August 18, 2008

A group of area kids are spending their final days of summer, enjoying the great outdoors, and local camp is helping by giving kids a look at a more rural, Albemarle County.

“I love being outside. When school comes around I won’t [be able] because I will be getting home really late,” camper, Kevin Bromberg said.

“A lot of times during the school year they don’t get to do any educational programming outside,” Loraine Barnett, 4-H agent.

Camp Albemarle hosted a group of middle school-aged kids last week. The week-long day camp didn’t consist of books or tests, but there was a lot of learning going on.

“It's just a nice place for them to learn about our place and about Albemarle County,” Barnett said.

Councilors discussed various topics throughout the week, giving the kids a sense of where they live.

“We did some forestry workshops at some farms and places around here, they learned about trees and local agriculture,” Barnett said.

Tucked away in the country, the camp is surrounded by farms on both sides.

“They can see the different topography as we drive out here. Since it's nestled out here along the river channel, it's undisturbed and in its natural state,” Barnett said.

“I love being outside and doing stuff like this cause it's like a learning experience and it's a lot of fun,” camper, Elizabeth Colindres said.

With dozens of days down, and only two to go, councilors at Camp Albemarle say the kids will have plenty of stories to share with their classmates.

“They've sort of been lamenting the fact that school starts on Wednesday, but they'll be excited to go back and share with their friends that they came out and had a good time out here,” Barnett said.

“I made a bunch of friends, and I know that I’m going to be able to talk about it with all my friends at school,” Colindres said.

One of the goals of camp Albemarle is to support the 4-H principle, of learning by doing to help create leadership among youth.

For more information visit www.campalbemarleva.org