#campsky

CAMP SKY PRESS RELEASE!!! With Camp Sky, Peace Corps volunteers show Malawian students that the sky is not the limit for their potential On the sixth of April, eighty academically exceptional students from across the Southern African country of Malawi arrived at Mitundu Secondary School, where a week of advanced subject-specific courses, practical labs, test preparation, and other educational activities focused on health, self-expression, and problem solving, awaited them. Camp Sky is an education camp focused on Malawi Senior Certificate Examination (MSCE) preparation that has been an annual volunteer initiative for over ten years. It provides outstanding students from all over Malawi a one-of-a-kind experience to learn from Peace Corps teachers, forge connections with other promising students from different areas or backgrounds, and to realize their own potential and strengths in and out of the classroom setting. Over 25 volunteers from the education, environment, and health sectors in Malawi came together to put on the camp. Throughout the week, campers participated in subject-specific lessons taught by first and second-year education volunteers which focused on problem areas students traditionally encounter on their national MSCE examination. Areas of study included fractions and ratios, vocabulary building and word formation, photosynthesis, and many more. They also participated in labs across multiple subjects, which included composition writing, titration, and graphing, among others. For many students, this was their first experience working in a science laboratory, and their excitement showed. The classroom lessons were supplemented by many other holistic learning experiences. Volunteers from other sectors came to lead sessions on nutrition, creativity and self-expression, Malaria, gender empowerment, and more. Each day featured a theme focused around being a well-rounded individual in all facets of life. These daily themes all tied-in to the overall theme of the camp, which was: “Sky is not the limit.” To fortify this message that the skills and knowledge students gain at camp should stay with them beyond the week of Camp Sky, Malawian role models and professionals in the fields of journalism, education, tourism, government, and health comprised a panel that presented their educational and job experiences and fielded questions from eager campers. Students likewise participated in engaging events such as a physics egg-drop competition, an HIV scavenger hunt, a variety show, and a viewing of a film-version of Romeo and Juliet, as well as much singing, dancing, chanting, morale-boosting, and friend-making. Based on analysis of completed pre and post-surveys, students improved in all areas of instruction, including classroom subjects as well as health-related questions. Camp Sky went mobile for one day as staff and students travelled to the John F. Kennedy Information Resource Center located at the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Lilongwe. Here, students were given a presentation about the application process regarding schools and colleges in the U.S., and provided information and resources about how to be attractive candidates when pursuing further education. They also had a hands-on session in the facility’s computer lab, where many students created their first word processing document and performed their first internet topic search. Concurrent with Camp Sky was Teach Sky, a teacher development training that consisted of twenty teachers from around Malawi interacting with five Teacher Development Facilitators from the education sector. The teachers had workshops on teaching methodologies, gender equity in the classroom, continuous assessment, differentiated learning, and other classroom management strategies. Attendees also observed lessons taught by Peace Corps volunteers, and gave feedback based on their observations of the lesson. Towards the end of the camp, teachers collaborated with volunteers to lead a joint session about study skills and test-taking strategies. Throughout the week, teachers were welcome to attend or participate in any of the camp activities, and also attended the field trip to the U.S. embassy. All in all, Camp Sky was a major success for all involved. Students enjoyed learning from Peace Corps volunteers, interacting with Malawian professionals, participating in unique labs and activities, discovering how to keep a healthy body and mind, expressing their thoughts and being listened to, and forging lasting connections and friendships. Even in a short week, the growth and leap in confidence in each one of these special students was evident. Malawian teachers gained the experience of collaborating and learning from their colleagues, and of being exposed to new teaching practices. And PCV’s involved accomplished a rewarding and life-lasting week of service. The funding for the camp came from all over the world, as family and friends of those volunteers involved as well as Malawian nationals and expats interested in Malawi’s future contributed to the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) which helps support volunteer projects worldwide. Without their help, the camp would not have been as successful as it was. Not only was this a life-changing experience for the student and teacher Camp Sky-ers, but for all of the Peace Corps Volunteers involved as well. Throughout the week, it was made evident to all involved that Sky is truly not the limit for these aspiring Malawian students. As Daniel Chakwira, an eighteen-year old student from the Nkhata Bay district, summed up the experience of the week: “The impossible Is becoming possible.” If you want to read more about what we did at Camp Sky 2014, check out our blog: campskymw.tumblr.com Or search for us on Facebook! And stay tuned for more information about how you can help out next year’s camp! Where should I send this? (nowhere is an acceptable answer)

Take that, Baz! Ps-your adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” was just okay! That’s right….just okay!

