MD Campus: Strathmore – Session 1 Newsletter

Dear Camp Levine families,

What a joy it has been to be part of your campers’ summer!

As we explored our theme, Sights, Songs, and Sounds of the City, it has been incredible to watch our campers grow, create, and gain confidence in just a few short weeks. From Spirit Week and Games Day to our end-of-session performances, they truly brought the magic of Camp Levine to life through their creativity, enthusiasm, and hard work.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this summer and for giving them the opportunity to explore, learn, and express themselves through the arts. We hope they leave camp with wonderful memories, new friendships, and a lasting love of music and the arts.

We wish you and your family a wonderful rest of the summer, and we hope to see you again next year!

Best,

Jazmin Goodson, Director of Camp Levine.

We have had an incredibly amazing time working with your campers this summer.  It has been so rewarding for our teachers and staff to get to observe the surprising amount of progress they made in such a short time.  Your children were amazing in their final camp performances, where they danced, played and sung songs and pieces representing traditions from many different boroughs and avenues around the world.  I was particularly impressed by the number of lyrics they were able to memorize. The dancing, art and drama were also quite spectacular! I observed many new friendships blossom, as well as several teary-eyed goodbyes.  I hope to see your camper again next year, and am excited to see what our new camp theme will be!  

-Jason McFeaters

Camp Families, 

What a great first session under a great theme.  It’s been truly great to see how creative the campers have been, and how they’ve interpreted our theme, the Sights Sounds and Songs of the city, turning it into many memorable songs and dances. From our younger campers, who’ve journeyed down to Erie, Pennsylvania, or to our oldest who’ve celebrated the American Icons of New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. Campers have explored Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll, and Nursery Rhymes all originating from towns around the world.  

We couldn’t be prouder of the enthusiasm, creativity, and camaraderie our campers brought to every rehearsal, performance, and morning sing-along this session. Thank you for spending your summer with us. 

As we say goodbye to Session 1, we’re already looking forward to welcoming our Session 2 campers and continuing the journey through the Sights, Sounds, and Songs of the city. See you all next year! 

Warmly, 

 
Noam Kagan, Assistant to the Site Director  

Nate Hale, Teen Apprentice Coordinator 

The Pigeons and Squirrels are a superb group. Although it rained for some of the first week, we made light of it and made some awesome crafts instead. They enjoyed the painting activity, where they painted the U.S. flag and were also having fun with the game, “Bluebird, Bluebird, Through My Window.” They were well-behaved during naptime, and loved to listen to books during storytime. The kids are amazing listeners and great at following directions. During both lunch and snack, they help us by putting away their lunchboxes on their own. Free play and playing with playdough were the campers’ favorites. They are learning so many new songs, such as “The Erie Canal,” and “I Live in the City.” The kids are always so eager to run and move around the room. Visiting Instruments has given the campers an interactive opportunity to learn about the guitar, trumpet, piano and flute. They learned so many new songs and cannot wait to perform for everyone! 

We have been having a great time getting to know each other with several “name games” and activities.  It’s been fun learning to sing and play “Bow, Wow, Wow”, “Here Comes a Bluebird”, “Miss Mary Mack”, and “Billy”.  We have enjoyed working on learning all the lyrics for our “City” songs.  Finally each group is working on specific songs and instruments to represent various cities across the county like “Liza Jane” in Baltimore and “Great Big House in New Orleans”.  The campers are really developing their musicianship and skills – it’s so exciting to see their accomplishments!

In Games & Sports with Jade, we use our imaginations to become sharks, foxes, turtles, and even ghosts while the campers and TAs compete to see who’s fastest! We learn how to play fair, include others, and show good sportsmanship as we try everything from Soccer and “Steal The Bacon” to “Gaga” and “Rock Paper Scissors: Evolution.” Between the 66 steps up from carline and each new game of the day, we’re always staying active and having fun here at Camp Levine! (Except when Jade gets locked up and forced to read baby books like “The Caveman ABCs” for the rest of their life!!!)

The campers in every group have been so creative! Our first project was inspired by Keith Haring. The children painted colorful figures showing movement by painting lines around the figures and then added something they were excited about this summer. 

Next, they created watercolor neighborhood scenes, adding places they wished they had. Many added parks, shops, ice cream stores.       The older Avenues group also used recycled materials to build creative city buildings. 

Finally, everyone designed artwork with their initials. After trying several ideas, they chose their favorite design and created a larger final piece with a brick or another background. The results were fantastic! 

Our campers have had a wonderful time of discovery and growth in our piano sessions! In both sampler and focus groups, campers explored the capabilities of the piano by looking underneath the lid, finding patterns on the keys, and exploring the pedals with our feet. They also established healthy playing habits through their bench/posture chant and floppy arm check. We learned the musical alphabet and the layout of the keyboard by singing and playing “Alphabet Boogie” and “Hot Cross Buns.” In focus classes, we worked on keeping a steady beat, singing, audiating (singing in their head), and how to play “Engine Engine” together. It is exciting to witness their creativity, consistent improvement, and enthusiasm for learning! 

We’ve had a great time learning about the trumpet this session! Focus classes have learned five notes and have started playing simple songs such as Mary Had a Little Lamb and Hot Cross Buns. Sampler classes have all learned how to make a sound on the trumpet and how to hold it properly. It is really amazing to see how much campers can learn in a few short weeks!  

