Shaking things up!

Hello again!

This week was a little bit different, due to the changes in staffing for our normal daily routine at Blacks Creek and the Curley Community Center. We lost Che and Damani, but Flo and Sebastian were put on site with Tessa, Aidan and me. It was a good to shake things up a little bit and see fresh new faces excited to take on Blacks Creek and the Curley.

Every morning, we start off at Blacks Creek. We have two sessions: 9-10:30am and 10:30-12pm. During these sessions we have at most 15-20 kids, but in other sessions we have as little as 4 or 5. Blacks Creek is a unique site because we are able to really get to know the children we are working with. We have created relationships with the kids and at some other sites they do not see the same kids enough to do that. I worked at the Curley Community Center all throughout high school, so I am used to becoming close with the kids and seeing trust grow between myself and the kids throughout the summer. We have been able to watch the kids grow more comfortable with holding crabs and identifying the sex of the crabs. We have seen the kids become more confident in their time in the water and their knowledge of the sea creatures they have continued to catch each week since camp began. It has been a rewarding experience working at Blacks Creek, and because this is our last week at the creek, I will definitely miss the working environment there.

The Curley Community Center is a bit different working environment than Blacks Creek. I am very familiar with many of the staff members, including two of my sisters, two cousins, and many long time friends. Because I am a part of the South Boston community, and had worked at the community center throughout high school, I am also familiar with many of the campers as well. Because of this familiarity, it was a much easier transition than Blacks Creek was in the respect of having immediate authority and control over the kids. Working at the Curley can definitely be stressful because we are teaching kids how to overhead cast fishing rods on a beach where people sometimes swim, and the kids are constantly running around and may not being paying as close attention as they should be around fishing rods. It is consistently a challenge to remind the kids to make sure they are being as safe as possible and mindful of what the consequences may be if they are not. The kids are very responsive and continue to improve in their casting skills each day we are there.

I was also able to work two great events this weekend: the Beach Bash on Friday and the Seafood Festival on Sunday. They were both great events that I had a great time working. It is so much fun being able to work with the staff that I normally don't get to see on a daily basis-- and sometimes I even get to spend the day with my sister, Kathleen, if I'm lucky.

Me and a wonderful family I had the chance of meeting at the Seafood Festival on Sunday!

My sister, Kathleen (an SHE), on the right, and me on the left having a great time serving hot dogs at the Carson Beach Bash! 

The summer is flying by, and now I only have 3 weeks left of working!

Catch you on the flip!
Maggie

The Seafood Festival!

Becoming lobsters and lemon!

This past Sunday I got the chance to work one of the shifts at the seafood festival and it was so much fun! Last year was my first time coming to the seafood festival and it was a ton of fun so I already knew what to expect. This year however, there were a bunch of more stands of food and other stations to visit and especially many new things to learn about. To start of, where we were stationed at, we had fish printing and shell painting. Also I got a really cool shirt from a company that was stationed right next to us named Lobster Box and we took a bunch of funny pictures. Aside from the fun pictures and awesome free shirts, one of my most favorite things to do at the seafood festival ever since last year, is shell painting! There were over 200 sea shells spread out on the table all for the kids to come and pick a shell of their choosing and let their imagination run through the tips of their paintbrushes! We had all types of paint colors and glitters to put on the shells. One of the little girls bedazzled her shell with glitter and purple hearts everywhere! Although it got a bit messy, it was still nice seeing the smile on the kids faces when looking at their shell-sized master pieces. Not only did the kids paint shells, I also got to paint a few myself and we got a bit creative. Last year Nieomi and I painted Nemo, Dory, Spongebob and Patrick. This year we decided to keep the trend going by painting Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on the sea shells which came out better than I had expected! This Seafood Festival is definitely one of the highlights of my summer so far. Not to mention I also got some cute dolphin and turtle temporary tattoos at one of the stations too! 

In preparation for painting shells!

I really can't wait till the next seafood festival because I had a blast at this one. 

Til next time! - Rusenny

Sailing at Courageous!

