Urban Promise

May 2010

Since last Christmas, the children of Camp Grace have been exchanging penpal letters with children involved in the UrbanPromise AfterSchool Programs in Camden, NJ. It has been a fun way to connect our programs in two unique cities. Here are some samples of letters the children have written.

To Phire,

My name is Rosa and I am ten years old. I have four brothers and three sisters. My favourite sport is volleyball. And my favourite subject in school is math. Me and Sandra are both going to send letters to you now. So please write back and I hope I meet you. Bye-bye for now.

---------- From Rosa

To Viola

I want to be a ballet teacher. I like hip hop music. My favourite color is red. My favourite movie is princess and the frog. What is your favourite Ice cream? Have a happy day.

---------- From Nancy

To Jon

It’s me Taurean. I have to answer some questions. First is what I want to be and I answered I want to be an actor. Second where do I want to go and I answered I want to go to Athens, Greece. Third my favourite color and I answered dark red. Fourth is my favourite movie and I answered Iron Man 2.

---------- From Taurean

To Yerral

Hi Yerral I like to skate board too and play video games too. My favourite music is pop. What is yours? My favourite movies are the Harry potter series. My favourite colours are black and red. Have you seen Iron man 2? It’s awesome!

---------- From Griffin

To Noah

Hello Noah. I am going to tell you about myself in this letter. First off my favourite color is green, I like any music that has a strong beat, my favourite movie is Avatar and if I could go anywhere I’d go to New Zealand because it looks amazing there.

---------- From Dax

March 2010

During our Bible times, we have been asking the kids questions about related to the topics we have been studying. Here are some of their responses.

Patience
Who in your life do you need to be patient to?

• God
• Parents
• Tanya
• Vivian
• Younger Children

How can you display patience in this situation? Imagine you are really hungry and you want your snack. Tanya and Vivian are trying as fast as possible to get snacks to everybody but there are a lot of kids and only two leaders.

• Sit quietly
• Put your hand up
• Don't yell out

Perseverance
What are some ways you can display perseverance?

• Keep doing homework even when it is hard
• Keep playing the game even when your team is losing
• Finish running a race
• Finish what you start (ex. Eating your food)
• Keep trying to learn a new skill even when it is hard
• Don’t run away from your problems

Peace
What is Peace?

• To be nice and kind to other people
• Don’t hurt anybody
• To get along
• Don’t hurt yourself
• To be calm
• To make peace means to say Sorry and to forgive

Self-control
What is self control?

• Controlling your hands and feet
• No punching
• No hurting others
• Being calm
• Don’t fall off fences
• No gossiping or saying bad things about others
• The ability to control your emotions and desires

What are some desires that need to be controlled?

• Having so much chocolate that you get sick
• Not listening to leaders
• Calling people mean things or gossiping
• Hurting people

January 2010

Camp Grace - On Music

What kind of music do you like listening to?

• Dax – Anything with a good Beat
• Sandra – Spanish Music
• Anna – Hannah Montana
• Taurean – Pop
• Nancy – The little Mermaid (Ariel)
• Marlon – Rap
• Keemi – R n B
• Kayla – Michael Jackson

Who is your favourite singer?

• Keemi – Kanye West
• Marlon – Lil Wayne
• Kayla – Michael Jackson
• Nancy – The little Mermaid (Ariel)
• Taurean – Michael Jackson
• Anna – Miley Cyrus, Disney Princesses
• Sandra - Jason Derulo
• Dax - Tanya

Which instrument do you like listening to?

• Marlon – Electric Guitar
• Keemi – Drums
• Kayla – Trumpets (like Caleb)
• Dax – Guitar and drums
• Sandra – Electric Guitar
• Anna – Hannah Montana
• Taurean – Drums
• Nancy – Piano

Which Instrument can you play?

• Nancy – Piano
• Taurean – Guitar
• Anna – Guitar
• Sandra – Piano, Guitar, Recorder
• Dax – Djembe Drums
• Kayla – Guitar, Piano
• Keemi – Guitar Hero, Drums
• Marlon – Electric Guitar

What is your Favourite song?

• Sandra – Watcha Say
• Anna – The best of both worlds
• Taurean – Smooth Criminal
• Nancy – Beat it
• Dax – The Camp Grace Song
• Kayla – Waves of Grace
• Keemi – Gold Digger
• Marlon – Lollipop

Which kind of music do you like dancing to?

• Nancy – Spanish Music
• Taurean – Any kind
• Anna – Princess and the frog
• Sandra – Spanish
• Dax – Rap/Pop
• Kayla – Jazz
• Keemi – My dad’s Music
• Marlon – Rap

Where is your favourite place to listen to music?

