Powhatan Today, August 10, 2022
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4-H Junior Camp beats the heat with summer fun Contributed Report Seventy-nine campers from Powhatan, Hanover and Goochland counties traveled to Jamestown 4-H Center in Williamsburg for the weeklong 4-H Junior Camp. Despite high temperatures the week of July 4, youth stayed cool by enjoying many of the water classes offered to campers - canoeing, kayaking and the pool. Along with the water sports, campers took part in a variety of other classes such as art/maker, woodworking, archery, marine science, riflery and much more. Traditional camp songs around the campfire, a pool party, evening games, talent show and ice cream social rounded out the week. Along with the campers, 22 teen counselors from the three counties enjoyed the residential overnight camping experience of four nights, five days. For many, this was the first time away from home without a parent. According to a Virginia Cooperative Extension publication: Benefits of 4-H Youth Camping, “Citizenship is taught and practiced at 4-H camp. Youth campers have individual and group responsibilities that teach them to take care of themselves and to contribute to the benefit of the camp community by helping others.” In
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an, Bachelor of Business Administration in Management; Anna Hilton of Moseley, Doctor of Physical Therapy in Physical Therapy; Kara Rose Pohlmeier of Powhatan, Doctor of Physical Therapy in Physical Therapy. Radford University is a
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
From left, adult volunteer Tim Kidwell works with a camper to learn skills involving the use of a hammer and saw at the 4-H camp; Alexander Fife learned how to fish at 4-H camp and caught a nice catfish from the James River; and campers maneuver kayaks along the James River during a class session.
addition, “4-H camping provides youth with multiple opportunities to make choices and decisions about their educational experiences, from selecting 4-H camp classes to involvement in afternoon and evening activities.” The week wouldn’t be a success without the following adult and teen volunteers from Powhatan who spent the week away from families and jobs: Shelby Akins, Frankie Barham, Anabel
comprehensive public university of 8,998 students that has received national recognition for many of its undergraduate and graduate academic programs, as well as its sustainability initiatives. Well known for its strong faculty/student bonds, innovative use of technology in the learning environment and vibrant student
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half-day session but also makes sure students have plenty of fun activities to brighten up their summer, she added. “It went great. The kids are having fun. They are enjoying themselves. I have heard from parents. I have heard from teachers and I hear from the kids that they look forward to coming. They look forward to the camps. They have really enjoyed the summer reading program shows. They are enjoying their time,” she said. The all-day elementary program was made possible in 2021 and 2022 because of federal ESSER grant dollars, but Omohundro said the school division is looking at possibilities of how to continue offering it moving forward, such as a Title IV grant. While the number of students participating is lower than 2021, it is higher than 2019, she pointed out. “While our numbers in summer school are higher than they were pre-COVID that doesn’t mean that more students necessarily needed access to summer school. It means that we made summer school more accessible by having the full day,” she said. The morning hours were spent exclusively working on the foundation subjects of math and reading, which has been a major focus of the school division to bridge the gap for students, both during the school year and now again in summer school, she said. The classes were capped at 15 to give students the individual attention they need from teachers. “I think we are going to have fallout from COVID for a few years – just the learning gap that was lost,”
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P.S Don’t forget about our fund raiser to buy new cages at PAC. If you would like to donate you can do so by submitting a check to Powhatan Sheriff’s Office Attn: Animal Control. In the memo please put “Cash for Kennels” We greatly appreciate all of your support.
