The Happiest Holiday Celebration
We were thrilled to host three Holiday parties this year at Wilson Elementary and Palomino Intermediate School, all three were a BLAST! The parties were full of gingerbread house decorating, gift opening and more Holiday joy than you can imagine! Thanks to the generous donations from Synergy Physical Therapy, Axway Inc and Bender Performing Arts we were able to provide 83 students with Holiday gifts! A very special thank you also goes out to all our volunteers who helped make the day magical for the kids!
Swift Saturday or Winter Wonderland?
By: Manya Madala
In celebration of the holidays, our most recent Swift Saturday was a winter wonderland! The kids honed in on their artistic skills with tie-dye snowflakes. They colored their coffee filters with markers, creating rainbow snowflakes, traditional blue snowflakes, and everything in between! After spraying the filters with water and watching the colors swirl, they cut small pieces out of them to design intricate patterns. It’s always amazing to see all the creativity that sparks from these activities. Then, they got their hands dirty with one of their all time favorite science projects: slime! They mixed together glue and their activating agents to observe the reaction that occurred as the glue turned into slime. With the winter spirit in mind, they mixed in glitter to decorate their snowy slime. Finally, everyone was energized for a game of campers vs. counselors freeze tag. It was an intense game, but after their close win, the kids were hungry and ready for the delicious lunch waiting for them. Once it was time to go, everyone said goodbye for the holidays and headed home. We’re excited to see everyone again at more Swift Saturdays as we ring in the New Year!
Claire’s Experience at Camp Swift!
By: Andrew Pitts
Recently I had the opportunity to interview Claire Cabianca, a counselor and teen leader at Swift. Claire is currently a sophomore at PCDS. She mentioned that she was first introduced to Camp Swift by a friend at her school and never looked back. Claire is heavily involved in Swift, as she is a member of the Swift club at her school and she also attended multiple Swift Saturdays, helped in the Swift Carnival, volunteers at Swift After School every Tuesday, and was a counselor at the second session of camp this year.
Claire reflected fondly on her time at Camp Swift. As a part of the “MGB” cabin, she and her other co-counselors were responsible for 5 campers. Claire said that she loved the counselor-to-camper ratio because it allowed an abundance of one-on-one experiences and contributed to some unforgettable bonds made at Camp Swift. She noted that her favorite activities were the campfire and the night hike. She mentioned that she loved the array of activities that the campfire setting provided and the way it brought the night to life. Claire also appreciated the night hike and brought up a bond she made with one of the campers. One of the campers in her group was scared of the darkness of the hike and Claire said she found a real connection between her and the camper as they ended up loving the activity.
Similar to my experience, Claire said that Camp Swift affected her in such a positive way. Between the relationships with her co-counselors and the memories she made with the campers, Claire felt that Camp was an awesome experience. Although she had to leave early, due to a broken ankle, Claire left feeling motivated to get more involved with Camp Swift and inspired to give the campers the best experience that she can give them.
“I never realized how much of an impact one person can have in a child’s life.” ~ Claire
Carnival is Almost HERE!
Mark your calendars, February 25th will be here before you know it! We will be back for our 21st annual Carnival! Participant, volunteer, or sponsor, we are excited to have you there! Sign up HERE
Wear a Piece of Swift
Teen Board Member, Julia Black, has created a line of t-shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags with camper’s art from Camp Swift. All of the proceeds benefit Swift. Go get yours now at JDesigns!
Mentorship Corner
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”
-Oprah Winfrey
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