______________________________________ Phone ______________________________________

COLORING CONTEST WINNERS Our judges were warmed by the colorful koalas that kids mailed in as part of our coloring contest. Danny, 9, wrapped up his koala from the cold in a colorful scarf and left some fun tracks to follow in the snow.

Seven-year-old Sunny covered the canvas in hues of spring from the “land down under” and creatively turned our logo into the sun. Sada, 5, sent us a cozy koala surrounded by a kaleidoscopic forest of swirls.

Thank you so much to all who entered! We can’t wait to see what you send us next!

HONORABLE MENTIONS “GREEN MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS KOALA”

Amber Wimmer, 10 Bethel

The winners of annual family memberships to the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium are…

obsessed?

Find, fix and feather with Nest Notes — an e-newsletter filled with home design, Vermont real estate tips and DIY decorating inspirations.

W nderfeet Kids’ Museum Tues, Thurs, Fri & Sat 10:00-4:00 and Sundays 1:00-4:00, Closed Mon & Wed.

Sign up today at sevendaysvt.com/enews.

SPONSORED BY

“The Koala Bear in the Rainbow Forest of Swirls” 5& Sada Gray, 5 WINOOSKI

under

“Rainbow Koala” Sunny Randall, 7

6 to 8

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“CHRISTMAS KOALA BEAR”

Luca Hamel, 6 Wolcott “RAINBOW”

Lillian Kelly, 8 Waterbury Center “SNOWY FRIENDS”

Hazel Saunders, 6 Burlington “KOALA READY FOR WINTER”

Olive Mahnke, 11 Johnson “KOOL KOALA”

KJ Beeli, 10 South Burlington “COLOR KOALA”

Griffin Bolles, 9 Burlington

MORETOWN

“RAINBOW FRIEND”

Gracie Beitzel, 3 Florence

TOP TITLES “SUNSHINE CHRISTMAS RAINBOW BEAR”

Lillian (Lily) Smith, 5 Williston

“THE KOALA IS NOT COLD”

Susannah Rye, 7 Waterbury

“I LOVE YOU PINK”

Nadine Hemmer, 4 Stowe “KOALA WITH MONEY”

Jack Adler, 7 South Burlington

“Kold Koala” Danny Jamali, 9

9 to 12

FLETCHER

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Camps and Educational Programs available all year!

Spend your school breaks and summer at Sylvan to beat that learning loss!

STEM camps and Academic programs are available in half-day and full-day options!

Start with an academic checkup for only $49!

Offer valid at participating locations only.

Expires 6/30/22

Online workshops.

Personalized support.

Real results.

Vermonters who completed our FREE diabetes workshops saw BIG changes in their health.

Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Contact us now.

SYLVAN LEARNING 1 Market Place, Unit 10, Essex

802-316-4711 SYLVANLEARNING.COM 34

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USE YOUR WORDS B Y CORE Y B A RROWS

I Made a Kid He’s pretty cool, but ‘everything hurts, and I’m dying’

W

DEREK BARROWS

hen my son was born, he was what After two days at the hospital, we were the doctor called “sunny-side up:” allowed to go home. It felt good to be back in my He came out headfirst, but instead of own space, but my pain level made it really hard facing my rear, he was facing my front. It’s less to move around, let alone care for our new baby. common for babies to emerge this way, and it Thankfully, my husband took care of everymade for a complicated delivery. Because of the thing those first three weeks as I did my best to sit angle and size of his head, my little guy got stuck. still. As a very active person, I found this to be an After I’d spent two hours pushing, his heart incredibly hard task. It forced me to sit alone with rate started to drop, so my doctor decided to move my thoughts, which intensified my anxiety. him along by using a vacuum. I was so focused on I felt trapped in the house, disconnected from labor that I wasn’t watching what was going on my body and my normal routines. And though I down there. loved my son, I didn’t feel a strong connection to “Open your eyes; the baby is coming out,” she him at first, which made me feel like a bad mom. said. When I did, I saw her pulling my son out of I became jealous and resentful that my husband me with the vacuum cup attached to his head. got to go grocery shopping, see a friend or take a Fortunately, he emerged unscathed. Sadly, I walk with our dog on his “off-duty time,” while I can’t say the same about my vagina. spent mine taking Epsom salt baths or lying down After the delivery, I was so exhausted and out with an ice pack in my pants. of it that I had no idea what was going on or who My feelings were valid but unfair. Derek was was talking to me. I had visits from the anesthesia doing everything. He deserved a break, too. It just department, pediatrics, my doctor and various felt like every day was Groundhog Day. nurses. I’m pretty sure a couple nursing students from the University of Vermont looked at my downstairs situation. Disclaimer: They did ask if it was OK first, and I said yes. Because at that point, I felt like my body had been donated to science and all of Chittenden County had taken a good look — except me.

