DLA Day Ten! -- By Ian

        Last night was the much anticipated off-campus night, where we campers got to choose between a number of activities, which included mini golf, bowling or seeing the movies Pacific Rim or Despicable Me 2. It's nice to get some fresh air from campus and be able to take your name tags off for awhile. (They get rather bothersome.) I myself saw Pacific Rim, which was a fancy and well done Transformers VS Cthulu. The adrenaline and action left everyone pumped well after lights out. After that we got back on the buses just in time to catch a spectacularly hilarious Nightly News.

      Today was the final day of DLA, a truly sad day for all. The bonds we make here stand the test of time and distance, we start off next year as if there hadn't been a year since we'd been together. Old faces go, new faces come, but DLA is DLA, and that won't change.

   It was also the final day of classes for campers, with reviews and grades being handed out, and presentations for the closing ceremony tomorrow being planned. The last day in Bio-Ethics was particularly Play-Doh-ey, while other classes finished up their final projects to present at tomorrow's ceremony.  It's senseless to dwell on the fact that camp is almost over.  It's better to reflect on the experiences we've had and the friends we've made.

Summerscape Madness!!!

On Monday night, the Summerscape campers reflected on their service projects and canned food drive, tried to build the best canned food structure and participated in an EPIC game of "Capture the Flag" (and got to enjoy some Andy's).

Last night each activity group participated in "Madness" -- a team building event that has the campers participate in a variety of problem solving activities.  Students were asked to solve math problems, create an egg carrying device, memorize and perform an exercise/dance routine and create a commercial.  These were just a few of the tasks they needed to complete.  All the groups had a great time and eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winner.

Tonight, students will be able to view each group's commercial and share some of their individual talents during our Talent Show.  The Candle Ceremony will take place after the Talent Show and then it is back to the dorm for some late night fun.

We look forward to seeing all of you at Open House tomorrow at 9:00 am.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Some pictures from our "Under the Sea" Dance!!

DLA Day Nine! -- By Audrey

It was another day at DLA -- Monday!  (And now I have the song "Monday Monday Monday" stuck in my head...)  Several activities took place today.  One was the service project.  The Senior Experience (my class) was responsible for planning it.  Originally we were going to put on a carnival for kindergartners, but we ended up performing a musical entitled Poverty:  The Musical, a presentation of the Springfield-Greene County Community Focus Report.  Senior Experience students sang, danced, and I even rapped.  (It was actually decent, if I do say so myself.)  After the musical, campers wrote inspirational messages for children receiving backpacks of food.

Later that night, campers participated in a mass game of Sardines.  I got to be a sardine, so I can cross that off my bucket list.  Even though I had to crouch over a toilet for 45 minutes and my legs burned after I got to leave the bathroom, it was totally worth it.  The prize for "Best Hiding Place," however, goes to Nick and Kyle.  I won't spoil the location in case any future DLAers are reading this blog, but apparently it is so legendary that it can only be used every five years.  After Sardines, everybody got Andy's Frozen Custard.  It was great ending to a fantastic day!

Even though this blog entry is supposed to be about Monday, I also want to write about something that took place this afternoon.  After our first Mayhem, Senior Experience decided to plan Mayhem for the RAs -- RA-hem!  It took place during afternoon classes, and RAs had to complete a variety of tasks. There were word puzzles, codes, Rubik's cubes, human pyramids, and so much more.  The RAs were heard saying, "This is so cool!" numerous times.  The seniors got a first-hand look at planning a Mayhem, and we also got to experience how the RAs feel watching campers complete the activities.

(Hint:  they feel amazing.)

H20 Olympics

Here are a few pics from Scape's Water Olympics!

DLA Day Eight! -- By Leon

Today has been an interesting and great day at DLA. First of all, today was Sunday so that means no classes! Breakfast was also optional so many people slept in and got much needed rest. As soon as breakfast was over, it was time for the Little/Big Games meetings. During this, both DLA-ers and Scapers planned out what event each of them wanted to participate in as well as an opening ceremony march.The games were a clever pun as the games were giant and miniture versions of popular board games. At first the games seemed dismal as a downpour of rain drenched Sunderland Field. However, this didn't stop the games, which took place indoors instead. The games turned out to be a success as many people competed to be the best team there is. Some example of events that took place included lemon golf, giant Ker-Plunk, mini I Spy, and etc. After the games, it was time for the Talent Show.

