Riverside Middle School hosts Ancient Greece, Olympics Camp

Through a grant from the Vermont Humanities Council, two Springfield teachers presented a weeklong summer camp that incorporated history, mythology, physical education and creative literature to help local youth learn about ancient Greece.

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2016-06-17 / Front Page Riverside Middle School hosts Ancient Greece, Olympics Camp By Tory Jones Bonenfant toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — Through a grant from the Vermont Humanities Council, two Springfield teachers presented a weeklong summer camp that incorporated history, mythology, physical education and creative literature to help local youth learn about ancient Greece. “Sara is a sports expert and I’m an ancient civilizations expert,” which fit very well with the ancient Greece theme, said teacher and camp instructor Lisa Mobus. Mobus and fellow teacher Sara Sanford teamed up to bring the Ancient Greece and Olympics Camp to Springfield through a $2,200 grant they applied for this spring. The grant also provided a set of four books on Greek history for each of the nine summer campers, along with a set for each teacher and a bonus set to donate to the Riverside Middle School Library. Eight campers were at the school on Thursday, June 16, taking part in activity to create their own letter pages with artwork, based on the book they had just read, “G is for Gold Medal.” Students also created artwork on what they have learned during the week. “We did a comic strip on what Athens did in the Olympics,” said camper Skylar Sheldon, 13. Ashley Bartlett, 11, was creating a colorful page that said “A for Archery,” and others each picked a different letter of the alphabet to create their own pages. Mobus has presented a summer camp through the Vermont Humanities Council about two years ago, she said. This spring, she and Sanford applied for the grant, offered each March when the council presents 4-6 themes. They were one of 12 sites in the state chosen to host a camp, and chose the Greek theme. The grant funding pays for stipends for each camp instructor, along with supplies and the books, which camp participants can take home at the end of the week. Earlier in the day, they had discussed the Greek idea of excellence, or “Arete,” and brainstormed things they could do to excel. Campers contributed ideas such as “be determined,” “hope,” “best effort,” “don’t cheat,” and “practice makes progress.” Activities looked at several questions that campers could think about. Among them were: How do human beings seek to understand and improve themselves? What connections exist between academic and athletic pursuits, and how have those evolved over time? How is creativity linked to physical activity? The camp included activities every day, focusing on cultural and historical aspects such as the Greek alphabet, Olympic sports and Greek mythology, Mobus said. They also created a Greek mythology “family tree” and took a field trip to the high school to learn about Greek sports such as the javelin and the long jump. Campers also had the opportunity to try the sports. “One of them almost got recruited,” and is thinking of joining the sport when he gets to high school, Mobus said. On Friday, the final day of camp, Mobus said she would bring in food to create Greek dishes. Guest speaker Bob Kendall, a tri-athlete and runner, was also scheduled to stop by and speak with the group. Also this week, guest speaker Jessica Martin, who has set athletic records at Springfield High School, came to talk about creativity, excellence, and being a hero, to accompany the group’s reading of the book “Hercules.” Mobus said she hopes to have the camp again next summer, although the theme would likely change. Schools selected to win the annual grants are notified in May, she said.