Here's our crew inside their newly framed walls! What a perfect day, with plenty of sunshine but not too hot, to wrap up a great first week of Construction Camp! We had a cookout to celebrate our success.We actually got the walls sheathed by the end of the day, but this made a better picture!
Miss Anne promises to post more pictures tomorrow, but right now, she's worn out! Goodnight, and lots of gratitude for the role you - our supporters - have played in this exciting week!
There were moments of gentle summer rain today, and then there were moments of DOWNPOUR! Even though some of the most intense rain arrived just before our noon start time, ten of our 18 campers arrived, ready to build! We even had one of our two birthday boys, Dillon.
Ben, pictured at left with Lafi, has really taken a leadership role this year. Today he came up with a great way of explaining how to read the fractions of inches on the tape measure, and the students he tutored came away with a genuine understanding. "Just like the quarters of a dollar!" Orlando said. Aha! We took advantage of the dry loading dock, and got all four walls framed out! During the biggest parts of the gullywasher, we spent time building bridges with the AGC kits, and we took a break to enjoy the two cakes that Miss Lauren baked.
Today we built our floor system - a real team effort! About half of our campers had used hammers before, but it was a new experience for the others, and they did really well. Principal Steve Sippel visited and admired their work. The crew got to measure the floor joists and several had turns using the circular saw and even the pneumatic hammer!
This is a great group who aren't afraid to ask questions. They're genuinely interested in the "whys" and the "hows" of our work. Several of the veterans of the afterschool program are taking a leadership r ole with the newer recruits, and are making sure that they have a turn on the power tools, and learning the ropes.
Our ranks are full! Matthew, pictured on the left, joined after his big sister, Angela, told him how much fun she had on Monday. We've got three girls now, and they each took turns on the saw today, even though it was a first for them.
We're really grateful to Kevin Murray from CBC and his helper, Gene Young, who lead our carpentry today! Tomorrow we'll be putting our walls up, and celebrating two of our campers' birthdays - Jacob and Dillon!
And we're off! Camp started today. Pictured at left are our Day One crew, less two who were off looking for a sledgehammer (more about that in a minute!) We had an ambitious schedule planned for today. In addition to the usual first-day administrative tasks, we wanted to do three things. Jeff Combs from JC Equipment came to show the students how to use a laser level to plan the site grade. Glenn Lee from Bobcat donated equipment and an operator to clear honeysuckle from the site and do the leveling, and we had a truck from Hilltop arriving at 3:00 with concrete! Luckily, Linda Bach from ACI arrived to help us serve lunch, so we got that done pretty quickly. The kids all took their "Pre-test" - a short quiz that gives us a baseline read of their construction knowledge. Camp Assistant Lauren and Miss Anne gave a quick orientation on safety, camp rules, the Pedometer program, and the Commitment Credits. Then the work got underway! It seemed like the lunch Miss Anne packed was a hit. Of the two 30 inch turkey subs, chips, brownies, and half a watermelon, there wasn't a crumb remaining! We got a little thirsty, though, since we couldn't refill the water cooler. Our only bumps in an otherwise smooth day came from not having good access to the school building. The Principal promised to address this so that tomorrow we'll have plenty of water and bathrooms. And the sledgehammer? Kevin Murray from CBC showed the kids how to build and true-up the concrete frame, but when it came time to get it staked, the ground was a bit dry and hard for our hammers. Our scrambles to secure a sledge didn't work, but Kevin finally muscled the boards down just as Hilltop's mixer made it to the scene. And one of Kevin's carpenters who is also a concrete finisher showed up to help the kids get the slab looking great! Justice Claypool won the first day's pedometer competition, and got a $5 Burger King gift card for his priize. This crew is super competitive, though, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who helped us make Day One a success! We'll be back tomorrow with another report.
Greater Cincinnati is the most generous community! As we approach the start of camp, I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters. Today, we received a huge lumber donation from Messer Construction that will free up our budget to provide meals and transportation for some of the campers who really need that. We also are getting pedometers from the Nutrition Council! Let's compete to see who takes the most steps every day!
Doesn't look too exciting now, but in just over a week, this will be the site of our 2014 Construction Camp! We're lining up supplies and contractors to help our campers build a Soccer Storage Shed from June 2 - June 19. Lots more pictures and information to come, but if you'd like to get involved, leave a comment below and we'll contact you!