by Deb Cavanaugh
Day two “Fun with Sports” was a tough act to follow. Day three began quietly enough with campers Matt, Graham, Addison, Makenna and Leo being greeted at the elevator by volunteers as they arrived for “Fun with Music Day” with Rachel Mosher, a Board Certified Music Therapist here in Syracuse. The Camp gathering room was colorfully decorated with musical instruments and microphones. The first order of events was for each camper to pick a favorite instrument and get their picture taken in front of the rock star stage back ground. Each child circled the room to view the options before making a decision. Addison chose a big purple microphone. Matt chose a drum. Graham picked a red electric guitar. Leo and Makenna banged away on keyboards. Miss Rachel arrived and began her session with a “Hello Song”. She instructed the campers to choose a “hello greeting” from their devices to incorporate into the song. Each camper’s “hello” and “Hi” rang out throughout this happy tune. Rachel then sang the song/story of “Pete the Cat and his New Shoes”. Each camper found the “color” page on their devices and followed along with the story as Pete’s shoes went from white, to red, then blue, brown and finally wet. Addison clearly wanted “pink” to be added to the story, while Makenna kept requesting “orange”. Our lady campers have their own sense of style. Miss Rachel requested assistance to create a musical thunderstorm right inside the room. She gave Addison the wind chimes, which are her favorite, to represent the storms gusty gales. Leo became thunder and banged on the drum. Matt chose the tambourine to play lightening. Graham and Makenna were the rain and shook shakers. This beautiful and unique thunderstorm blew through the room and left sunny smiling children in its wake. A jam session ensued. Graham chose the guitar, and Miss Rachel used an app on her phone to allow him to strum the strings. Matt accompanied Miss Rachel on her keyboard. Addison shook her bells while Makenna and Leo kept the beat on drums. Happy sounds everywhere! Miss Rachel cued the campers to find their “Hello/Good-bye” pages as the music fun had come to an end. Each camper individually said “Good-Bye” to Miss Rachel. Graham even said “Adios”. While all this merry music making happened in the Camp Room, Luis Columna, PhD met with parents to discuss physical education (PE) rights and recreational opportunities. He gave examples of ways to modify PE activities and games to fit the needs of the campers. He cleared up the misconception that APE (Adapted Physical Education) is not a place, but a service. Your child has the right to a PE assessment by a qualified APE teacher. He suggested parents request the PE assessment be done by the school. If you do not agree, you then request a second opinion in writing by a qualified APE teacher. You also have the right to submit your own evaluation. Parents have the right to request a PE plan for the year so their child can participate in a sport when the class does and request that the team adapt the sport for your child. Parents have the right to request the PE teacher attend your CSE meeting or submit a plan for goals. Luis provided book titles for adapting games for campers. Day Four of CHAT Camp has us meeting at the YNN Studios. Everyone needs to get a good night’s rest so they look wonderful and are ready to go in front of the cameras! Look out Syracuse, here we come.