As August continues to wind us down to fall and its ensuing change in direction, elementary school age children had an opportunity to engage their brains and body in some creative fun at a day camp run by the folks at Lakeridge Community Church.
Pastor Evan Dewald, both energetic and dynamic, said the emphasis of the week was to inspire the kid’s own creativity in tying in with the beauty and creation of God’s world, through the building of go carts and photography. “Our theme is finding the beauty around us through God’s creation,” said Dewald. The success of this week long camp, held at Little Acorns Preschool, was evident by the digital images created through the eyes of the children, having fun documenting friends and their immediate environment through their own unique views, as well as through the second component which entailed the building and custom decorating of the soapbox racers.
The end of the week led to the ultimate Soap Box Derby held along the path by Rainbow Falls where friends and family gathered along the track to cheer on their favorite driver while giving new photo buffs an opportunity to take some real life action photography. The sunny and warm end of the week was a perfect day for this event which gave the racers the ultimate challenge to test out their building and driving skills. There were faces with glee, steely determination, and triumph whizzing down the path. The trophy received was a handshake and the glory of a new record time.
The soapbox camp component, for grades 4 to 7, gave the kids 2 choices of styles, either a cool truck or the more traditional go cart style racer. The pieces came precut with the kids gaining skills in all aspects of the ensuing construction. Dewald along with fellow church member Mike Brewer and son Josiah guided the kids along the process with the idea for each participant learning to “make, break, and remake”, all necessities for future success when becoming a soapbox racer.
For the budding photographers, from grades 1 to 6, a point and shoot camera was included in the price of the camp for convenience of teaching and to take home for continuing inspiration. Jody Castle, one of the church’s youth leaders, said the format of the week was taking the children through basic camera skills and care, to paying attention to composition and learning more advanced modes such as special effects. Mariel, one of the older students said,” I only took pictures before on my phone and I sucked!”, now impressed with her new knowledge and enjoying her experimentation with black and white photography.
Castle said the week was broken up into segments that included group games for interaction, a bible lesson that emphasized the week’s theme, as well as breaking off in the am and pm for the specific projects. This was Lakeridge’s first summer daycamp program since the Church’s launch in Chestermere in 2011 and judging by the turnout and enthusiasm will not be their last.
Dewald, who is also part of Synergy’s Steering Committee, said the camp was promoted through the “I Love Chestermere” Facebook Page” which now has over 1400 members and was excited to see kids from the community coming out to participate. “The kids are learning as well as having fun while connecting to beliefs and putting them in practice. I’m excited to see it grow”, said Dewald who one day dreams of the ultimate soapbox derby with 500 racers zipping down Rainbow Falls Boulevard. And perhaps along the way a group of young and upcoming photographers documenting the event will be on the sidelines to”Say Fuzzy Pickles.”
The Lakeridge Community Church holds services Sunday evening at 6pm at Our Lady of Wisdom Church. For pictures of the week’s event check out the “I love Chestermere” Facebook page or the church’s website at www.lakeridgecommunity.com
