Creativity Camp Concludes With Showcase, Visit from Buster the Dinosaur

McKENZIE (July 11) — Carroll Arts concluded Creativity Camp: The Wonderland of Creativity on Friday, June 11, at McKenzie’s First Cumberland Presbyterian Church with a final showcase for students to present their week’s creations to their loved ones. Twenty students received “Creativity Diplomas” for their completion of the camp.

The camp, themed the Wonderland of Creativity, took inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” to inspire children to think out of the box.

While most local elementary and primary schools have music classes, they are lacking in drama and art. Glynda Rich, founding member and vice president of Carroll Arts, said Creativity Camp was created to “bridge the gaps” in the educational experiences children receive in elementary through middle school.

“Creativity Camp is part of the core beliefs and mission for Carroll Arts,” said Brittany Martin, Carroll Arts president. “You want children to not only have exposure to arts but to have the arts become a part of them that turns into a lifelong love and part of their identity.”

Each day throughout the week of July 7-11, students separated into their respective age groups and rotated between four different classrooms to learn about art, music, drama, and creative writing.

Dana Wyatt, art teacher at Huntingdon High School, taught art with a little bit of etiquette training. On the first day, she taught each class proper tea-drinking etiquette as they each made their own Earl Grey tea concoctions. On day two, students created soap out of the remaining Earl Grey tea packets. Over the next few days, students made friendship bracelets out of yarn, bookmarks out of leftover tea packets, and designed paper bags. During the art presentations, Wyatt quizzed the students about tea etiquette.

Emilee Harris, a sixth-grader at McKenzie Middle School and a returning Creativity Camp student, said she enjoys coming back every year because she enjoys being given a project and being given absolute freedom to work on it.

Joanna Turner, music teacher at McKenzie Elementary School, led the students in a musical presentation of nursery rhymes rewritten to be set in Wonderland. Using instruments borrowed from McKenzie Elementary School, the students played ukuleles, rainsticks, rhythm sticks, drums and more. Turner combined all of the age groups for the final presentation because she said, “Music is much more fun when played together.”

Glynda Rich and Denise Sam taught each age group different elements of theatrical acting.

Students in pre-K and kindergarten learned how to express their emotions without words by working on facial reactions. In the final presentation, they expressed anger, love, sleepy and cold. First- and second-grade students learned to act using body language. In the final performance, these students mirrored each other’s’ body language, in a practice Sam said was inspired by an episode of “I Love Lucy.” They also acted out different actions like walking a large dog and carrying a smelly bucket.

Third- and fourth-grade students rewrote Alice in Wonderland for a miniature play. In their rendition, called “Another Great Day in Wonderland,” Alice became friends with the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts. The final group, Harris and Alex Bos, performed monologues from “Alice in Wonderland.”

Marlene Kreuter taught creative writing to each group. The youngest group was a challenge, she said, since they were only learning to read and write. She taught them how to tell stories through drawings. Kreuter gave students three writing prompts throughout the week: to string a story together using three objects in her backpack, to write a story about what they want to be when they grow up, and to write a story about the Gruffalo – a character from a popular children’s book.

“You learn a lot about these kids,” Kreuter said, while prompting the students to read their stories to the audience. Piper Russell, daughter of Dr. Travis and Bethany Russell, read a story about wanting to become an artist, a doctor and a dentist.

Following the conclusion of the presentations, each child received a “Creativity Diploma.”

To reward students even more, Rich announced a surprise visit from Buster the Dinosaur. The dinosaur walked through the auditorium, giving students the opportunity to meet and pet him.

Carroll Arts has hosted Creativity Camp, instilling a love for art and creativity in the hearts of local children, for over two decades. Past attendees have become graphic designers, drama therapists, writers and more.