Summer Camp Week 4

It's already the last week of camp! I realize I may have missed a few things that we've been up to. We're not just working on the newspaper project, we've also taken time to do some art making. We've generally kept that time loose and free, whether it's painting on a piece of plywood, making little figures out of clay, playing on photoshop, or learning some new video editing techniques. Here are some pics for you to check out what that work has looked like.

Now, this last week, we decided to do one more round of street interviews with a focus on the role that Monument Street, a hub of small businesses, plays in the community. So, most of the teams went out and followed the same model as they did with the street interviews last week. They found some people with lots of thoughts and some insightful ideas. Meanwhile, one group went to speak with a man, who helps run an organization of small business owners and merchants who work on Monument Street. You'll have to wait to hear more about that specific interview, but check out what people in the neighborhood think about Monument Street below.

The final project that we embarked was to make a movie about camp. We decided it'd be fun to make the movies in the style of a mockumentary, where the campers get interviewed about what they thought about camp and we cut to some re-enactments. So, the first day we assigned roles--lead camera operator, interviewer, main interview, reaction interview, actors, audio--and set about getting our footage. After we got the footage, we pieced together a storyboard to help guide us in the editing process. One group's movie take a rather bizarre turn, as a fictional character named Blind Billy became the protagonist. The next day, the groups split up the responsibilities with some working on a poster, some on gathering any more footage we needed, and some doing the editing. For the final day of camp, we played games, screened the movies, and had a super fun dance/karaoke party! One of the movies is still in the editing process, but you can check out the brilliant Blind Billy at Summer Camp below!

Summer Camp Week 3

This week we continued our work on the newspaper project. In order to get some practice doing interviews, the campers and Youth Workers went out in teams to do quick interview with people on the street. The teams came up with three basic questions each to ask their interviewees that generally dealt with what they liked about the neighborhood, what issues they thought the neighborhood face, and what changes they'd like to see. Then, they set out to get three or four interviews. Each team member had a role: interviewer, photographer, audio recorder. After getting their interviews, the teams returned and split up roles. Some looked for the best photos and turned them into grayscale, while others listened to the audio and wrote out the best quotes. Then, they came together to work on Canva, where they put the quote onto the photograph, which will ultimately go into a Meet Your Neighbors section in the newspaper. Here are some of the results.

Due to some erratic attendance with campers, it became difficult for each team to really work on their story. So, we switched it up a bit and went as a big group to Amazing Grace Church nearby to work on two stories. One story was about the church in general and that group interviewed Pastor Carol about the different programs and initiatives that the church runs. The other group interviewed Chef Daisy and Maxine, a volunteer, who both help run the food pantry and soup kitchen at the church. These interviews both turned out really well and the campers and Youth Workers were able to learn about both getting good interviews and how to use those interviews to develop and write an article. Here are some pictures from those interviews.

On Friday, we went on our other big field trip for the summer to Artscape, Baltimore's massive free arts festival. We went in the afternoon and due to very hot weather, the campers mostly chose to stay inside at Gamescape. Gamescape offered a whole variety of video games to play. There were some classics like Super Smash Bros along with new games that we're currently being developed like Rock, Paper, Scissors, which was a hit with the campers. There was also a virtual reality game that almost all our campers got a chance to play. Some campers did decide to go out with their groups and explore some more of Artscape. Overall, Artscape is an awesome and fun event, and the campers and Youth Workers both really enjoyed our field trip there. Here are some pics.

Summer Camp Week 2

We started week 2 of camp with a focus on the newspaper project. Each team picked a subject in the neighborhood to focus on, so we started developing stories about a yoga class, a program for preschoolers at the library, Safe Streets, and Video Lab here at Viewfinders. The teams developed a list of questions specifically tailored to what they'd already found out about the program through research. Then, we decided to do a practice interview for everyone to see. We arranged to interview a woman who works at the Men and Family Center nearby, and the campers and Youth Workers all went together to record, take photos, and learn about interviewing. Check out some photos from this experience.

On Wednesday, we went on our big field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. The museum was hugely informative and deeply moving to experience. The campers and Youth Workers were all super engaged with the various sections of the museum that they were able to see in our time there. There were fruitful conversations between the youth, and, overall, it seemed like everybody was thrilled to have the experience to see the museum. One of our campers, Jibril, saw an exhibit that was about his grandfather, who was a famous musician. It was great to see the personal connections to the museum that impacted the campers and Youth Workers. Check out some photos of us there.

The next day we split into groups and made short videos based on what stood out most to the campers at the museum. It was awesome to see the wide variety of subjects covered in those videos--ranging from a telling of Emmett Till's story to a fictionalized story about the obstacles a young woman faces in balancing her dream of becoming a professional basketball player and dealing with school and family life. Overall, I think it was the best place we could have gone for a field this summer. You can see some of the videos below.  

Summer Camp Prep + Week 1

It's summer camp time here at Viewfinders! We'll be giving you updates about what's going on each week here at our summer camp. We wanted to start by telling you about the role that Youth Works plays in our summer camp. Youth Works is a summertime employment program for Baltimore youth, who are at least 14 years old. This year, we have 7 Youth Workers, who will be serving as camp counselors for us. Our Youth Workers came a week before summer camp officially started in order to help prep and plan.

Youth Works also has certain requirements of its own that primarily focus on teaching the high schoolers about building a resume, job readiness skills, and money management. So, we spent segments of time during our prep work going over those skills through videos, presentations, worksheets, and group activities. While it wasn't always the most enthralling part of the day for the Youth Workers, they nonetheless gleaned some important info and tips. 

For our summer camp, we focused on prepping the Youth Workers to be leaders. Playing games and icebreakers is a huge part of summer camp, so we practiced a bunch of different icebreakers and had the Youth Workers practice leading them. This proved helpful during camp. We also got started on the community newspaper project, which will be the main focus of camp. The Youth Workers learned the basics of reporting and writing a story, how to track bias in stories, and some photography basics. We ended the week by having the Youth Workers do short photo essays on the neighborhood and create collages that represented themselves, which is the first art activity we did with the campers.

Speaking of the campers, we started summer camp the first week of July! The first day of camp we focused on introductions, playing icebreakers, and working on collages about ourselves. It was a very successful first day with connections starting to form and a positive atmosphere. The next day we split into smaller teams, which would stick for the rest of camp. Each team came up with a name, logo, and cheer, as a way to start building unity as a team. At the end of the day, each team presented their logo and cheer; we had the Bmore Draggers, Leagues United, Pizza Skaterz, and Da M.O.B. On Friday, we introduced the community newspaper project to the youth in the morning and did a photo walk. Then, we had a free, fun afternoon at a local park in the afternoon. Overall, it was a fun and promising start to what will surely be a great month of camp! Check out some photos the campers took below.