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Prindle Institute hosts Express C.A.M.P. for local students
During a week of art projects, team-building, dance parties and thoughtful discussion, students from across Putnam County attended Express C.A.M.P. — Character, Attitude, Morals and Perspective — at DePauw’s Prindle Institute for Ethics. This year’s camp ran from July 10-14 and welcomed 55 first- through fifth-graders in schools across Putnam County.
Since its debut in 2017, the camp strives to “encourage campers to explore their values, learn about community and appreciate different perspectives,” a press release said. Igniting these explorations, each day of Express C.A.M.P. involves the reading of a storybook pulled from Prindle’s collection of 250+ books; the book selected then inspires that day’s hands-on activities. This week’s lineup included lessons based on taking perspectives, cooperation, perseverance, nature and memory.
“As educators and leaders, we’re staying curious and asking for (the campers’) thoughts and different perspectives and things like that,” said Jeffrey Dunn, executive director of Prindle and professor of philosophy at DePauw. “So, I think it lends itself to being that kind of safe environment, to be able to have those kind of conversations.”
Collaboration might have been a lesson for the campers this week, but it still remains valuable for grownups alike. “That’s what’s neat about this opportunity: that when we’re able to kind of bring our curriculum together with local educators, you just really get a dynamic experience,” said Emily Knuth, associate director of Prindle.
Even local author and illustrator Troy Cummings, whose work has been featured on the New York Times bestseller list paid a visit to campers to discuss storytelling and drawing. “Through this, the campers were able to develop a greater appreciation for different viewpoints and broaden their creative horizons,” the press release said.
Seed planting, nature walks, extracting DNA from bananas, building towers and group art projects are just a few examples of how the lessons are explored, many of them planned and led by local educators. “I think sometimes as an teacher you kind of get bogged down with a curriculum. So this is one of my favorite weeks as a teacher,” said Lara Inlow, third-grade teacher of nearly two decades. When it comes to lesson planning during her last two years as an educator at Express C.A.M.P., “I get to do things that we don’t always have time for in the classroom ... you get to be super creative,” she said.
More leaders at the camp include Prindle interns, many of whom are students at DePauw. They might be enrolled in a Prindle reading course, Ethics Bowl or Professor Dunn’s Philosophy for Children class, and get to participate in the activities with the campers, as well as assist in lesson planning.
Intellectual collaboration makes the camp enriching, but the attention to accessibility makes the camp practical. During the summer months without school lunches and daytime activity, Express C.A.M.P. serves breakfast, lunch and two snacks each day, and campers attend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with transportation and scholarship opportunities available.
For more information about the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics programs, visit prindleinstitute.org.