Thursday was a gorgeous August morning in Iowa. When I first opened the back door to let our floppy eared black Shih Tzu out, I was met with the surprise of an unexpected brisk summer morning. In an attempt to trap the cool air inside our farmhouse, I flung open the windows in hopes to usher in the bits of air that wasn’t yet heavy with heat and humidity.
I was thankful for the cool morning, considering what was ahead. I finished getting ready and made my way to the Trojan Bowl football field, as many adventures lay ahead that day. After several of the staff arrived, they hauled down and set up a large variety of games and activity stations in and around the Trojan Bowl area.
Ladder golf, giant jenga, hula hoops, a parachute, frisbees, lawn darts, bracelet making, bubble station, giant checkers, and well - an end of Summer Experience party wouldn’t be complete without a few water balloons right? It was time for a full-on celebration as the last day of the Summer Experience hosted by the school had officially arrived. It was an excellent day. The weather was perfect and the kids were just wild enough to enjoy going from station to station.
The students finished breakfast and made their way outside. We started the day with two laps around the track - you know, to stretch and get loosened up. AKA: teacher slang for ‘let's work out a bit of this energy before starting’. Bless the ones who asked if they could do laps three and four while the Mallory Jr.’s out there respectfully but less joyously, finished lap two. We made it and it was time to start all the activities.
For the next three hours rotations between all the game stations went off without a hitch. So much laughter, fun, smiles, and group challenges. So many fun chalk creations were made, we tied approximately 7,567 beautiful bracelets and necklaces, and ran through millions of bubbles at the bubble station. We opened 138 popsicles and an hour later we cut the tops off 138 freezie pops.
We had partner challenges with water balloon catch, tag, hulu hoop challenges, hulu-hoop jump-rope games, and made-up versions of team giant jenga. The oldest group of kids had a full on water balloon fight (don’t worry - on the practice field).
We had bubbles spilled and water bottles ‘accidentally’ dumped on willing friends. We had bracelets broken and friends helped rebuild them. We had older students helping younger ones and younger ones reminding older students the joy that comes when you pull out the parachute.
Simple summer fun was the goal and I think we nailed it. It was a morning of fun and fun indeed we did have.
Just as the sun started showing us her power it was time to head in and wash-up for lunch. We were all hot, tired, and hungry! As the students made their way through the lunch line and inhaled their food, they started realizing this was good-bye, and then came the hugs and tears. Lots of hugs, lots of tears (from me included) and lots and lots of ‘thank you for this fun summer!’
As we packed up for the final time and students made their way to line up for the bus or to go outside to be picked up or walk home, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. A small concentrated group of people took on the task of something new this summer. The hope and goal to connect and engage with students every Monday - Thursday was in fact achieved. When I started writing about this, I thought I would just share about the last day. The culmination of the entire summer wrapped up into one morning of fun. But this summer cannot be wrapped up in that manner. There are too many moments woven throughout that will forever have an impact on the children and staff in attendance. Too many moments that will forever have an impact on me.
So to those who hung out with me every Monday - Thursday, to those who helped manage all the back-end details, to those who rallied and pivoted and came up with ideas and were an active part in all we did, to our Food and Nutrition Team, and our every responsive Sherry - you are all so appreciated.
This summer was impactful in so many ways. Impactful for the students, impactful for the staff, and impactful for me. And for that, I thank you!
Now kick up your feet - you’ve earned it!
Until Next Week,
Mallory
