Space Camp – Graduation and Reflections

Over the course of the three previous days there were two group activities to separate the kids and the adults. Cait joined the kids group for one day and since it was a secret mission never breached their trust and told us anything. The adult group had to design a mission patch.

Now when searching for ideas, Carson and Dagny actually did a search and developed a concept that tied into the Apollo program which was our team name. At the start, I suggest joke patches and asked if we were at camp to have fun with the kids or win some silly contest as to who were the best space campers. Linda who is a very credible copy artist, Carson and Dagny led the charge to win the contest and make our kids proud.

This was an incredible team building event for the adults. The patch was fashioned after the an actual Apollo patch. Which had the Apollo program patch in the center with all of the individual mission patches orbiting around the center patch. As modified, we had the Apollo program patch in the center and smaller circles around the outside representing our geographic locations.

There was a B for Boston, a phoenix for New Mexico, a palm tree for the Virgin Islands the nations capital for Northern Virginia and a fleur-de-lis for New Orleans. Carson surfed the net for images from his cell phone wrote and presented the patch design, Linda did all the detailed art work and Dagny colored the patch. It was spectacular and our team won.

Our kids had an equal success in their secret mission. Their goal was to design a space station on mars, with science labs and solar energy collection and water recycling and a transport vehicle; build it with Legos; and then describe it in a presentation.

Mars Station Presentation

There was also a prize for space bowl which we did not win and a prize for best mission which we also did not win. At the end of the day we won two prizes and each of the other teams won one. We all got a single shuttle pin as our reward.

All the Young Kids

By the end of the weekend the adults were talking about their families and lives as all of the kids were playing with each other. The space camp had managed to merge four unique families into one team. They gave a “Right Stuff” award which was won by a young girl from another group. As a space cripple, I figured I should have been a contender, but was probably eliminated after my superman antics on Day 3.

A Big Hug from Whitney

Fortunately, Whitney forgave me and I got a fantastic Hug from a Wonderful Young Lady. If she ever needs a reference as a caring compassionate educator, I would be honored to give her one as I am sure every member of our group would.

In the end the space camp experience is dependent on the other families and the counselor and it all worked together for a wonderful weekend.

Tags: Family, life, Space Camp, spine problems