Day 7 - Bye-bye. Keep in touch!

Our final day of camp was one of thank yous, hugs, and tears.  The students prepared some lovely gifts of sweets from our respective corners of the world for the kitchen staff and the camp hosts.  They did a wonderful job of making us comfortable and keeping us well fed!

We also revealed our secret friends today and shared our gifts from home.  It was fun to find out who had been sending you treats and writing nice messages all week.

Finally, we taped a piece of paper on each person’s back and walked around writing compliments, kind messages, and farewell greetings on each other's backs. These will be lasting mementos of the friendships we’ve forged, memories we’ve made, and lessons we’ve learned this week. 

The bus ride back to Vilnius was great and before the groups all headed their separate ways, there were many hugs, tears, and well wishes at the bus station.

The students have been saying for the last few days that this camp has been life-changing.  They have made new friends from many corners of the world, learned lots about how our countries function, and the role we all play in keeping the world healthy and safe.

We could not have had such a wonderful experience without the supervisory and helpful contribution of the Lithuanian Association of English Language Teachers LAKMA, and of course, the support of the American Embassy in Vilnius, their encouragement and participation are vital to the success of the camp. It was a wonderful opportunity for both the adults and students and we are already looking forward to next year!

Our society: the future is in our hands

Today was our last day of thematic activities and our focus was volunteering and international organizations.  We began the day with an introduction to non-governmental organizations such as the United Nations, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, NATO, and Interpol.  We talked about the importance of their work and discussed ways that students could get involved.  

To wrap up the morning session, students worked in groups to build the tallest tower out of magazines and tape.  The purpose was to recreate the teamwork necessary to effect change through an international organization.

Meghan Luckett from the American Embassy in Vilnius returned for the certificate ceremony congratulating the students and tutors for their participation in the camp.  The students and tutors each presented a certificate to the next person in the stack and shared a few observations and compliments about that person. It was lovely to see how well our group has bonded in just one week.  

We then spent the rest of the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful campus and the beautiful weather.  Students were swimming in the lake, playing frisbee, practicing American football, and many more activities.

During our evening session, we wrapped up our time at the camp with a personal reflection and prepared thank yous for the kitchen and camp staff.  It was nice to show our gratitude for the excellent hosting.

The students celebrated the end of the camp with a dance party and our final campfire.  Everyone is sad to be leaving their new friends, but are living it up on their last night.

Day 5 - Our planet: ecology matters, and history, too

The focus of Day 5 was ecology matters.  When asked by our guest yesterday about issues facing the world, the students all ranked climate change as one of the most pressing, so it was an important day for all.

We spent the morning discussing the impact humans have on the planet.  We watched a video and make a sound story that chronicled the effects of human civilization.  This was followed by a recycling relay race. The students had to get the items into the correct recycling receptacles which was challenging as some options were new for some students.  We learned about the reverse recycling centers in Lithuania where shoppers can return some bottles and cans for a rebate.

UNESCO, which operates a program to help to protect and preserve special natural places around the world was our next topic of discussion.  The students learned about the many UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world, and particularly in the four represented countries. We learned that places such as Vilnius Old Town, the Parthenon, and Yellowstone National Park are protected places in our own countries.

 

 

The afternoon was a field trip to Merkinė, a small town about half an hour from the camp.  There we climbed the tower, a modern structure of interesting architecture to get a view of the area including the Nemunas River.  Next, we took a short nature walk to get to the site of a former castle from the 14th century. All along the way the student groups were taking photos to submit to the contest.  The rules required that all students appear in one of the group’s photos and fit a particular theme. We had some very artistic and creative students who captured the field trip well. 

We finished our excursion with a short stop in the Merkinė town square where ice cream was enjoyed by all!

Once back at camp we shared the photos of our trip and voted on the winners of the photo competition.  The winners for each group were Dominykas, Maciek, Izzie, and Jaden. Their prizes were metal reusable straws and reusable lunch boxes to wrap up the theme of the day.

The weather at camp was lovely all afternoon and the students enjoyed the beautiful campus with lots of basketball and swimming in the lake.  We are both excited for our last day and sad about leaving, but we have big things ahead tomorrow.