After about 30 minutes of preparation, campers went to the Findley Ballroom. The Nightly News took place first, and after that, it was time for the Talent Show. Wow! It turns out that these campers have some real talent! The audience was entertained by yo-yo's, piano playing, and a lot of singing. The Talent Show ended with a skit from the RA's, and it was a blast! When the Talent Show ended, campers returned to their dorms and had free time until 11:00. Today turned out to be a entertaining day at DLA!

DLA Pictures!

Vatten House participates in team building activities

The Entertainment Committee plans the poetry night, dance, and talent show.

Woda House builds a contraption to protect their mascot

Wasser House makes a poster to hang up at the dance.

Vatten House writes down the answers to trivia questions.

Adam and Dylan sing a duet at lunch so that they can get their nametags back.

DLA Day Seven! -- By Ian

      Last night was the traditional dance at DLA, a night for Scapers and DLAers to get together and get down for a bunch of fun. With an hour to get ready for the dance, we saw some interesting outfits and costumes fitting this year's camp-wide theme of Under the Sea. We saw many a Doctor Whos and classy gentlemen. The Findlay Ballroom was full of campers and was decorated to the teeth with fish and fish related... things.
     The DLAers left for about 15 minutes to let the Scapers have their final song, American Pie, an annual tradition that means a lot to campers, especially those graduating from Scape to DLA. The DLAers continued their dance after the Scapers left, with several more slow dances and crazier dances. After about another hour we started our final songs.  We played the aforementioned American Pie and then Hey Jude, a DLA-exclusive ending song, in which the entire camp locked arms and rocked together, another tradition commemorating and remembering their time spent at DLA thus far. After the dance concluded, campers headed to their suites to shower and get some sleep. It was truly a night to remember.

DLA Day Six! -- By Taryn

Campers spent an evening in Hoblitt Room, a large room in the Drury sorority house, last night to participate in a 25-year-old tradition at the Leadership Academy: Poetry Night.  A house competition also took place before Poetry Night, Poetry Slam.

Poetry Slam is a competitive event in which campers sign up to read a piece of either their own work, or work of a fellow camper, and performs it in a theatrical way.  Competitors are scored on several criteria: Emotion, Performance, Enunciation/Audibility, Flow, and Overall Impression, which one member from each house group volunteered to score.  Scores on the Poetry Slam impact the house group of each camper that participated in the Slam. 

After the Slam, campers formed a large circle around the Hoblitt Room with the lights turned off, aided only by a flashlight and the ceremonial candle passed around to each camper as they read.  The poems that campers read could either be written by a famous poet, or their own work, or even song lyrics, that held some meaning to the camper.  Some were humorous, others with more of a melancholy tone.  Chance concluded the evening with a poem of inspiration to the campers about childhood and growing up.  Poetry Night was a very inspirational and powerful DLA tradition that will carry on for many years.

Sooooo Much Fun!!!

Summerscape campers have been involved in a lot of activities from the Messy Olympics to Art Night! Sunday night each house group competed in Scape's version of Minute to Win It.  Each activity group participated in team building activities on Monday and on Tuesday the camp went to three different sites to help with community service projects.  Wednesday brought art night where campers danced, chalked up the sidewalk and created lots of 3D art pieces.  Thursday was our own Messy Olympics and involved many different water activities.  On Friday, each activity group worked together to answer a variety of questions during Trivia Night.  Below are some pictures from one of our community service projects.

DLA Day Five! --By Taryn

        Campers and RAs alike are officially beginning to settle into the DLA schedule, getting to class, mealtimes, and other events on time.  However, one event is an annual house competition that, because of its spontaneous nature, leaves the veteran campers fearful and the new campers confused:  Mayhem.  Mayhem is exactly what the name implies; campers are not aware of when this competition takes place, as it is not on the schedule distributed to us at the beginning of camp.  Each year, the method that the RAs use to announce Mayhem differs, which creates spontaneity.