So Camp Sky finished a couple weeks ago, but I’m still excited about it. It was mos def the best week of my Peace Corps service, and the most rewarding. Personally, I was taking pictures and videos for our blog to share with the world (campskymw.tumblr.com if you haven’t checked it out yet!) and I taught a lesson about poetry vs. prose using my ukulele and songs by Simon & Garfunkel, Bon Iver, and T. Swift. Oh also, I cleaned a lot. If you want to know more about the week, look at the blog or feel free to ask me anything about it. Camp Sky was real amazing and inspiring and made my whole service! From clearing up the messy site in the beginning, to watching kids shine creatively, to watching them get super into activities like flip cup (with water!), scavenger hunts, the Macarena, asking questions to guest Malawian professionals, singing songs, creating songs in 30 minutes, and engaging in lessons, to seeing some use a computer for the first time, to watching them also try spaghetti for the first time (some enjoyed more than others), to hearing some students recite lines while watching the Romeo and Juliet film we showed, to saying goodbye…for now. Thanks to everybody involved…no matter how. That week was tremendous, and while our goal was to do it for the students it also did a lot for us PCV’s involved. YEWO CHOMENE

Closing Ceremonies On the last full day of camp, there were several culminating activities. First, students had a goal-setting lesson. The first three rows of pictures came from the end of this session, where students each wrote down a challenge they have to their success. They stood up, stated the challenge, then ripped up the paper and threw it on the ground. Cathartic! The next two pictures come from after our last dinner, where every student stated their favorite thing from camp and then signed our Camp Sky banner. Our final event was a disco, the last three pictures, where some students showed off some killer dance moves. A great end to the week!

Guest speakers! On Saturday, we welcomed a few guest speakers from various professions in Malawi to talk to the kids about their personal journeys through the Malawian educational system to get to where they are today. The first picture is of Eunice, a nurse from a nearby hospital, following her is Assiatu who works at a youth center, the next is Loyd, who works in tourism at Kuti National Park in Nkhotakota, in the next one camper Benedicto asks a question to the group, then economist Tayani talks about his role in the Malawian government, Loyd addresses the group again; NEXT PANEL: Chad, a former student of coordinator Rita who is a current college student, discusses his test-taking process and how he found success on the MSCE, and lastly a group shot of the other two of his groups panel members, Yvonne, a journalist who writes for the Malawi Times, and Moody, one of our wonderful Malawian teachers at Teach Sky who shared her experiences as a female teacher in Malawi. They all are great role models for the students, and stayed after the session to chat and share contact info with the campers. Thanks to all who came to speak, you've inspired all out Camp Skyers!

Writing Lab In the writing lab, Rita and Pat taught about composition writing, an important skill to have not only for exams but for life beyond. They preached writing "SEXY" paragraphs, which doesn't have anything to do with the physical attractiveness of the paragraph but is an acronym for a paragraph with a Statement, Elaboration on than statement, an eXample, and Your opinion. The students really took to this creative way of constructing a paragraph, and wrote some great compositions about "The Roles of a Leader." Also the lab room had some weird graffiti (exhibit A above)

Math Lab So a MAJOR struggle for Malawian students in the field of math is graphing. For some reason, this is a universal problem. So Math teachers Josh, Deanna, and Melissa, based their math lab around graphing and coordinates. Hopefully this added practice will help them on their MSCE national exams. And by hopefully, I mean definitely! Do the math!