Spring Break Mini-Camp 2018

What a jam packed week we had for Spring Break camp this year! Thanks to the hard work of Camp Director, Kahlil Johnson and Team ANV, Spring 2018 was our largest spring break camp to date –  with more campers came more excitement, more learning, and more adventure!

Our farm is at the heart of our program and this spring break was no exception. Our youth learned about vermiculture from our Farm Manager, Aaron De La Cerda, where worms can be beneficial to farms and what conditions are needed for the worms to eat and multiply. Planet Bee came through to do a Hive Dive at our farm to discuss the endangerment of the honeybee, don some bee suits and take an inside look at the lives of worker bees. To top it all off, our campers learned an urban farming technique, vertical hydroponic gardening, and how it increases food security and access in our own homes.

Our campers know that growing healthy food is just the first step in living a more healthy lifestyle, you have to cook it and eat it too! Our Farm-To-Table Educator led campers through a number of recipes that included ingredients from our very own farm, including bean and cheese burritos, mac n’ cheese with broccoli, mango berry swirl smoothies, and even rice cake pizzas, which everyone agreed tastes better than it sounds. The dish that stole the show for a third year in a row, though, was zucchini bread and remains a Camp ANV favorite!

Gary Bizer, aka G-Biz on 106KMEL, also came through to get our campers behind and in front of the camera for some photography basics that made for both silly and serious moments of bonding with each other. Now Camp ANV has a mini-cohort of actors and cinematographers that are looking forward to a more in-depth visual arts workshop this summer that will allow our campers to tell their own life story through the camera lens.

There was no pool trip this session , but that didn’t stop our Camp ANV staff from ensuring our campers could have fun in the sun with water activities we all grew up with. We had everything from water balloon fights and toss competition to playing “Fill The Bucket”, but the highlight was Farm Manager Aaron making a homemade slip’n’slide with a large tarp, water, and biodegradable dish soap that definitely created beautiful memories for all our campers.

Our field trip for Spring Break this year was to the Sunol AgPark, where our own Program Coordinator, Ayano Jeffers-Fabro, gave a tour and led activities with the campers. Two guest architects from UC Davis led a watershed workshop that taught our campers about where our water comes from,  the importance of keeping it clean, and its relationship to the farm. We also continued our pollinator theme by talking about hedgerows, bats, birds, and insects. We capped off the day by giving back to the farm and clearing rocks for the next beds to be dug.

We always like to include culture from the diaspora in our programming, and this Spring Break included learning and training in the fundamentals of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira. The class was taught by the renowned Mestra Suelly of United Capoeira Association with the assistance of Anesti ‘Gênio’ Vega of Capoeira Volta ao Mundo, one of our very own ANV Executive Board members. Campers learned about the African and Indigenous roots of Capoeira as it formed in Brazil, a few of the most popular and traditional songs, and learned how to play the integral instruments like the berimbau, atabaque, pandeiro and reco reco. After learning a few fundamental movements like the ginga, au, and cocorinha, along with a few basic kicks, the campers were ready to put it all together at the end of the week and formed a roda to show off their singing, playing and fancy moves!

All of our campers had a blast learning about healthy living, culture and leadership through this fast-paced Spring Break and we’re all looking forward to what our Summer Camp brings!

Check out what kept our campers smiling throughout spring break camp!

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