South Lewis Central School

KIDSKAMP/Challenge Week

KIDSKAMP is a week long summer program in August, available to South Lewis students entering fifth grade. Challenge Week is a similar program offered the following week to incoming eighth grade students. The KIDSKAMP /Challenge Week summer program started during the summer of 1999, thanks to now retired Elementary School Counselor, Mr. Bob Newberry. The tradition of KIDSKAMP/Challenge Week continues as the South Lewis School District values opportunities for our students to engage in the process of self-discovery and planning for the future. 

Many exciting activities and trips are planned through-out the week long event to inspire and motivate our students. Both groups of students visit Beaver Camp (www.beavercamp.org), where the students spend the day on the ropes Course exploring the lower and higher elements.  Students often find this day to be the most exciting of the week.  Students always find that there are many important life lessons to be learned on the ropes course:  the importance of teamwork, effective communication, perseverance, facing fears, and overcoming obstacles. The primary reason to take students through the ropes Course during KIDSKAMP/Challenge Week is to teach them that life is full of many challenges and adversities. We encourage our students to understand that challenges are meant to be faced head on, and that with hard work and determination anything is possible.

Our students also visit college campuses during the course of the week. This is a great opportunity to expose our students to post secondary education options. These visits are usually facilitated by campus staff and college students who conduct tours and activities meant to get our students interested in higher learning. Our KIDSKAMP students visit Hamilton College in Clinton, NY (www.hamilton.edu ) . Every year, Ms. Phyllis Breland and her assistant Wilfred Jackson put together a wonderful visit complete with a presentation about dreaming big for the future, a campus tour, and an exciting visit to the all you can eat buffet in the dining hall. Students attending Challenge Week routinely visit St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY(www.stlawu.edu ). This year, students went to Colgate University in Hamilton, and enjoyed a wonderfully interactive tour and all the pizza they could eat in the campus dining hall. Colgate was even kind enough to give a Colgate t-shirt to every student. So many of our kids shared that the visit really got them thinking about college as a future option. 

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week guest speakers come to talk to the students about the importance of having and accomplishing goals and dreams.  We have had Kylie Simpson from Mountain View Prevention Services talk about her half marathon training. Ed Steckly, former Student Assistance Counselor, talks with our students annually, and gives them an inspirational message to carry through the weeks events. Mr. Christopher Villiere, Port Leyden Principal, shared a motivational lesson on Growth Mindset with our 8th grade students to help them think about how mindset and attitude determine future successes.  Mr. Lee Vance came this year to share his work on mindfulness, to help our students to think more about getting the most of their time in the classroom.

We also invite speakers to share about overcoming significant obstacles and challenges in and out of school. Heidi Abbey, Rebecca Garner, Sgt. Jesse Steele (retired ARMY), Olivia Kriwox, and Connor McGough are a few of our past guests.  In addition to speakers, the students see great motivational movies like "The Blind Side," "Front of the Class," or "Hoovey" to continue thinking about how we must have a positive orientation to adversity. 

Before each week is over, students are encouraged to talk about goals for the upcoming school year, how they will overcome obstacles they may face, and dreams/goals for the future.