Christina Brazell/ Hsin-Chu Downdown School Teacher

My class had six students who were excited and ready to learn more English. The first day of class flew by.  Reading was the main focus of the program. We read at least one book a day as a class and then each student read five to twelve books in their spare time. Their English skills blew me away. All of my students were fluent in English and liked to read out loud to the class. While learning new vocabulary, they took turns looking up words in a dictionary and when there was any confusion on the meaning of a word, they asked for clarification. We discussed words and how they can be used in different contexts and situations.

Thursday we had class, then headed to the elegant A.S.E. suites. The room was nice and large.  Comfy down blankets covered the beds, and we all sank into our soft mattresses. The bathroom had a glass shower and large bathtub. The counters were marble and the mirror was enormous.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we went to our rooms to get ready for the pajama party. We all met back at the conference room that the hotel had transformed into a beauty pageant. There was a stage at one end of the room and a judges’ table along the side of the audience. We sat together with the downtown school, which joined us for the festivities.  Balloons decorated the ceiling, with a huge American Eagle School Winter Camp 2005 banner along the back of the stage.

The events started with an interdiction of the event. Then one by one the classes got up and the students showed off their pajama wear. All of the classes had made headdresses to show off their class themes. Each child got up on stage and showed off their pajamas. Some danced, most smiled, and many waved at the judges. It must have been difficult for the judges to pick one child to win.  After each class walked the cat walk, one student was picked from each class as the round one winner. Each judge placed a sash on one of the winners. During all of this the music was bumping.  Teacher Gail showed off her dance moves to “YMCA.”



The five finalists now competed for the number one spot. They all did a great job, but only one student could be picked. The winner was a girl from the Science Park Barn Owls class. Angel presented her with a staff, a cloak, and a crown. The girl seemed shocked but excited.

After the beauty pageant, Teacher Lee set up a slide show of all the Winter Camp photos. The students laughed and really enjoyed seeing their pictures on the big screen.

Soon it was on to the next activity. In the corner of the room there was a tree set up. During the week, each student had written a wish on a piece of paper. Each student placed his or her wish on the Wishing Tree. One student was picked from each class to read their wish. In my class, Maggie was chosen, and her wish was to have a new dog.  Some students wished for material things while some wished for all the bad people to be gone, or for safety and security, or even for a clean environment.

After the Wishing Tree, it was time for snack and to head to our rooms. There were no cartoons on, so my girls settled on watching Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man. I made popcorn for the girls. We took a bag of popcorn to the students next door. I left the door open, and the next thing I knew, my room had about six extra students wanting popcorn. We passed out some popcorn and then headed to bed.  Mary and Maggie and I got into our beds and shut off the lights. The girls fell asleep—and missed the end of the movie!

Wake-up was at 7 a.m. We dressed and went off to the restaurant. The restaurant provided our school with a wonderful buffet breakfast, which included some western breakfast favorites. There was all sorts of food available—bacon and eggs, fruit, cereal, noodles, salads, breads, anything you could think of. Many different beverage choices were also provided.

Breakfast finished, we headed back to our rooms to pack up our stuff and go back to the school. Teacher Doris handed out balloons to the students.  Lessons back at school lasted only until noon. After lunch we all went up to the playground and played games such as jump rope, throwing a ball through a hula hoop, and a few relays. Next we moved into the movie room. Here the teachers thanked their students for being so awesome, and for allowing us to have so much fun teaching. Then we handed out their completion certificates and report cards.

For me, Winter Camp was a blast. I had a great group of students and a wonderful co-teacher, Teacher Vincent.  All of my students tried very hard and worked well together!  It was an awesome six days, and I am looking forward to Summer Camp.