Camp Tecumseh 2014

Thursday and Friday my class and I went with the other 4th grade classes from Hershey to Camp Tecumseh to immerse ourselves in 1811 Indiana. It is a long-time Hershey tradition dating back 20-25 years, and highly anticipated by the children even before they are 4th graders!

Ready to load the bus Thursday morning.

I like camp, but there is one thing I dread. Sleeping in a cabin with my students! It is not because of them - it's because I know that I snore. Loudly. And I hate to do that to them. (Showering, using the toilet, and changing clothes is also complicated with your students in the vicinity!)

But there is no way around it when you are camping, and the girls were genuinely happy to have me in their cabin. They even asked to have a picture taken.

AM, GC, me, TM, MM, AY, PH, and EW.

Camp Tecumseh is a real treasure. Nearing 100 years old, it has established trails and buildings that have been well maintained for decades. And its programs are second to none.

The children rotated through ten stations over the course of two days. 

They learned about the ingenuity of early Hoosiers, and how they used the materials around them to carve lives out of the wilderness.

Lunch time! And in such gorgeous weather, too! What a treat.

Each class had a color theme. Mine was orange, and so we all wore orange tee shirts.

That made it much easier to pick my students out in the crowd of 100 or so kiddos!

One of the most popular stations was candle dipping.

GC cools off her candle in water. Next she will dip it back into the hot wax for another layer, and then back into the water. This process is repeated again and again to form the final product.

It can be hard to shed the culture of the 21st century.

TM thought the gourd that was used as a ladle and dipper looked like a 20th century telephone!

The suspension bridge.

Students had to cross the Tippecanoe River using this bridge to get into the 1811 camp. (I was thankful that I had the first aid supplies and needed to drive them to where our activities were to be! Suspension bridges give me the willies!)

The barnyard site was another popular rotation.

It had pigs, chickens, a goat, a pony, and other animals that we could pet and handle.

That's the pioneer cooking cabin in the background, the bleacher area to the right, and the barnyard in the front.

I loved the schoolhouse.

Although I would not have wanted to teach like that!

Such a lovely old fashioned school bell. My parents had one on their property on North River Road when I was a child.

The kids were surprised by the strictness of the schoolmarms. They carried sticks (and used them back in 1811) but they were just for show at camp. They did have a dunce cap and had misbehaving students sit and wear it!

Teaching was from the Bible, and included a verse from Ephesians as well as an ABC lesson using Biblical characters.

My students were riveted! In fact, they liked the schoolhouse rotation so much that they have requested that we do an 1811 day at Hershey, with me as the schoolmarm and being strict (when I protested that, they said I could just be me.) Plans are now in the works to put their idea in place - I can't wait!

Pioneer games were also popular with the students. The children got to try stilts (which are harder than they look!)

Mrs. Sharp and Mrs. Anthrop are both accomplished stilt-walkers and even had a race. Me? Not so much...

A tipi was in the camp and Native American sign language was taught.

These boys were VERY excited to learn how to ask for bacon in sign! That really tickled them!

A group shot of us before dinner on Thursday.

Now some random pictures from throughout our two days:

EK and GH at candle dipping.

Lunchtime with Mrs. York, AY, EW, and AM.

Mrs. Fields surprised us with a visit Friday morning!

Hershey Campers, 2014.