         This year Mayhem was disguised as a "Leadership Forum" that released campers from their afternoon class 30 minutes early and gathered everyone in the Lay Hall auditorium to announce the initiation of Mayhem.  Upon the announcement, houses were separated and given a clue to find the site of their challenge.  Challenges ranged from guessing who spoke a specific quote, to the validity of a chess move, to deciphering the lyrics of the now infamous "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, to obtain coordinate points used to find the next clue under designated auditorium seats.


         All six house groups were next called to Sunderland Field to compete in a flag signal event, where each house group waved flags in positions corresponding to letters or numbers to decipher a code; however, this event was ended early, as Mayhem took place before dinner.  To campers' surprise, Mayhem resumed after dinner when a designated team leader was held hostage in a room in the Findlay Student Center. Houses had to split into groups of two to perform smaller tasks, receiving clues after each task was successfully completed that would lead to the hostage team leader. 


     Houses then headed back to Sunderland Hall to meet with Chance and were given three different choices, which in the best-case scenario would give the house a time reduction on their total time spent in Mayhem.   It was another great day of camp, but one question lingers on all of our minds... Is Mayhem really over?

DLA Day Four! -- By Leon

Wednesday has been a great day for DLA! It started out ordinarily. People woke up at 7:15 a.m. and ate a delicious breakfast at 8:30 am. Then it’s off to the morning class! I’m sure everyone had a great class and learned so much. A gifted camp sure does expand a student’s brain! After the morning class, it’s lunch time. Some students are probably burnt out from 3 hours of out-of-the-box thinking, so everyone dove right into the hearty meal. After that, it’s time for the afternoon class. So students walked briskly to class, ready for another 3 hours of fun and knowledge. As soon as 4:15 p.m. arrived, people were ready for station time. This ended pretty early at around 5:00 p.m. as students have to engage in their LAC meetings. Dinner rolled around at 5:45 pm, and everyone ran to dinner. When dinner ended, campers were put into their groups for the Little/Big Tournament. DLA students were put in groups with Summerscape students. This brought on some discomfort, but after a few icebreakers, everyone started to feel more comfortable. I think this is a great opportunity for campers to meet new people, younger or older. After this, it’s Trivia time! House groups went head to head in different categories: Movies, ‘Merica, Animals, and everyone’s favorite, RA! Campers had a surprise when they heard Wayne, a previous RA at DLA, Skype in a bonus question. Soon after Trivia ended, everyone had free time, and then saw a great Nightly News! So, this ended July 17^th at DLA. Campers went to sleep with dreams of what DLA holds for tomorrow.

Drury Lane

Drury Lane will be closed for resurfacing this weekend.  If you have completed a Permit To Leave Form and are picking your camper up this weekend, you can park in the lot behind Sunderland and Wallace.

Thanks!

DLA Day Three! -- By Lauren

Last night, every camper participated in a camp-wide art project. We all received a Dixie cup and five crayons, four of which were the color of our own house and one a color of our own choice. We broke up the crayons and wrapped them so that Chance can melt them down into crayon art. We’re not sure exactly what we’re going to do with them, but I’m sure it will be awesome!

After the art project, our house groups drew posters of sea creatures to hang up at our dance and around Sunderland Hall on Saturday, and we participated in more bonding activities with our houses.

Earlier today, there was a huge Apples to Apples competition in the main lobby. Congratulations on the win, Tubig House! Tying for second were the Houses of Air and Woda.  During the same time, there was also a game of Capture the Flag that was won by Vatten House. 