If you would like to help the animals in our care, you can do so by donating to our medical fund at Claws and Paws, 4313 Anderson Hwy., Powhatan, VA 23139 Powhatan Sheriff’s Office | Division Of Animal Control Phone: 804-598-5672 | Fax: 804-598-5109
Bichsel, Hayden Blisick, Jordan Booker, Bre Gillespie, Reagan Hansen, Tim Kidwell, Jack Lamm, Jack Laroche, and Rachael Wade. Congrats to Chase Babb for finishing the training but he unfortunately missed camp due to an injury. The 4-H teen leader program prepares the youth year-round for their role as counselors during camp. Interviews for 2023 begin in October. Thanks to the generous donations
life on a beautiful 211-acre American classical campus, Radford University offers students many opportunities to get involved and succeed in and out of the classroom. Landon Neal awarded Miami University degree Landon Neal of Powhatan
was among more than 3,700 students from Miami University who received degrees during the in-person spring commencement May 14-15, 2022. Neal graduated with a B.S. in business degree, majoring in supply chain and operations management. Nationally recognized as one of the most outstanding
Ellis said. “But we have made huge strides this school year; being in school full time last year helped as well. Having full-day summer school last year helped close that gap. Closing that gap was our main focus this past school year. We were giving very explicit instruction. We were constantly analyzing that growth and where that explicit growth needed to be, whether that was through intervention or differentiation in the classroom.” Cheryl Thomas, director of elementary education, pointed out that the division no longer does pre- and post-testing during elementary summer school. It was decided to use spring and fall assessments for comparison, which allowed staff to focus on instruction for the full 15 days. For prekindergarten students in the Kindergarten Countdown Camp, “there is a pre/post assessment which addresses areas such as color, shapes, alphabet, rhyming, writing name, etc. Students consistently show growth in this program. With a United Way partnership, we were able to add a third section last year and this year.” But while the focus was on core subjects in the morning, the afternoon sessions allowed educators to explore a wide range of other disciplines. Camps over the four-week program included dance, Spanish, crafts, art, STEM activities, French, Shark Week, Ocean Fun, Tinker Camp, Make a Journal, Cooking and Solar Energy. The students had spirit days every week, such as dressing with a Hawaiian, patriotic or silly hat theme. The students also had regular DEAR (drop everything and read) time and participated in some of the summer reading programs held at the school. “We really need to focus on those core two subjects because that is the basis of your foundation, but then to include those camps in the afternoon and hit languages, science, music and art, it is giving them that wellrounded school day. And the kids are loving the camps,” Ellis said. Ellis also pointed out the incredible manpower it took to make summer school a reality, with 26 teachers and eight instructional assistants for the mornings alone, along with a counselor and the camp instructors.
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made by Powhatan businesses and organizations this year, five local youth attended camp through full or partial scholarships. Local supporters included: Powhatan Christmas Every Day Committee and Powhatan Farm Bureau. For more information about the local 4-H program, contact Cathy Howland, 4-H Extension agent in the Powhatan Extension Office, at 598-5640 or email chowland@vt.edu.
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She also praised the transportation department for helping coordinate door-to-door transportation for students this summer instead of them having to go to hubs and be picked up there. Christine Phaup, assistant principal at Powhatan Middle School said this summer saw 28 sixth through eighth graders attend in-person classes to recover math and/or English grades and five students work virtually to recover their history grades. The division also offered the middle schoolers a two-week ‘boot camp’ in English, math and Algebra 1 to sharpen skills or introduce skills to be covered during the upcoming school year that was attended by 10 students. In summer 2021, the middle school had to run three sessions of math, Phaup said. Not being in the classroom really impacted students last year and this year. “At the beginning of the school year through February/March, we had students missing instruction due to quarantine. To help keep them current, teachers added a ‘while you were out’ section to Schoology to help guide students through classwork,” she said. “We developed ‘Quarantine Task Lists’ for students and parents to see assignments in one place. We also had a staff member per grade level available to Google Meet with students during ACCT for check-ins.” The school also held after school academic intervention four days a week with transportation to provide tutoring and support for assignments. “This program really helped get students on track, be successful in the classroom and helped keep the summer school numbers low,” she said of this year’s summer school numbers. Stacey Cavedo, high school summer school coordinator, said the school offered biology, English, math and world history in person and online as well as other classes available online. Students completing online classes had the option to come to the high school and work with an online coordinator or work from somewhere else. “I think it has been going really well. The students are working really hard and we have a great group of students and a great group of teachers working really hard,” she said. Cavedo said the students hit the hardest and needing the most support were the ones hit by COVID-19 and/ or the need to quarantine. But she pointed out students also had the option to take online classes to get credits they need to graduate early. Some of them participated in the Aug. 2 summer graduation, which allowed them to either join the rest of their classmates in the Class of 2022 or graduate a year early (See story Page 1A.) Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@ powhatantoday.com.
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