We are having a great time in our flute classes. All classes are learning how to blow (patience and practice) with a good flute face, hold the flute with hands and finers, and learn our first songs, including Mary Had a Little Lamb (left hand only). The older focus classes are also learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Yankee Doodle. I am proud of their dedication and enthusiasm!  

Students are exploring different ways of playing a guitar: melody vs. accompanying a song with the guitar while singing.  

They started with foundations which included the sitting position and the right- and left-hand positions. They have learned the notes on the first three strings and have been able to play a complete G major scale to help them warm up. With the notes, they are preparing a song for the recital, which involves reviewing music theory concepts such as reading notation, rhythms, dynamics, and ensemble skills. They have learned a few chords, starting with the half chords (using only the first three strings) and some students moving on to the full chords. Right hand basic strumming patterns have also been introduced, and particularly the children had a lot of fun playing with a pick. They only need to be reminded that it takes a good left-hand position, time, and practice to get a clear sound and a faster change between chords…they are learning perseverance. 

Lastly, they have been surprised by loud Tambora or soft harmonics sounds that they can make and have enjoyed exploring the variety of musical possibilities that the guitar has. You can ask them at home about this; they will be happy to show you.  

As the performance approaches, we will work on getting more comfortable playing, stage skills, making the notes sound like music, and enjoy playing with friends.  

Our vocal and choral course is filled with exciting opportunities to grow as singers and performers! Through fun breathing and vocal exercises, campers are developing healthy singing techniques while building confidence in their voices. They are also applying these skills as they learn and rehearse the repertoire for our upcoming musical. Along the way, students are exploring the rich musical culture of New York City, gaining a deeper appreciation for the history and traditions that have shaped one of the world’s most iconic music capitals. 

Our campers have had an AWESOME time exploring the world of Theater this session! In addition to learning their lines and staging for our “Sights, Songs, and Sounds of the City” show, campers have been learning the importance of developing Stage Presence, the power of Projecting their voices on stage, and how to develop characters and play people that are different from themselves. They have also learned a bunch of new theater games that are teaching them about Improvisation and how much fun it can be when one has to “think on their feet.” We have enjoyed our time together and hope you will enjoy our show!  

Dance is for everyone to enjoy. Our campers are having a great time in dance class. The campers are learning dance terminology like tendu, battement, releve and plie. During the first two weeks of camp we learned basic dance positions of the feet and arms. I am so proud of them. Ask your camper to show you a tendu or a degage. We are fully immersed in our Camp Levine production. The campers are exploring great songs while acting, dancing and making friends. They are picking up the choreography like a pro! Their creative ideas are helping to make this an awesome show.   The Big Apple: Sights, Sounds and Songs of the City is a fun journey through the arts. We can’t wait for you to see the show.  

From Morning Sing to Afternoon Carline, the Hips are a lively and inventive group. They easily picked up songs like “Great Big House in New Orleans”, accompanied their singing with instruments like the xylophone, and kept a steady beat while doing the movements to “Bow, Wow, Wow” and “Ms. Mary Mack”. The campers also learned about Keith Haring and experimented with watercolor as they painted their dream neighborhood and their initials in Art. They explored trumpet, piano, flute, and guitar in Sampler, learned how to project their voices in Drama, and grooved to the beat as they danced to “Hakuna Matata”, “Empire State of Mind”, and “Hard Knock Life”. Games like Sharks and Minnows and  Gaga were a big hit for our energetic campers during Sports and Games. We made sure to practice respectful behavior during classes and through the halls. They worked so hard for the upcoming performance and are moving along through the “Sights, Songs, and Sounds of the City”.

The Hops have been very well behaved throughout all days of camp and are hard workers and good listeners with strong wills. In Music +, they have been learning Eliza Jane. In Art, they have been creating multiple beautiful pieces. In Drama, they have begun memorizing scripts. In Dance, they have been learning “Hakuna Matata”, “It’s A Hard-Knock Life”, and “Empire State of Mind”. In Vocal, they have been learning how to sing the songs listed above. Overall, the Hops have been an incredible part of Camp Levine. 

The Boroughs are an excellent group to be with. They are well-behaved, and are able to have a fun time while following instructions! Learning how to stay on beat, improvise, and play music on the xylophone and drums in Music + has been a blast! In art, using watercolor and our artistic skills was amazing. Even in Choral, the Boroughs had so much fun singing songs like “Vivir mi Vida” with Mr. Torres! In Dance, we learnt various choreography, some of which paired up with more songs from choral. We had fun trying out for solos, duets, trios, and even quartets! In Drama, we had fun playing “guess the movie!” We learnt different movements and how to translate it into words, so that we could guess the movie. We also assigned lines for our play, working on interpretation of the different students, some funny, and some sparky. We are so excited to show off all we have learned in our performance! 

The Avenues have been a passionate and productive group this session! For the time we’ve had at Camp Levine, the Avenues have been exploring various forms of the arts. They start their mornings everyday with a group sing before heading to art. There they have created masterpieces including designs with their initials, Keith Haring inspired movement drawings, and structures using cardboard and other cool materials. They have been working very hard with their focus instruments and have further been learning rhythms and melodies on the xylophones and tambourines. During their dance class, the kids have been energetic in learning and perfecting their dances for the final performance coming up! In their vocal choral class, they have been learning songs such as A Million Dreams and Empire State of Mind. To conclude their day, they end with drama, which the Avenues have been practicing their lines in the script. With their dancing, singing, and working hard to memorize their lines, they are almost ready to do their performance. Out of all of the fun moments during the duration of camp, dodgeball during sports in games was definitely a fan favorite and our highlight of the week.