Celebrating 15 Years!

On Saturday, July 15, former campers and their families, friends, and neighbors joined our current summer campers for a celebration of fifteen years of Camp Spring Creek. On this beautiful summer afternoon, visitors toured our campus with campers as tour guides, then returned to our dining hall for a wonderful meal prepared by our camp chef, Kerry Damich along with Anina and Olson van der Vorst.

Susie shared stories about the journey she and Steve took opening camp and helping it grow through the years. Anina created a slide show featuring pictures from every summer and the crowd loved recognizing some familiar faces and seeing how much everyone had changed and grown. Susie recognized the support of the North family by presenting former camper Carl North with a certificate and a beautiful tile nameplate made by campers that will go on the newly named North barn, where art glasses are located.

Finally, campers and friends alike enjoyed an interactive concert by award-winning multi-insturmentalist Billy Jonas. Billy reminded our campers that what makes you different is what makes you special, and demonstrated that his different way of thinking about and seeing things had led him to a successful creative career.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us and who sent words of encouragement. We're looking forward to another fifteen years!

Celebrating Dyslexia Awareness Month With Diana King

While our Camp Spring Creek schedules traditionally cool down in October, this year they're heating up thanks to what's certain to be a memorable trip from Diana King, internationally renowned for her work with dyslexic children. For those of you who may not be aware, Diana founded Camp Dunnabeck for children with dyslexia in 1955 and the Kildonan School in 1969.  She has published numerous articles and books. Her newest book, a guide to homeschooling, may be available while she's here. Diana had so much fun during her stay with us this past summer, she asked if she could come back to offer more training. If you're pursuing Certified Level training and are currently at the Associate Level, you need to head to Camp Spring Creek on October 5 (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.) and October 6 (9 a.m. - noon). Cost for the day and half-long session, which includes a tour of our summer camp facilities, is $150. You pack your lunch and we'll provide light refreshments.  Let us know if you need accommodations. We can offer several area options.

The Yancey Library is the place to be on October 6, from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. when we screen a movie about dyslexia that is both humorous and touching. It's perfect for anyone who wants to understand dyslexia and all its implications. We'll offer light refreshments before starting the movie at 7 p.m.

Parents who homeschool their children with dyslexia will want to join us in our Spruce Pine office from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on October 7. Diana will share strategies to use with struggling readers and help parents develop a greater understanding of multi-sensory learning modalities.

An after-school outing from 3:30 p.m - 5 p.m. on October 8 in the library at Greenlee Primary is ideal for curious teachers who have heard of O-G training but want to know what it looks like in the classroom.  Teachers who have used O-G in the classroom will also be on hand to share their experiences.

Diana has set aside October 9 from 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. in our Spruce Pine Outreach Center for anyone who has taken the classroom educator or Associate Level course and has questions on how to better individualize their efforts. This session will be followed by a meet and greet with Diana at Spoon, which is located just around the corner on Upper Street.

If you can, please RSVP by October 1 for the October 5, 6 and 7 training at info@campspringcreek.org. We look forward to seeing you.