John G. New Summer Program – A Resounding Success in 2024

By Susan O’Handley

The DOAS Summer Day Camp Program has always been popular, often with children returning year after year until they age out of eligibility.  Since reviving the program in 2013, we have been extremely fortunate with standout staff: Megan Gigandet-Langan from 2013-2018 and then Liz Brown and Chris DeCesare from 2019-2022 with a blip in 2020 due to COVID19.  In 2023, we were unable to secure staff so for 2024, we decided to experiment. 

We offered our first ever 10-week paid Environmental Education Internship Program this year and hired, trained, supervised and supported Kaylee Haig and Cami Robinson-Parisi. It was an intensive effort that began in December and ended just recently at the end of August, but was so valuable in what we learned, and in the opportunities that we were able to provide for our campers, our interns and our communities. 

Our program hosted 33 camp participants in three sessions, one of which was hosted through a collaboration with the Oneonta World of Learning at Fortin Park. We offered 4 family/public programs at the DOAS Sanctuary and were guest presenters for the Library Summer Reading Program, one in Walton and three with the Huntington Memorial Library.  We assisted with invasive species removal work with Otsego County Conservation Association and at the DOAS Sanctuary.  We also created a new QR Code Trail at the Sanctuary to add an interactive and educational component for our hiking visitors. 

We were able to accomplish so much in those ten weeks and couldn’t have asked for better interns for our first time out.  Both Kaylee and Cami exceeded expectations and were great with kids, parents, and guests. They were out in the community representing the organization in such a positive way. It’s difficult to see the program end, but we are grateful for the level of commitment and responsibility and will look forward to seeing where they go in the future.  You can read end of season  summaries from both Cami and Kaylee below.

Looking to the Future

Our camp program has always been a break even or small net income endeavor, but we made the investment this year in this program and I feel the value was well worth the expense.  It does, however, leave us trying to figure out how we might sustain this opportunity going forward, both from an administrative and funding perspective.  If you have ideas or would like to be involved in the discussions on the future of our youth programming, we would love to have your voice at the table.  Please contact me at s.ohandley@doas.us if you are interested and we will be sure to include you in a meeting later this fall.  

Thank you to all who support the program through registrations and donations as well as those who help to promote the opportunity. Your contributions and input make a difference.

Summary Report from Camille Robinson-Parisi

This summer I had the absolute pleasure of working as an Environmental Education Intern at the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society. I originally applied for this position last year after seeing a flyer in Cobleskill, so I was quick to reapply upon seeing that the program was going to try to run this year. I am only halfway done with my undergraduate studies but I do not yet know what I would like to pursue professionally. I do know, however, that working with youth and learning about ecology are some of my greatest passions at the moment and this experience has done a great job marrying these two interests of mine. As an intern at DOAS I helped to develop and facilitate family-friendly programs and activities at the DOAS Sanctuary and Oneonta library, as well as three separate day camp sessions for children going into grades 1st-6th. When we were not spending time planning or executing these programs, we had the opportunity to get involved with some invasive species management work alongside the Otsego County Conservation Association and their summer interns. Prior to any of this, though, the internship included a week-long environmental education training which set Kaylee and myself up for successful camp planning. Working at DOAS has allowed me the freedom to work on projects and programming that I am passionate about while also providing a structured introduction to how nonprofit environmental education efforts function on a more professional level.

We kicked off camp on July 8th with our 3rd and 4th grade group, where we had an energetic group of 9 campers. One strategy we implemented to help the week go by smoothly was to collaborate with the campers to make a “Camp Rules” poster. Together, we took suggestions and discussed what sorts of guidelines would allow everybody to have a safe and enjoyable experience. This went over so well that the tradition carried over into the following weeks as well! Besides spending time playing games, learning about the balance that exists within all sorts of ecosystems, and exploring the DOAS Sanctuary grounds, the campers also were able to fulfill a service project with help and guidance from DOAS Co-president Andy Mason. Campers worked together to construct a wooden boardwalk over a particularly muddy section of a trail. We also were generously paid a visit by local wildlife rehabilitator Suzanne Johnson, who spoke about her experience working with wildlife firsthand. We couldn’t have asked for a better first week!

The second session of camp took place July 22nd-25th with 8 participants entering 5th and 6th grade. This group had a particular fondness for wildlife, especially newts and toads! This session also demonstrated to us that sometimes the educators are still students, too, as we had the opportunity for one camper to teach all of us how to fold some origami. The kids once again worked together to construct a boardwalk as a service project for the DOAS Sanctuary and had visits from Andy and Suzanne.

Our final session of camp took place from August 5th-8th at Fortin Park. During this session we had 14 campers going into 1st or 2nd grade (ages 5-7). Despite some less-than-favorable weather, we had a lovely week with the kids–plenty of them liked to dance in the rain anyways! As was the case with the other camp sessions, exploring and observing the local aquatic life was a big hit with this group. Since this group was younger, our days were a little shorter and the week really flew by, but we had a great time!

My favorite part of my experience at DOAS this summer was how well the staff’s skills complemented one another. Kaylee and I come from simultaneously similar, but also starkly different backgrounds in terms of our experiences with youth, education, and ecological knowledge, and yet this position managed to marry our skill sets in a very productive way. I am grateful to have been able to work so closely with such a motivated individual. Between Kaylee and Susan, I felt so well supported, trusted, and understood that working on this program was never a chore.

Summary Report from Kaylee Haig

The past ten weeks have been a great experience not only for myself but as well as the participants that joined us. This summer was filled with fun environmental education activities that were put into library programs, family programs, and three summer camps ranging from first to fifth grade. Our programs focused on many different things around animal adaptations. We spoke about bird migration, predator/prey, carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, nocturnal, amphibians, mammals, birds and habitats. 

In these conversations surrounding animal adaptations we were able to identify all of the distinguishing characteristics of multiple species to see why they are important in helping them survive. We were able to connect these skills into fun games to help broaden the understanding of these skills.

This internship was a great experience and I am so glad that I got to be a part of it. Connecting with all of the children and their families was incredible as I got to see there excitement to learn and be a part of something. Many camp participants spoke on how excited they were to come back again next year!