VA Campus: West Falls – Session 2 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.

Dear Session 2 Families, 

As Session 2 comes to a close, I want to thank you for allowing us to be part of your children’s summer. Over the past three weeks, it has been a joy to watch them grow as musicians, build new friendships, embrace challenges, and gain confidence in themselves. Their enthusiasm, curiosity, and hard work have made this an incredibly rewarding session for our entire faculty and staff. 

We know there are many ways to spend the summer, and we are truly grateful that you chose to spend part of yours with us at Levine. Thank you for trusting us with your children and for supporting their musical journey. We hope they leave with wonderful memories, new skills, and an excitement to continue making music. 

Have a wonderful rest of your summer, and please know that you will always have a place in the Levine community. 

Musically Yours, 

Paul 

Dear Session 2 Families, 

I can’t believe Session 2 is already over. These three weeks went by quickly, but they were full of so many fun moments around camp. I’ve loved seeing campers get to know their groups, figure out the camp routine, and become more comfortable trying new things throughout the day. 

The campers brought so much personality to this session. They were excited about focus classes, art projects, games, dances, music, and preparing for the final performance. A lot of my favorite moments were the smaller ones: watching campers show off what they made, asking to play a favorite game again, helping a friend, or getting excited when something finally clicked. 

As Teen Apprentice Coordinator, I also want to thank our TAs. They helped with the everyday pieces of camp that families may not always see walking groups, helping with transitions, supporting teachers, sitting with campers, joining games, and jumping in when something needed to get done. Their help made a big difference this session. 

Thank you for sharing part of your summer with us at Camp Levine. I hope your campers leave Session 2 with good memories, new friendships, and at least one song, game, or project they are still talking about. 

So, until next year, 

Lily 

At Camp Levine it is tradition to start our day singing in community.  Our world-class instrument focus teachers provide the accompaniment. What a treat it is to perform with a live band every morning! In addition to the Camp Levine Song and Chant, campers sang a variety of songs centered around our theme “Sights and Sounds of the City”. These included:  

Head and Shoulders Baby and Hambone- two African American hand clapping playground songs 

Wonderful Day- an uplifting 4-part canon about a “peculiar” and “miraculous” day in the city. 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game- the quintessential baseball song, heard in city ballparks across America! 

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing)- Duke Ellington and Irving Mills’ classic, composed and first performed in Chicago in 1931 

Donkey Riding- a Canadian folk song about working the steam “donkeys” hauling lumber in the ports of Quebec. 

It was such a pleasure to work with your children this session! Campers in each group were very inquisitive and engaged in learning and creating together. In Music+ classes, campers learned many enjoyable school/city playground songs, chants, and games. These served as a jumping off point for the creation of each group’s recorded performance. 

Friendship Heights (1st/2nd Grade) loved playing the ball bouncing game “Bounce High, Bounce Low”. They explored how to get to “DC Towne” (London Towne) by creative means of transportation (hot air balloon, anyone?) They also became expert bean bag tossers while singing “Plainsies Clapsies”. They extended their play with Plainsies Clapsies through creating original dances in small groups, learning to play the melody and accompaniment on xylophones, and composing a hand percussion arrangement (with 11 different instruments!) 

Silver Spring (3rd Grade) learned the traditional play party song Great Big House in New Orleans. Being quick learners, they were then able to easily transfer their melodic and rhythmic understanding of the song to accomplish performing an arrangement on xylophones and woodblocks. Silver Spring also loved learning the hand clapping games “Mary Mac” and “Chocolate/Mariposa”. They increased their speed daily! Such dedication! Time was also spent exploring question-and-answer form on xylophones as the campers improvised melodic variations for “Mary Mac”. 