DLA Day Two! -- By Abby

If Leadership Academy is known  for anything, it’s safe to say that it can be found in its name. Activities from yesterday taught some of the main concepts in what the camp is about, leadership and communication. The house groups Woda, Air, Tubig, Wasser, Vatten, and Mizu got together to strengthen the bonds in their houses. The members of the houses played games that took teamwork, communication, and some management kills. The games included a mine field, where one person guided a blindfolded partner through a perilous field of poppable balloons; Hesitation; Pika Pika Tonga Tonga, a game of dire concentration; and Helium Hoop, just to name a few.

The main event of the night, though, was when the houses had to build a contraption that would allow them to drop their ceramic mascots from twelve feet onto the cement ground. Each group was given a bag filled with paper bags, newspaper, rubber bits, and other supplies that could protect our plaster pet. The twist? Each member was disabled in one way – some were blindfolded, some couldn’t talk, and the rest were only able to speak.

The end result was Gravity: 3 and Houses: 3 – so a tie.

Way to go, Woda, Mizu, and Tupig!

Rest in pieces, Bruce.

DLA Day One! -- By Abby

Speaking as a first time student and attendant of the leadership academy, the experience is definitely an amazing one that I would recommend. Each individual has the opportunity to pursue classes that compliment their interests, such as Philosophy, Bio-ethics, Civil Discussion, May the Farce be With You, Power of Story, Poetry Slam, Living the College Life, and Senior Leadership. These classes make it easy for a student to develop several different skills that can be applied in day-today life - whether it would be interacting with others, preparing for the future, or exploring one's self.
Every day after dinner, campers are involved in LACs (Leadership Action Committee), where they can participate in activities that highlight their skills and hobbies.
When we're not in classes or committees, we are constantly meeting and developing friendships with other ambitious students who are willing to work hard and have fun. The environment is intellectually stimulating and good for students who are looking to push forward and succeed in the future.
Overall, an amazing camp - and that's only day one!

We Need Your Help!

This year Summerscape is going to be working with two organizations in Springfield who work to alleviate hunger in our community and across the nation.  Please join us in helping these organizations by bringing canned goods to camp.  We appreciate your support.

Kind Katherine

My name is Katherine Barnett and I am so excited to be back at Summerscape as an RA! I was a Summerscape and DLA camper for 5 years but this will be my first summer on staff. I am originally from Hollister and I just graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in news/editorial journalism. My dream job would be working for a magazine or doing communications for a college or a great organization. My plans post-Scape have yet to be determined, but I'm hoping for any kind of job, an apartment and a dog with some great live music nearby. I love art, crosswords, 30 Rock and Summerscape! Can't wait for this summer!

Super Stephanie!

The town in which I was born is so small there is only one stoplight and the hospital doesn't birth babies anymore. I now live in gorgeous Fayetteville and will soon begin my fifth and final year of undergrad study of Music and Psychology at the University of Arkansas in fall 2013. My hands become terribly confused in stillness, so I tend to fill every moment of my time with activity. I firmly believe in doing things energetically, fiercely, and with a smile. Such an attitude is the best way to tackle life. I have many passions; among the top are people, service, Jesus, and leadership. I also enjoy brightly colored things, good music, hammocking, biking, recycling, creating, cooking, Parks & Recreation, summer camps, and games/sports of most varieties (pretty literally all of the varieties except for those of pure chance). Someday, I might move to Italy and become famous for my children's books. Alternatively, I'll save the world.

Enthusiastic Elizabeth

What has two thumbs and is excited for camp? THIS LADY!!!!

Hello! I'm Elizabeth. I love The Goonies and am easily amused. I am a graduate from MIT, where I majored in biological engineering and minored in music. After a summer back at home (Columbia, MO) and Drury, I'll ship back up to Boston where I'll be working for a TV production company to develop a science education show. This will be my third summer as a Summerscape RA, though I've also spent four years as a camper. I am ridiculously excited to be back with my camp family and to meet all the new campers! 

Jammin' James

My name is James Pikul.  This will be my 2nd year as an R.A at DLA.  Last year was a blast and I am excited to come back.  I am from St. Louis MO.  I come from a big family with six brothers, I am the second youngest.  Currently I am a Senior at Drury University.  My major is Design Art with a Special program VISCOM.  Graphic design is my passion and I hope to find a job working in packing and labeling.  I am really excited for this year's camp and look forward to meeting everyone!