Memories from the sailing center.

As we come closer and closer to the end of August, some program sites are beginning to close. For instance, Courageous Sailing Center's programming ended this Friday. A few of the Save the Harbor staff came to Charleston, and they invited us to sail with some of the kids. This is something I have never done before. For starters, it was not just your average, relaxing sailing trip. We were in a massive race with over 30 boats, and small winds. My team had three youngsters, one expert, and myself, a newcomer to sailing. They gave me one starting tip, watch out for my head. You really had to pay close attention or else you'd get hit in the head really hard. Also, some boats began to capsize, and people liked to do that for fun so they can dip into the water. Though I wanted to get wet, we took the time to prepare for the race.

I'm going to miss these kids!

I learned some things in the race. I learned what irons were, tacking, and switching jets. I was mainly switching jets as we sailed because it is very easy to do. I talked to them about marine life, and taught them about invasive species. The kids knew about this however because they've taken science classes at Courageous. They made me the student and taught me how to steer the boat. I stopped because I crashed into another boat, but it is nothing new apparently, they said it happened all the time. I am going to miss the kids at Courageous, and the studies, but it was a very fun time learning how to sail, and actually going sailing for the first time!

Talk to you later!

Qalid Hassan :) 

Flash back Friday

Friday and we are back at the Courageous Sailing Center! We switched things up a little instead of being stationed to do fish printing I was fishing. After doing our opening activity we split up into groups. As I'm asking the kids questions about what we were using for bait, flounder, and what were some fun facts about the fish I started to feel like I recognized some faces. That didn't actually make sense though because it was a new group of kids. As we are fishing a girl, about 10 years old started asking me some fishing questions but then started to just stare at me. Then she asked "Do you work at the club?"  I just kept staring at her and asked what?! She just kept repeating the same thing, that I look familiar and she thinks it's because I work at "the club". Apparently she meant the Boys and Girls club, so that couldn't be it, I asked if she danced, thinking she could be one of my students but that wasn't it either. She took off her glasses and said 'These are new, maybe you'll remember now." I laughed thinking glasses don't make that much of a difference but the second she took them off I screamed Maggie!!! She looked shocked that I knew her name and then I said you went to Piers Park two summers ago and that is where I was stationed! Then she remembered going kayaking with me every day and me attempting to beat her, and the rest of the kids in all our field games. I was impressed and touched that she recognized me, it shows how children really remember and appreciate all that programs and staff from Save the Harbor.

Piers Park Summer 2015

Courageous Sailing Center Summer 2017

Catch ya later,
Ana

Does it get any better than Hustle Day?

The hustle field at CHV!

Hi everyone! So today was one of the most exciting days at Camp Harbor View. It was the last day for the kids in session one so that meant the first group of kids were done for the summer and there will be new group coming in for session two. In honor of it being the last day for them, it is called Hustle Day, and trust me, it was way more fun than it sounds! We started off the day by taking a tour around the Boston Harbor and then when we got to the island the day was full of colors! Yellow, blue, orange, purple, green, everyone was representing their individual group color and it was pretty exciting to see how ready the kids were to play and compete on the fields with their groups.
It was set up like a relay race so when the games started, I decided to go to the Wheelbarrow race and help out there. While we waited for the teams to come we played a game of crock-a-dilly-oh-my which was really fun because we all sang even though we didn't know all the words which was pretty funny. After that, we played a name memory game in which you had to say your name and something that began with the first letter of your name, and say the people's that went before you. I won't lie, it was pretty hard at first, but then it got easier and I remembered lots of new names and faces! When it was finally time to "wheelbarrow" the kids got in position and it really made my day to see all of them cheering on not only their teammates, but other teams too. They were all working together to win the race but also to have fun and make the best out of their last day at CHV. Moments like these, are what really make summers memorable. Although it was an exciting day, it was also a little sad because we already knew most of the kids and it was our last day with them, but we made the most of it and that's all that matters.

Til next session!  Keep exploring!

-Rusenny