The 2011 Summer 4-H Camp dates for St. Bernard Parish 4-H members in grades 4, 5 and 6 are June 27-July 1, 2011. The deposit and registration papers are due by March 1, 2011. We will accept applications for camp until we fill all of the spaces allotted to our parish. Please contact Lauren Faust or Wayne Burgess at 504-278-4234 for more information and to request a registration packet.
Camping is one of the most memorable experiences in which 4-H youth can participate. It’s a learning experience that helps youth appreciate the outdoors, live together as a group, get along with others and appreciate people with different interests and backgrounds. Camping also teaches independence, team work and develops self-confidence and feelings of accomplishment in youth. Many girls and boys in grades 4, 5 and 6 participate in 4-H Summer Camp each year. Summer 4-H Camp is held at the Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center, a 50-acre campsite located near Pollock, La. on Highway 8 about 15 miles northeast of Alexandria, La.
The camp features eleven cabins that sleep 52 people with boy and girl bath houses. Campers enjoy three meals a day in the large cafeteria. There is a classroom building with three classrooms and a snack room. Campers enjoy three snacks a day served from the snack room. There are two large pavilions that are used for classes and dancing. The large pool has two diving boards and is used during recreation time, free time and for Food & Fitness classes. All camp assemblies are held in the Greek Theater along with the talent show and vespers each night. There is also a creek in which campers can canoe and swim. The camp also features a large parade ground used for recreation and classes such as all-terrain vehicle safety. There are also basketball courts, softball diamonds and volley ball courts. At the arts and crafts building, campers can make a craft to take home. Campers may also want to shop in the camp store that sells 4-H souvenir items, water and snacks, as well as items that youth may have forgotten like a toothbrush or camera.
Youth are kept very busy at camp. A typical day starts with wake-up and cabin clean-up. Once campers are dressed and ready, they walk to the cafeteria for morning assembly and breakfast. After breakfast, campers go to one of the educational tracks in which they chose to participate when they arrived at camp. The tracks are Food & Fitness, Wetlands, Outdoor Adventures, Dramatic Arts, Hunter Safety and SET (Science, Engineering and Technology). During the educational track sessions, campers are served a mid-morning snack. After the sessions, campers make their way back to the cafeteria for lunch. After lunch there is a brief assembly in the Greek Theater for mail call. Letters from home and Bunk Notes are distributed to campers. Clean Cabin Awards are also given out to cabins that judges deemed the neatest and cleanest. Campers then report to their cabins for rest time to recharge for the rest of the day. Campers usually read their letters and write home, visit quietly with friends in their cabin and sometimes even take a nap!
After rest time, campers report to recreational tracks. Campers rotate through nine recreational tracks during their three-day experience; tracks include line dancing, canoeing, archery, swimming, recreational games, bicycling, indoor board games, arts and crafts and the parachute game. A second snack is served during this time. Once recreation time is over, campers participate in free time; they can choose from a variety of activities offered. Next there is a short break for cabin time and time to change into dry clothes if campers had been in the pool or creek. Campers then line up for dinner. After dinner campers report back to the Greek Theater for evening assembly. Finally, campers enjoy another round of free time and an evening snack. The last activity for the day is vespers held in the Greek Theater; this is a time for quiet reflection on the camping day. Campers are then dismissed to their cabins for baths and lights-out.
Featured below are some photographs from past camps. You may also want to visit the Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center website.
| | St. Bernard Parish 4-H campers stop at McDonalds on the way to camp. |
| | 4-H campers in the Outdoor Track learn about all-terrain vehicle safety. |
| | Campers enjoy a swim in the creek during free time. |
| | One of the eleven cabins at Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center. Cabins sleep 52 people. |
| | Campers enjoy walking across the grounds. |
| | | Campers ride bikes as part of the daily recreation time. |
| | Campers during rest time in the cabin. |
| | The parachute game requires teamwork. |
| | Assembly in the Greek Theater. |
| | Line dancing in the dance pavillion during recreation time. |
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