Students in Patty Evans class dissected pregnant sharks on Wednesday as part of the “Cutting Deep into Dissection” class at Camp Curiosity. Jayden Kennett | Daily Journal
A longtime educational summer camp that became a community tradition is back in full swing this week at Grassy Creek Elementary School.
The camp is more than just a camp; it’s a place where kids can be themselves, make lifelong memories, explore career paths and learn new skills, organizer Jeff Stanley said.
The camp was a long-standing event that happened at Franklin College under the name Kids on Campus until the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 and 2021 camps. After the cancellation, Franklin College decided not to resume the camp to prioritize its students’ educational experiences, Stanley said.
This was the first year of the camp’s comeback as Camp Curiosity. Around 205 students attended the camp this year at the Clark-Pleasant school in Greenwood, which is double what he expected, Stanley said.
Students spent the week learning to fly drones and airplanes through simulators, creating ceramics with clay and even dissecting sharks. Parents and students choose from a variety of classes for their children to attend.
Kindness is the goal at Camp Curiosity, Stanley said.
Seventh-graders Tenley Roberts, Emma Short and Yanah Haddad came to camp as friends, but left with a new sense of friendship and belonging, they said. The three students tried out the summer camp at the recommendation of Stanley, who teaches sixth grade. If Mr. Stanley recommended it, they knew it had to be fun, Roberts said.
It’s easy to make friends at Camp Curiosity, Short said. On the first day, Short sat at a table with a group of girls she didn’t know. Immediately, they asked her name and began chatting about random topics.
“The kindness is a lot more than I think you would ever see at school,” Short said.
“More than you expect,” Roberts agreed. A highlight of camp has been watching her younger sister Ava make new friends, she said.
Although she was nervous, Roberts said attending camp with her younger sister and her friends made her more excited. The three have already noticed the younger students looking up to them, asking questions and getting excited when they compliment their work.
Haddad agreed, saying she felt seen at Camp Curiosity. The kindness is what makes the camp more fun, they said. They don’t feel afraid to mess up and can be themselves at camp.
“People are going to help you and be there for you and it feels good to have that,” Roberts said.
The students are participating in activities at Camp Curiosity that they normally wouldn’t learn until high school or older, they said.
“Which is really cool that I’m advancing and learning things that I probably wouldn’t learn,” Roberts said.
Patty Evans, a science teacher at Clark-Pleasant, taught at the camp when it was held at Franklin College. She doesn’t see much of a difference between the beloved Kids on Campus and Camp Curiosity other than location, but she’s grateful that it’s back. Because the students are all together in one building, the camp does have more of a family camp feel.
“The thing I am most grateful for is that it’s picked up again because this is an opportunity for kids that they don’t normally have,” Evans said. “They get to work in smaller groups, they get to explore things that they’re just so curious about and it’s extremely rewarding.”
This year has been different because younger students are able to participate in the dissection, she said. Younger students dissected owl pellets, worms, crayfish, perch and frogs. The older students start by dissecting frogs the first day and work their way up to dissecting squids, pregnant sharks, fetal pigs and pregnant rats. Each day is something new.
Students have had “lots of firsts,” at Camp Curiosity, she said. Evans recalled one student who was so passionate about sharks that he was scared to dissect one, she said.
“Once he got started, I think his passion for sharks helped him to want to learn about them more,” Evans said. “Just getting over the fear and wanting to explore the anatomy and digestive system of the shark made him love it even more.”