Zany Zach

This will be my third (non-consecutive) year with Summerscape, and as always, it is one of the highlights of my summer. I will be a fifth year at Drury University next year, studying Education. I also made the choice to switch my major from business to education after the great experiences I've had at Summerscape. During non-Summerscape portions of my life, I work as a manager at Picklemans Gourmet Cafe in downtown Springfield. The aspect of adult life I most look forward to is owning my own dog.

Super Steven!

My name is Steven Anderson. I'm from Nixa, MO and I am going to be a senior at Drury majoring in Exercise and Sport Science with minors in psychology, business administration, and global studies and I am a resident assistant.  This will be my 3rd summer at Scape and I am really looking forward to it.  My favorite thing about Scape is watching the kids become a family that cannot be broken.

Delightful Dani!

This is my first year as an RA and 7th year participating in Drury's Pre-College summer programs. At the moment I'm a sophomore at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, earning my Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and English, with a minor in Philosophy and Religions. I am on the executive board of TSU's Women's Resource Center as well as our Residential Hall Association, and am a member of the Herpetology Club. In my spare time I paint, kayak, or have epic movie marathons with my cats. I very excited to be a member of the 2013 'Scape RA staff! 

Amazing Amanda

I first came to Summerscape as a camper in 2004 and attended either Scape or DLA every year until 2008. I like to refer to 2009 as "The Dark Year" when I was too old to be a camper and too young to be a staffer. Fortunately, I was hired as a DLA RA in 2010 and have been able to come back every year, making this my fourth year on staff. I graduated from Mizzou last May with degrees in social work and sociology. Since then, I have worked as a domestic violence victim advocate and substitute teacher. I currently work in a daycare facility at an athletic club and write for an entertainment blog called LeakyNews.

Awesome Amelia!!

My name is Amelia Horras.  This will be my 3rd summer as an R.A. at Scape.  I attend Quest, Scape, and D.L.A. as a camper.  I graduated college from St. Ambrose University with a degree in Physics and Education in 2010.  I am currently teaching at OTC Middle College, an alternative high school in Springfield.  I also coach soccer on the side at Parkview High School!  I'm VERY excited for another fantastic summer with the world's greatest campers!

Meet Mary!

Mary Potthoff came to Drury University in January 1995 as the Program Coordinator for the Center for Gifted. She became the Director of the Center for Gifted in 2006. She is a member of the Gifted Association of Missouri and hosts the GAM Workshop for New Teachers every year at Drury. Mary shares her life with her husband Paul and three dogs. 

Meet The Staff!

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to our marvelous staff.  We will start with Betsy Cannella who serves as the Residential Coordinator for Summerscape.

"I am going on my tenth year with Drury's Pre-College programs and Summerscape.  I am also in my fifth year as a middle school teacher at Phelps Center for Gifted Education in Springfield, MO.  I started Phelps's first robotics team for middle school SCHOLARS and WINGS students and competed in the BEST competition this past fall where we placed 8th overall among all high school teams.  Due to my camp experience ten years ago, I changed my career path from being an architect to being a teacher.  I love long walks on the beach, bike rides, and sushi."

DLA Residential Program is FULL!!!!

With the end of school, the blog is going to start back up and we hope you will check it often for information about Summerscape and DLA 2013.  Our first big announcement is that the dorm is full for DLA and we are no longer able to take residential campers.  We are excited to host 80 fantastic campers again this year.  We hope that you are having a great end to your school year and a super start to your summer!

Snow on the ground, but thinking about camp....

There really isn't any snow on the ground today, but we have seen a little bit of the white stuff this week.  That makes it hard for me to realize that CAMP is just around the corner.  Brochures have been sent and RA applications have been received.  It is going to be a fantastic year and I hope that you will be a part of it.  Think about inviting a friend to come to Scape or DLA with you this year.  

I will start sharing a little bit about what the summer holds for you over the next few months.  We can't wait to see you!

Happy President's Day!

Beth