We just finished up our week-long summer camp for inner city students (middle and high school) at the Springfield Armory Historic Site. It was a blast, and we wove in writing with inquiry and history and a sense of place.
We
- explored the art of mapping as a representation of time of a place — using historical maps of the Springfield Armory site itself on a walking tour
- learned about how to closely “read” historical images that are part of the Armory’s curated archives
- wrote into the day every single day on a variety of prompts, ranging from designing a board game based on the Springfield Armory to seasonal poetry
- inquired about Shay’s Rebellion with primary source materials at the Armory, the site of the uprising and the firing on Shay’s men by the militia protecting the Armory
- heard of Pearl Harbor and the way WW2 changed the Armory and Springfield forever, and then examined how different voices (Americans, Japanese, and Japanese-Americans) told different stories of the event
- worked to understand design and engineering with a Lock Plate Activity that replicated the experience on the Armory manufacturing lines
- explored immigration from many different angles, including the heritage of campers and the roots of many immigrant workers at the site
Yesterday, we had more than 40 family members join our campers at the Armory, for a celebration of writing and to explore the Armory Museum with campers. It was another great year of camp, as the video diary attests to.
And because Ranger Scott Gausen could not be there for the last day, we had campers do some writing for him, and sketch out his picture. His beard is a main facial feature, as you can tell.
Peace (in explorations),
Kevin