Campers at the Pocahontas 4-H Camp Talk about Their Camp Experiences
The 2019 Pocahontas County 4-H at camp Thornwood, was held from June 17th to the 21st. To get a grasp on how the 4-H campers feel about their 4=H camp experiences, we went to the camp and talked with a few of those young people. We asked them about their favorite camp activities and what makes the camp special to them, so let’s just sit back and listen to them.
“My name is Haley Spencer, I am 14,” said Spencer. “what I love best about 4-H is probably just the learning experiences. You learn to communicate with friends and you gain a lot of confidence throughout the whole program and it really helps you in life. We have a small county and it’s really great that everyone comes out and we all work together and you’re more of a person, you’re not like a number here. And everyone knows you by name, and it just makes the whole experience great. For my next two classes tomorrow, I am taking shotgun and candy making, and I am really looking forward to those, but probably what I am looking forward to is Council Circles every night. That has always been my favorite part of camp, ever since I joined in the third grade.”
What is that?
“It’s like a campfire, and we sit in a circle, and we sing songs and come up with our own songs, and we do skits and funny stuff” answered Spencer. “And we always have a great time and we just communicate with each other.”
Any skits stand out?
“Oh my, we’ve done lots of skits” said Spencer. “This week our theme was the holidays, so we had Santas last night from our tribe and many skits where you laugh until you cry.”
Anything else you’d like to say?
“I don’t believe so” said Haley.
“I’m Logan Burks, I’m 19, I’m in the Delaware Tribe and I go to Potomac State College” said Burks. The most interesting class I’ve had was with the STEM Ambassador. We got to try to build a tower with cardboard and paper and scissors. And I’m going to school for Civil Engineering, and I was able to kind of experiment what I learned from school there.”
Did you graduate from PCHS?
“Yes, I did” said Burks. “I graduated in 2017.”
What makes camp so special for you?
“Just the people that come there, the environment” Burk answered. “It really just encourages creativity and it helps you with life skills like public speaking and things like that. The thing I would look forward to most would be Friday night’s ‘if I were not a Delaware’ skit that our tribe solely does-nobody else does that. It’s usually a good funny time. And usually a Friday song is good too because it’s usually a throwback song, so it brings up good memories from the previous years.”
Next, we spoke with 9-year-old R.T. Hill.
R.T., what do you love most about 4-H?
“you get to meet your old friends, and make new friends” answered Hill. “It’s just enjoyable.”
Are you taking any classes here?
“Basketball and archery” Hill said.
What do you look forward to doing for the rest of camp?
“Playing GAGA Ball”
Tell me about that, how does that work?
“Basically, it’s like dodge Ball, but if it hits your foot, you’re out” said Hill. From your knee up, you’re safe. And you have to let it bounce twice before you can tough it. And if you hit it out of the pen you’re out.”
Good, anything else you’d like to say?
“no.”
OK, thank you.
“My name is Catlyn Sparks, I’m 19, I attend West Virginia University and I am in the Mingo Tribe. I’ve been coming to the 4-H camp since I was in the third grade. There’s just something so special about it. I don’t even know how to describe it, it just makes you feel so warm and happy. And the friends you meet are like life-long. I have friend that I met at State Camps that I’m even close with in college now. So, it’s just a really good feeling to have someone there. My favorite class when I was in camp last year was outdoor cooking -I love outdoor cooking! But I love singing all the silly songs with all my friends and the Council Circle is like my favorite thing ever.”
What do you like doing for the rest of camp?
“I look forward to just being here, because I am not here the whole week, so it’s like really hard because this is the first year, I haven’t been able to be here the whole week” said Sparks. “So, I am just looking forward to being here every minute.”
We also interviewed Connor Spencer, but unfortunately, the interview failed to record. I can tell you that 16-year-old Connor also enjoyed the 4-H camp, especially the black powder shooting and the evening Council Circles.
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