The Shady Grove (3rd and 4th graders) and Crystal City (4th, 5th, and 6th graders) groups are filled with fine musicians! Emphasis was placed on performing in multiple-part speech, rhythm, and xylophone ensembles. Both groups learned the speech piece “I Wish I Were a Birdie”, then transferred the spoken phrases to hand percussion. Shady Grove dramatized it, then took it further with a rendition of “Rockin’ Robin”. Both groups loved the classic camp/playground chant “Boom Chicka Boom”. Using the words as a guide the groups put together a jazz rhythm section on hand percussion and drums that created the sounds of a drumset jazz beat. Crystal City greatly enjoyed playing competitive rounds of “Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar”. As they got familiar with the rhythm and groove of the chant, a musical form of “Cookie Jar” was created that included singing, xylophone ensemble, and improvisation.  

I was blessed with ten enthusiastic percussion students who really love rhythm and drums. They learned how to hold the sticks, how to stroke, and some basic rudiments: single stroke roll, double stroke roll, and the paradiddle. I taught them rhythmic patterns. They also learned a rock beat and a samba groove. Most of the students are able to play them. I spoke about the importance of gratitude for their drumsticks, practice pads, and the ability to play music. They love to play the drum set with its various drums and cymbals. It was such a pleasure to teach and get to know my students! 

The piano focus campers have been learning melodies and how to support them with harmonies. They have been creative with accompaniments and learning to play together  

The piano sampler campers have had a lot of fun playing piano and percussion ensembles 

The Guitar focus group quickly mastered “Road to Boston.”  The groups mastered the C chord, G chord, and a minor chord. They are able to play the entire melody of the piece and also provide chordal accompaniment. They even had extra time to learn “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, “Happy Birthday”, and “Puff the Magic Dragon.”  The guitar sampler groups are familiar with the music of Francisco Tárrega, Pat Methany, Leo Brouwer, and J.S. Bach.  They learned the strings of the guitar, how to push down the strings with their left hand, and how to strum.  They enjoyed playing through a short melody called “Bugler’s Tune” and some tried “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”  The focus groups are looking forward to the stellar performance of “Road to Boston” in the video recording this week.  

Over the past three weeks, the campers were immersed in art projects that represented the sights of the city. Campers were engaged in projects including, but not limited to, pop-up houses, street art murals, and city maps. Other projects included looking at the artists Keith Haring and Piet Mondrian, using their art as inspiration for campers to make artwork. All campers were encouraged to think critically about the neighborhoods around them and catalog all the differences they see. 

Older campers worked hard on creating backgrounds of all five cities (New York, Chicago, D.C., New Orleans, and Detroit) for their musical performances. This undertaking allowed the campers to work collaboratively and learn from each other. Students were encouraged to help and learn from each other    

There was no mistaking what room Sports and Games was held in this summer. The sound of excitement could be heard echoing down the hall.   

The session kicked off with a high energy game called Candy Cane Knockdown. Throwing, catching and dodging quickly became the theme of Week 1 as campers enjoyed different variations of target games and dodgeball. 

Week 2 took the fun to another level when scooters were introduced. Teamwork became the focus as campers worked together in scooter handball and scooter volleyball.  Campers tried to be competitive but often broke out in laughter when an occasional beach ball hit someone in the head or they fell off the scooter.  We also took a trip back in time with bottle flipping Campers put a creative twist on the trend by using with cones to create an exciting new game called 4 square Cone Flip  

 During week 3 we took advantage of our endless creativity and every piece of equipment we had. Beachballs became soccer balls, hula hoops were used up build hula huts, and the agility rings were the perfect steppingstones for the floor is lava. I was especially impressed by the determination campers showed while learning new jump rope tricks. But if we’re being honest, dodgeball was always the loudest, most energetic, and most requested game of all! 

This summer proved that you don’t need a gymnasium to play great games. You just need enthusiasm, teamwork, and a great group of kids!  Having a few dodgeballs also helps. 