• Sandra – My room
• Anna – My house
• Taurean – Home
• Nancy – My house
• Marlon – In my Room
• Kayla – In my house
• Dax – Any Place
• Keemi – Camp Grace

November 2009

A Letter to Myself in 2020

Recently we had the children write a letter to "Myself in 2020". To see their original letters, click on each child's name.

Dear Sandra, I want you and your mom to be very close friends when you two are much older.  And I want you to be a doctor of any kind like your mother says.  She wants you to be a paediatrician.  And have a hobby on the side of your job. Sincerely,  Sandra.
Dear Beckett, Go to Greece, graduate from high school, do easy math. Sincerely,  Beckett.
fdsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfdfgddfgdfgsdfsdfsdf Dear Kayla, A long time ago I went to my Uncle’s house. I like hanging out with my friends at Camp Grace. I like to play at Camp Grace. Sincerely,  Kayla.

August 2009

At Camp Grace this summer, our former GAP Director, Chanelle Paul, taught a Creative Art Adventure in Creative Writing to our oldest kids. They did several different projects including Cinquain poems, Comic books, and Short stories.

Some kids who you wouldn’t think would buckle down to finish a project persevered and had amazing results. They came up with many funny stories that had their favorite leaders going on crazy adventures. In their poems they shared about their favorite people, places and things.

Here are some examples of those different projects - click on the thumbnail for a larger version you can read!

Brandon's Short Story:

A comic strip:

Cinquain Poems:

May 2009

Camp Grace Reading

Every day at Camp Grace kids read for 20 minutes with a StreetLeader. We have a variety of great colorful and interesting books for them to read. Since it is almost the end of the ASP year I thought I would ask them which one they liked the most. They wrote and drew a picture of their favorite parts of the story.

Check out a few of their favorite stories and why they like them (click on the thumbnail):

April 2009

In anticipation of our annual Spring Break Trips, some of the children wrote about why they wanted to be a part of the trips. Here is what they said:

Why I should go on the Spring Break trip:

I think I should go to the Camp Grace spring break trip because I love all the StreetLeaders and I really don't like missing a day of Camp Grace. And everybody is so nice to me! And all the activities are awesome! Everything there is perfect and I would be so happy to go. Well thanks for listening!

Sincerely, Dunia

Hello my name is Mary and I will tell you five reasons of why I should go on the amazingly fun Camp Grace Spring trip.

• One because I think that I am a very responsible and honest person.
• Two because I love to have adventures especially with friends and people I trust.
• Three because I think I do deserve an opportunity like this.
• Four because I always love to help out and I will still have the responsibility of being a Jr. StreetLeader. I can always come in handy.
• Five I think it would be a wonderful experience to have this one in a life time chance.

Thank you so so much for this opportunity!

Sincerely Mary

My 5 reasons why I should go on the spring break trip

1. So I can spend more time with my friends like Felicia, Mary and Justin.
2. So I can spend more time away from my cousins.
3. I sometimes like spending time with other kids.
4. I have never gone with Camp Grace for field trips like that.
5. I think I have been better than before in the way I act.

Jasmin

Why I should go on the Spring Break Trip

1. I am nice to the kids.
2. I am a Jr.StreetLeader.
3. I am special to Tanya.
4. I am a good role model.
5. I am cool.

December 2008

Everyday at Camp Grace we go to the park right beside Grandview Calvary Baptist Church. The kids get to play on the playground and run around to get some energy out after school. We usually are joined by another after school program and some kids with their parents. We also share the park with many people walking their dogs. The kids love when dogs are at the park and always go up to the owner and ask to pet the dog.

For a few weeks this month a group of young adults had been playing a game that looked like bucket ball. After seeing them a few times Keemi came up to me and asked, "Tanya what are they doing?"

"Looks like they're playing bucket ball Keemi," I replied.

He looked over at the group and asked, "Tanya can I play?"

I laughed and said "Well, I guess you will have to ask them if you can play."

Keemi's eyes looked up at me shocked that I would say such a thing and he said, "Nooooo. I can't Tanya!"

Dionte came over at this point in our conversation and said, "Let's go Keemi. I'll ask."

The two boys ran across the field and in seconds they were running after the ball and playing the game. I sat down to watch the boys play and soon one by one eight more Camp Grace kids ran over and asked if they could play as well. By the time we had to leave almost all of the camp had joined in on this game. The kids talked about this great game of bucket all for the rest of the day.

You can see Bucket Ball photos at Photos > Camp Grace > Park Friends.