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Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D, MBA, visited with children who attended the UAMS Day Camp at Pulaski Heights Middle School for a celebration on the last day of camp.
Image by Bryan E. Clifton
Day Camp for UAMS Employees’ Children during Pandemic Concludes with Fun, Merriment
| When the last day of the UAMS Day Camp arrived July 31, teachers and volunteers said farewell to the children they had spent the last three months caring for with an outdoor party reminiscent of a county fair or carnival.
A summer shower shortly before the mid-day event did not dampen the festivities. The children and teachers ate grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and chips under a covered breezeway outside the Pulaski Heights Middle School’s gym while volunteers made and handed out snow cones of various flavors and pink or blue cotton candy. Bags of popcorn were also available.
After lunch, the party continued with six different games, including a ring toss and bean bag throw, on the gym floor. The most popular activities were the line dancing, cakewalk and the relay in which two teams competed to see who could run, sit on a balloon and pop it the fastest.
Children enjoyed having their faces painted.
The face-painting station, offered by three volunteers, was a big hit, with children returning for more until they ran out of available places on their faces and forearms to get them.
The party concluded with a chance for the students to throw some balls in the hopes of dropping a good-natured volunteer in the dunking booth and concluded with a children’s talent show later that afternoon.
For Giovanni Riche, 10, the festival was just icing on a summer like no other.
“It was a lot of fun being here,” said the incoming sixth-grader at eStem East Village Elementary School who shared a classroom with about six other 10-year-olds since the camp began in April.
“My favorite activity was art and I liked making origami the best,” Giovanni said. “I also enjoyed going outside to play on the playground but what I like the most was making new friends from other schools.”
In addition to their regular daily activities, students were also offered physical education classes and weekly instruction in music, art, yoga and an introduction to the concepts of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by volunteers who rotated throughout the classes. Other highlights during the summer included a movie afternoon, complete with popcorn and a visit by the Arkansas Traveler’s mascot, Shelley the horse.
“The day camp has been a lifesaver for our family during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Giovanni’s mom, Edna, who works as a medical assistant at UAMS. “It has allowed me to work full time and not have to worry about child care for my children.”
“Without UAMS and the Little Rock School District providing the camp, our family would have to make some very difficult decisions,” Riche said.
Even after lunch, some saved room for cotton candy.
“Our children have enjoyed going to the day camp for the past three months and loved it. I really appreciate all those from UAMS and the school district for providing great care for our children.”
Other campers’ parents feel the same way.
“When the closing date of the camp was announced last week, a mother of one of the students sent me a message saying how thankful she was to have the option of this day camp during this time,” said Teletha Leonard, who coordinated the camp. “She wrote that it took a big weight off her shoulders, and that all the workers and volunteers were her heroes.”
“Through the camp, the students were able to continue their educational curriculum and have fun all summer in a safe environment,” she said. “Most importantly, they have been practicing social distancing and wearing their mask all summer. I think the students will be the leaders when they return in school in the fall.”
Leonard added that there have not been any student-to-student or student-to-teacher COVID-19 cases at all within the UAMS/LRSD camp.
“This speaks volumes about how important it is to practice social distancing and wear your mask. The students have been safe and they have enjoyed the camp.”
“I would like to thank all of the UAMS employee volunteers and those from the UAMS Volunteer Services, Little Rock School District, and the Little Rock Rotary Club 99 for donating their time, supplies, and meals throughout the last few months,” Leonard said.
During the final week of the camp, the volunteers collected items for the UAMS Stocked & Reddie Food Pantry such as peanut butter, cereal and canned chicken and tuna.
In addition to Little Rock Rotary Club 99, other sponsors for the closing-day carnival included Second Baptist Church, Pinnacle Pointe, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, and the Arkansas Travelers.
Valerie Camper, an administrative specialist with the UAMS Office of Human Resources who usually works as a leave administrator, worked at the camp logging in volunteers and campers as they arrived and left for the day.
“I’ve been out of my element,” she said, laughing. “The kids all have such different personalities and it’s been very enjoyable. I’ve developed a new-found love and admiration for those who work in the educational field.”
Sheila Williams, an administrative specialist who works with the UAMS Kids First program in Little Rock with children aged 6 months to 5 years, spent most her time at the camp as a front-desk screener. But for the final two weeks, she was moved to a classroom with third and fourth-graders.
“This age is a little older than those I usually work with so it was really fun for me.”
UAMS and the Little Rock School District opened the day camp in April at Pulaski Heights Elementary and Middle schools for UAMS essential employees’ children aged 5 to 12 at no cost. The day camp was open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Until the end of the school year, it included teachers from the Little Rock School District who visited each classroom to assist students working remotely on their school assignments.
The camp was created after Gov. Asa Hutchinson directed that public school buildings statewide close to help slow the spread of COVID-19, a contagious and potentially deadly disease and students and teachers moved to remote learning.
At the height of the camp’s enrollment, there were about 95 students in 17 classrooms and staffed by 142 volunteers, 97 of them UAMS employees from the Head Start program; Human Resources; the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Communications & Marketing; and the KidsFirst program.