In this afternoon class, campers prepared music to sing for our music theatre production. They also learned fun warmups that develop healthy vocal habits. “Down at the Park” was a favorite with Friendship Heights and Silver Spring, and “Not Your Childhood ABCs” was popular with Shady Grove and Crystal City. This session’s musical is entitled: Good Morning America’s Cities! All campers learned and performed 5 songs, with a feature song each for Friendship Heights/Silver Spring and Shady Grove/Crystal City. In the show, we start off in New York City with Frank Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York”. All campers are to be commended for learning to sing “Wakko’s America” from the Animaniacs cartoon, a song listing all 50 states and their capitals. In our production, the song is sung in Washington DC, the Nation’s Capital. Next, Friendship Heights/Silver Spring delight with “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” in New Orleans. The musical continues at a baseball game in Chicago with “Triple Play”. Next, Shady Grove/Crystal City perform the classic “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey in the city of Detroit. All groups combine for the finale: Martha and the Vandella’s Motown hit “Dancing in the Streets”. 

It didn’t take long for the campers to find their groove in the same room they used for sports earlier in the day. We started the session exploring rhythm and making sound with the balls, hoops, and jump ropes.  Because Crystal City and Shady Grove campers were so successful creating rhythm and movement this way, they created a dance scene featuring playground games for the musical! 

After we put the equipment away, we began to practice counting sets of 8 and moving in unison while learning popular dances like the Chicken Dance, Cupid Shuffle, and everyone’s favorite Cotton Eye Joe.  Friendship Heights and Silver Spring spent so much time perfecting that dance they wanted to include it in the musical’s marching band dance. This became their favorite number to practice all session. You might even see your child break out in that dance at home. 

Teaching dance to this year’s campers was so much fun. My favorite part was watching them work together to create their own dances, or when someone had an idea that improved my own choreography. The problem was we had too many good ideas to try, so we often got sidetracked, which I welco

Hello camp families!  

Shady Grove has been having an amazing time at camp! They have made new friends, played games, danced, and more! Shady grove campers really enjoyed making gimp keychains in arts in crafts! They also really enjoyed playing many different games on the scooters in sports and games! They also loved improvising unique scenes in drama. We love watching them act, sing, and play their instruments. We have a great three weeks with your campers! We hope to see them next summer! Sadie, Moira, and Annika  

The Friendship Heights TA’s have really enjoyed working with campers for the past few weeks. Every camper enjoyed participating in various activities at camp. Whether it was candy cane knockdown during sports and games, playing xylophones in music plus, or doing the Cotton Eyed Joe in dance class. While transitioning between classes, they always loved to play, Simon says. During snack, Friendship Heights loved to play on the swings, gymnastics, and games like Chase the Apprentice. Our Morning Sing favorites include Head and Shoulders Baby and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. However, the Wakko’s America capitals song was a big hit that everyone always liked to sing. 

The Friendship Heights TA’s have really enjoyed working with campers for the past few weeks. Every camper enjoyed participating in various activities at camp. Whether it was candy cane knockdown during sports and games, playing xylophones in music plus, or doing the Cotton Eyed Joe in dance class. While transitioning between classes, they always loved to play, Simon says. During snack, Friendship Heights loved to play on the swings, gymnastics, and games like Chase the Apprentice. Our Morning Sing favorites include Head and Shoulders Baby and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. However, the Wakko’s America capitals song was a big hit that everyone always liked to sing. 

The TAs of Crystal City have thoroughly enjoyed working with their campers. Each camper is energetic and enthusiastic in all of their classes and many projects at Levine. In addition, they enjoy “telling us why” in the hallways between classes each day (you may not understand that now, but I’m sure your camper will). This group has been so collaborative and inviting and really tried their best when working on musicals, their instruments, and their art projects. They always make their TA’s laugh and never hesitate to chat with them (even when they are not supposed to). During snack, campers enjoy coloring city-themed worksheets, pushing each other on the swings, lounging on the grass with their TAs, and trying to land on a piece of paper while dizzy. Some of our campers find satisfaction in stepping on the many lantern flies that can be found outside our building, while other campers prefer to observe from a distance.