(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Millions of American children attend summer camp. Some playsports. Others make music, learn to use a computer or take part inother activities. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Come along with us this week to summercamp, on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Traditional American summer campsoffer young people a chance to play many sports. These camps may bein the mountains. Or they may be in the woods, or at a lake. Othercamps teach activities like painting or music. Or they teachcomputer programming or foreign languages. Children at all kinds ofcamps meet new friends. They learn new skills and developindependence.
Some children go to camp during the day and return home at night.These places are called day camps. Children as young as four yearsold attend day camps. Others stay at camp all day and all night.Most children who attend overnight camp are between the ages ofabout six and sixteen.
Children stay at an overnight camp for between one and eightweeks. Parents can pay less than one-hundred dollars a week for anovernight camp. Or they can pay more than seven-hundred dollars aweek.
VOICE TWO:
Children from poor families might not have a chance to attendsummer camp. The Fresh Air Fund is a well-known organization thatgives children in New York City that chance. People around thecountry give money to support the Fresh Air Fund. Each summer, itserves about ten-thousand poor children from the city. It sends themto stay with families in the country or to five camps in New YorkState.
VOICE ONE:
Since eighteen-seventy-seven, the Fresh Air Fund has helpedalmost two-million of New York City's most needy children. Thesechildren do what they cannot do in the city. They breathe fresh air.They play on green grass. They swim in a lake. Some children beginto stay with the same family when they are very young and continuefor a number of summers.
Shaquille is an eight-year-old boy from the Bronx, a part of NewYork City. He has visited the same family in the state of Vermontfor several summers. He especially enjoys playing and going toopen-air activities with the family's two children.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Summer camps have become very important to millions of families.Many American women now work outside the home. Working parents needa place where their children can be cared for during the summer whenthey are not in school.
Camps also help children develop independence. For most children,overnight camp is the only time during the year they are away fromtheir parents. Camp lets them enjoy being with many other children.Campers live together in cloth tents or in wooden cabins. They eatmeals together in a large dining room.
VOICE ONE:
But the first time at summer camp can sometimes be difficult.Children might not like the food. Or, they might not like to swim ina cold lake. They may not want to climb a hill on a hot day. Somenew campers miss their parents very much.
Also, some camps ban the use of electronic equipment and toys.Children who play electronic games and use wireless telephones maymiss them. These children might enjoy a camp that permits thesedevices. But many families say their children need to learn moreabout nature. They say their children need a holiday fromtechnology.
VOICE TWO:
The American Camping Association suggests that parents preparechildren before sending them to camp. It advises parents to discusswhat the camp will be like and what campers will need to know. Forexample, parents can show their children how to use a flashlight tofind a bathroom at night.
The American tradition of sending children to summer camp beganmore than one-hundred years ago. Frederick and Abigail Gunn startedwhat was probably the first organized American camp. They operated aschool for boys in the state of Connecticut. In eighteen-sixty-one,Mister and Missus Gunn took their students on a two-week trip. Theywalked to an area where they set up camp. The students fished,hunted and traveled by boat.
VOICE ONE:
Today, summer camps may be outdoor ones similar to those ofAbigail and Frederick Gunn. For example, a camp in Forest Lake,Minnesota, centers its activities on nature. Campers at the WildlifeScience Center study the structure of groups, or packs, of wolves.
But camps today may also be very different from those earlyfresh-air camps. For example, Pali Adventures summer camp insouthern California offers several special interest camps inaddition to more traditional ones. In one of these special camps,children twelve to sixteen years of age study food preparation witha professional chef.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
There are more than twelve-thousand camps in the United States.Some offer just one main activity. Children can play a single sport,like tennis, soccer, baseball or basketball.
Young people who like the arts canlearn about music, dance, art, acting or writing.
Perhaps the best known camp for young artists is the InterlochenArts Camp. It is part of the Interlochen Center for the Arts in thestate of Michigan. Its music program is especially well known. Morethan two-thousand young people are attending the arts camp thisyear.
VOICE ONE:
Camps that offer programs in science and environmental studiesare popular, too. For example, the United States Space Camp inHuntsville, Alabama, welcomes adults as well as children. Wholefamilies can live together in a place like a real space station.They take part in activities similar to those carried out duringspace shuttle flights.
There are also camps for older children who like wildernessadventure. Campers take long trips by bicycle or canoe. Or, they gorock climbing or ride horses. For example, sincenineteen-forty-eight, boys and girls have explored the RockyMountains of Colorado at Sanborn Western Camps. These are built morethan two-thousand-six-hundred meters above sea level.
Other summer camps in America help children learn about religion,help them lose weight, or help them develop their knowledge oftechnology. Thousands of young people attend computer camps in theUnited States.
VOICE TWO:
The nation also has many camps for sick or disabled children. Atthese camps, many children take part in traditional activities, butthey also receive special medical care.
Handi Kids in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, offers camp forchildren and young adults with physical or mental disorders. Thecampers enjoy water sports, arts, dance, music and other activities.
A camp in the state of Connecticut offers fun for children withcancer and serious blood diseases. It is called the Hole in the WallGang Camp. Actor Paul Newman started the first Hole in the Wall GangCamp in nineteen-eighty-eight. Since then others have beenestablished in the United States and overseas.
VOICE ONE:
For many children in overnight camps across the United States,the day ends in a traditional way. They gather around the campfireto cook and eat a sweet dessert food called "s'mores."
The campers cook marshmallows over the fire. They put themarshmallows and a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers.
This food got its name because after campers eat one, they askfor "some more." As the fire dies down, the campers join intraditional songs like this one.
(MUSIC)
Chances are, the children will always remember the times theyspent in the firelight at summer camp.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced byCaty Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.
(MUSIC)