One day left...

...and preparations are in high gear.  We have out full group of 12 kids.  All have been confirmed with a telephone call.  (Any new applications will be put on a waiting list, in case any child already enrolled cannot attend.) 

Tomorrow when parents arrive with children, we will ask that parents sign a waiver so we can photograph their kids in action and post their photos to this page and use them in other publicity, such as church news, and recruiting for next year's program.  I would like to post a few photos each day to keep parents in the loop.

We will also ask those parents who have them for email addresses, and those who would like to volunteer for dates and times they would like to come.

Finally, we want all kids and parents to come to worship at St Andrews on July 31--the Sunday after the program ends.  You will find the kids' work on display around the church that morning, so that all of the St Andrew's community can see what we've been doing.  We may finish off that day with a boat launch in protected waters, giving the kids a chance to paddle their own creation.  This is still tentative, and we'll have to see what will work.

Happy Independence Day!

Two places still open!

Only five days from the start of the program, and we have room for two more kids.  Since the church secretary is only in the office Tuesday through Thursday mornings, you would need to print off the application shown on the Pages list at the right of this page.  Then email (address above) or give me a call (FAQ page) to make sure a place is still available for your child.

Meanwhile, I still have planning to do, materials to buy, and a lot of work to do on the prototype boat.  Unfortunately I won't have it completed in time for the start of camp, but I hope to have it on the church lawn this Tuesday to show off in its unfinished form.  Maybe that will be more interesting than a finished boat!

A second day's recruiting at Lincoln

Mr. Rumberger, Assistant Principal, helped me set up in the library after lunch today, where I had a chance to talk to children who were interested in the program.  After I talked to the kids, showed slides, showed tools we would be using, and let them handle models they might build, my message was simple:

Talk to your parents, ask them to fill out the application and return it to school tomorrow!  That's the surest way to be accepted into the program. 

Those who wait to bring the application on the first day of camp (July 5) cannot be accepted if we are full (twelve kids).

I have posted the slides I showed the kids at top right of the page.  Since the captions don'e show, I'll explain them briefly.  There are seven slides showing the boats I have built: four of the two-masted, twenty-foot boat Beatrice Ann that is my largest, then a photo each of my littlest (eleven-foot) sailboat, my kayak, and my newest sailboat with wrap-around windows.  There is a picture of objects we might experiment on to learn about floating and sinking, a picture of the balance we will build to help with experiments as well as practice wood-working skills, three photos of scale models I made while trying to choose a boat to build at camp, and three photos of a prototype camp boat now under construction.

Tomorrow I will talk to Mr. Rumberger and find out how many applications are in.

Less than two weeks to go!

--and we are still recruiting kids from Lincoln and Normandin!  I am hoping for about a dozen kids.  They will do experiments in pairs or larger teams, work on their boat models in pairs, and build the real boats in teams of four, all in and around St. Andrews.  Pastor Rebecca Homans Blair gave me only a few requirements for the program: the kids should experience beauty, feel curiosity and wonder, and become more literate.  We will be doing our best!

In the meantime, I am still doing the detailed planning and building a prototype of the paddling boat I will build with the kids.

Here's a sample of what we'll be doing.

Our first wood-working project: a two-pan balance.

Our first experiments: what makes some things float and others sink?

Models we might make.

Building the prototype boat: a thirteen-footer for two paddlers.  First the sides are cut out.

Sides are attached to the center frame.  (The kids will be using all these tools and more.)

Let's see what it will look like when we "go 3D."