Week one went by quickly! We’re so impressed by how engaged, positive, and hardworking the campers have been; in just one week, they’ve already learned the basics of research, persuasive and clear speaking, and thinking on their feet. For everyone leaving this week, we’re sad to see you go! We thank you for spending the past five days with us and hope you feel that you learned a bit (and had some fun!) For everyone who will be here next week, we can’t wait to watch you keep growing!
We started the day with a demonstration debate with four of our lab instructors, all recent Lexington High School Graduates, on the benefits and risks of the Internet of Things. Talia and Charles debated the pro side, while Megan and Elias debated the con side, and the campers all “flowed” (or took notes on) the round. Another lab instructor, Megha, narrated the round, pausing between speeches and cross-examinations to explain arguments and poll the campers about their thoughts. After the close, hotly contested debate, campers had the chance to vote for the side they thought had won, and explain their decision.
After the demo debate, we broke back into lab groups, and played games and talked about debate at LHS, while we waited for lunch. For lunch, we provided pizza and ice cream cups. After eating, we made sure everyone had water and sunscreen on, then headed out to the field.
We kicked off field day, quite literally, with kickball. To keep teams even, we paired the 6th and 9th graders for one team, and the 7th and 8th graders for the other team. It was a close match, but if there was one thing both teams could agree on, it was that Peter’s kickball pitches were fantastic. For some, it got a bit too hot, so they headed back into the cooler building for water. Other campers braved the heat in a game of intense capture-the-flag. After that, everybody cooled down with some fun water games, culminating in an epic water balloon battle.
Thanks again for an amazing first week! It was a pleasure getting to know all of you and we’re excited about next Monday!