Take 5 with Rebecca Campbell-McGonagle

This is Education Program Manager Rebecca Campbell-McGonagle's fifth year helming The Umbrella Arts Center's summer camp! In light of this milestone and our largest-ever class of campers this summer (nearly 700 by the time the program concludes in August!), we “took 5” with us during this bustling summer to learn more about what makes summer at The Umbrella such a special place for our young artists.

TUA: What do campers enjoy most about their experience at The Umbrella's Arts Center?

Our campers are curious and creative, so of course they enjoy the rotating schedule of arts classes across Woodworking, Mixed Media, Animation, Dance, and Drama! It's also nice that in the hottest days of summer we get to stay cool in our classrooms or in the shade of the outdoor classroom tent, but on every nice, sunny day, we also spend time outside at Emerson field and around The Umbrella to play and have meals and snack. There are also a lot of more traditional camp elements like an end-of-week showcase, camp songs and games, and spirit days that we incorporate for pure summer fun.

TUA: What are some things that have changed about Camp this year?

Many things have stayed the same, but we are always trying new things! This year we changed some of our themes and added some new exciting ones like: Art & Archeology week and Folklore: Myths & Legends week. We also now have 3 Performing Arts Camp sessions and a new 2D or 3D track during week 7.

TUA: How many new vs. returning campers are enrolled this year? What does The Umbrella do to make everyone feel welcome?

This year we have approximately a 60% return rate and about a 40% rate of new campers! We strive to keep our camp program feeling small and intimate, we do this through making our group ratios of teachers to students a rate of 1:5 for campers age 6 and under, and 1:7 for ages 6-12. Additionally we encourage all of our Summer Camp team to daily find ways to create magical, memorable moments with each of our campers.

TUA: Every camp week we have a different spirit day theme on Fridays. The spirit day theme changes each week, based on the theme of the camp week. What are some of the most creative costumes you've seen so far on theme days? Which theme day are you most excited for?

One of my personal favorite spirit day themes is Career Day. I always love seeing the campers getting excited about their future aspirations, but I especially love seeing campers walking in dressed up as future Umbrella Summer Camp Teachers, with a name tag lanyard, homemade staff t-shirt (with staff written on the back), homemade radios and their camp clipboards.

Another theme I always love is on Week 7: Weird, Wild & Wacky Ways to Make Art. This week the spirit day theme is always Wacky Day – where campers can wear silly socks, crazy patterns, crazy hair, wacky hats and more. There is always a lot of creativity shown that day. This year I think everyone is very excited about the hat I am going to be wearing on Friday. This year I will be wearing a hat that is made out of all of the camper name tags from weeks 1-7, which has been slowly transforming into a name tag top hat!

TUA: How have campers been reflecting on / talking about their experiences so far this year?

For me personally it is always a great sign when the campers do not want to go home at the end of the day or when they say they wish they could live here. But it is the conversations I overhear throughout the camp day that I find truly encompasses how much they are experiencing. Throughout the day you hear them explaining to their friends at lunch all about the play they are working on in Performing Arts Camp and the new role they created that they cannot wait to perform. Overhearing a parent look at a woodworking project and exclaim “you made this?” while the camper beams with joy and loudly says “Yes, all by myself”. Or seeing the joy on a kids face when they tell their parent all about how their groups High School aged Classroom Volunteer taught how to do origami and how they want to keep making more at home! It is these moments that standout the most and are what make this camp feel so special to me!