When I finally had enough strength to get up, I waddled to the hospital bathroom and looked Corey Barrows and her at myself in the mirror. I laughed in disbelief and Luckily, things got better. newborn son Harrison called to my husband: “Derek, get in here — you Three weeks postpartum is when I started to have to see this!” feel “normal.” I could walk without pain, I wasn’t FIXING YOUR PELVIC FLOOR My perineum was so swollen that it looked sweating profusely at night and I was able to like I had a $5 foot-long sub hanging between my interact with my baby in ways that I hadn’t previFor a few weeks after I had my baby, whenever I stood up or walked for an extended period of time, I would feel a very intense thighs. My entire right buttock was black and ously. And once I started getting to know him, our downward pressure. It was so painful that I would need to run blue. I had stitches from a second-degree tear and bond started to strengthen. upstairs and lie down with an ice pack. I later learned from my — to top it off — four hemorrhoids. Add a dash of If you met a stranger on the street, would you physical therapist that this pressure is called “prolapse,” and it has crazy hormones and a newborn into the mix, and expect to hit it off right away? Or would it take to do with my pelvic floor, aka the muscles between my tailbone you’ve got a 100 percent certified hot mess. time for your relationship to develop? When and pubic bone, that I’d strengthened by doing Kegel exercises.

Finally seeing the full picture helped me piece I’ve asked other moms about this, most say, “Oh During pregnancy, my pelvic floor muscles weakened from the together everything in my mind. I now understood yeah, I didn’t feel an instant connection right weight of my babe. These muscles keep organs like your bladder, uterus and vagina where they’re supposed to be anatomically. why it was so painful to sit down, why I could away.” Cool! Why don’t parents say this out When the muscles weaken, the organs can shift. In my case, my barely walk and why sudden movements caused loud? Why do people have a baby and then post bladder is now resting on top of my vagina. Isn’t that fun? That’s a sharp, stinging sensation. I was also terrified to a photo online and say, “Happiest day of my life” why I felt heaviness — there’s an organ where it shouldn’t be. poop. From that moment on, I asked the nurses for or “I’ve never known a love like this”?

Naughty!

“Corey Cocktails,” an exotic blend of cran-apple Why doesn’t anyone say, I made a kid. He’s I’ve been going to see a pelvic floor physical therapist to help juice and stool softener served in a sippy cup with pretty cool. But “everything hurts, and I’m dying,” rebuild these muscles. My pain level has definitely decreased, a straw: 10 out of 10 would recommend. as Leslie Knope from “Parks and Recreation,” but certain movements and activities make it flare up. I have to constantly listen to my body and make adjustments. If my best I’m not sure why I was so surprised by what who happens to be my television twin, would friend, who’s a labor and delivery nurse, hadn’t told me to go see a delivering a baby did to my body. It makes a lot of say? I think it’s because it feels like TMI or that physical therapist after delivery, I wouldn’t have learned any of the sense when you break it down. I had an 8-pound, you’re complaining. In fact, I thought both of above. I’m so glad I did.

22-inch-long human with a huge head ramming those things as I wrote this essay. Do people against my insides for two hours before he was really want to know about this? They might not, Hoovered out. Of course that’s going to do some but at least if they read it, they’ll know what to damage. I guess I was so focused on labor and the baby pregnancy, how painful delivery would be and how sleepexpect and know they’re not alone. that I never took the time to think about the aftermath. deprived I would feel once the baby arrived.

And even though those first three weeks were rough, As the first of my friends to have a child, I didn’t have It seemed that everyone just skipped over the healing I would 100 percent do it again. Watching a baby that I anyone to compare notes with or warn me about the part. Maybe they didn’t want to scare me? Or could it be created grow and learn is unbelievably rewarding and fills “after times,” as I have dubbed them. Prior to delivery, that everyone’s delivery is totally unique and all of the me with so much joy and love — now that I’ve recovered everyone talked about how my body would change during above didn’t happen to them? enough to feel it. K

I was so focused on labor and the baby that I never took the time to think about the aftermath.

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