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Check out some great new photos from The Caterpillar’s Summer Camps!
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Sunday, September 23, 2018: 1 pm – 4 pm
Give your kids a summer to remember! Community experts are teaching their skills and specialties to our youth! Join us for a wide range of exciting day camps at Pacifica, 2 miles from Hwy 238, near Williams, OR!
Current Camps
Discovery Camp~ Adventures in the Siskiyous (Ages 6-12)
June 25th-28th Explore the trails of Pacifica to find interesting features of the outdoors: how plants, trees, animals, insects and creeks all move, grow, and interact in our environment! A discovery tour through nature to learn more about the science that makes our ecosystem work. Come if you like to walk, run or skip through nature and find botanical trinkets to create art with.
Teachers: Fox Ballara & Jacqueline Correnti
Art Camp ~ Passion for Creating (Ages 8-18)
July 16th-19th Are you the creative type? Come explore your passion through painting, sculpting, water colors, nature art and so much more. Young artists will learn the technique of stretching their own canvas to create on. Set your imagination free as you play with paint, create original drawings, paintings, and creations to take home.
Teachers: Jeff Campbell & Jacqueline Correnti
Rock Band Camp~ Jammin’ (Ages 8-14)
July 23rd-26th Hey, everybody, it is time to rock out! Have you ever wondered what goes into being in a rock and roll band and performing on stage or to write original music? Would you like to get better at your instrument or vocalizing technique? Do you like to perform? These questions and many more are all to be answered in Rock Band Camp at Pacifica. Brian Risling, your lead teacher, is a licensed educator, teaching professionally since 1992. Brian has 24 years of professional playing experience on a variety of instruments and with many bands. If you would like to stretch your current knowledge and have fun, do not hesitate to sign up for this class! You will work hard and be proud of yourself. There will be a performance on the last day of class. We need guitar players (preferably electric), bass players, keyboard players, drummers, and horns. We do not rule out any instrument or anyone! No past musical experience required. We will focus on original music, a cover or two and improvisation techniques. Let’s get rocking!
Teachers: Brian Risling & Matt Jameson
Theater Camp~ Dramatic Adventures (Ages 8-18)
July 30th-August 2nd Shane Skinner’s back for another fun year at Acting Camp! This year, he’ll be joined by the incomparable Alec Chunn to create a great week of theatre workshops, including theatre games, improvisational acting, puppetry, acting for the camera, and performing for an audience. Through the workshops, campers will gain confidence, team work skills, and explore their creative side. Camp will end with a showcase for friends and family. Shane Skinner has 20+ years of theater experience and loves working with kiddos. Alec Chunn holds a BA in Theater Education and currently works as a children’s librarian.
Teachers: Shane Skinner & Alec Chunn
Sewing Camp~ Summer Sewing Fun (Ages 7-14)
August 6th-9th Hey, Southern Oregon parents! Are you looking for a fun-filled camp this Summer for your child age 7-14? Two local seamstresses, Serene Dussell and Heidi Carlson, are offering a hands-on sewing camp! Kids will learn how to utilize fabric, cut patterns, sew on machines and leave camp with a finished product every day! All materials and machines are provided! Four days of sewing, meeting new friends and gleaning inspiration from nature!
Teachers: Serene Dussell & Heidi Carlson
Overnight Camp~ Into the Wild *(Ages 8-11)
Aug 13th-14th & (Ages 12-15) Aug 15th-16th Join us for an overnight adventure! We will learn survival skills and have fun with activities ranging from fort building to fishing and rock climbing. We will get in touch with nature through exploring the ponds, creeks, and wild areas of Pacifica. This camp incorporates storytelling, art, games, and sensory awareness activities with ecology, stewardship, and wilderness skills. Into the evening we will be exploring through star gazing, hiking and playing wilderness games. *This camp is a two day camp (staying overnight) starting at 9AM and ending at 2PM the following day. This camp is in two different sessions, depending on age.
Teachers: Allison Inscore & Jared Ellesmore
Yoga Camp~ Playful Practice Magic (Ages 6-14)
August 20th-23rd Kids, summer, and yoga, a great combination! This camp, taught by two local yoga instructors, is designed to provide kids with a fun, creative, and educational experience. Through a combination of yoga poses, games, themed craft projects and relaxation time kids will be able to strengthen their bodies, minds, and spirits. Yoga students will learn to work cooperatively as well as learn to care for and nurture themselves. This camp is sure to create lasting memories, new friendships, and a foundation for health and well-being.
Teachers: Clair Highfield RYT & Allee Gustafson RYT250 & Leigha Perry
Creative Camp~ Building and Art (Ages 6-12)
August 27th-30th Come learn to use materials that you can find almost anywhere to make and build a variety of fun things DIY-style, on your own and using your hands. Expect to go home with a few cool new things built from natural or household materials. Teachers: Fox Ballara & Jacqueline Correnti If you are interested in signing your child up for our summer camps, please fill out this form. Mail the form and your payment to: Pacifica Att: Summer Camp PO Box 1, Williams, OR 97544
2017 Summer Camps
Yoga Camp ~ Playful Practice (Ages 6-12) June 26th-29th Kids, summer and yoga, a great combination! This camp, taught by two local yoga instructors, is designed to provide kids with a fun, creative, and educational experience. Through a combination of yoga poses, games, themed craft projects and relaxation time kids will be able to strengthen their bodies, minds, and spirits. Yoga students will learn to work cooperatively as well as learn to care for and nurture themselves. This camp is sure to create lasting memories, new friendships, and a foundation for health and well-being. Teachers: Clair Highfield RYT & Allee Gus RYT250 Classic Camp ~ A Variety of Fun (Ages 6-10) July 10th-13th Summer days filled with arts and crafts, songs, outdoor games, nature activities and more! If you love to create, play, sing, explore and more than this is the perfect camp experience for you. Join us!
Teachers: Patty Goodin & Leah Markman
Summer Fun ~ Sewing Camp (Ages 8-14)
July 17th-20th Join us for 4 days of fun, learning how to sew. We will work on basic hand and machine sewing skills. There will a number of fun activities that will help you build on these skills. There will be time to play outside in the sun as well and focusing on fun crafts inside. We can’t wait to sew with you, be ready to learn and have a blast with us!
Teachers: Serene Dussell & Heidi Carlson
Theater Camp ~ Dramatic Adventures (Ages 8-18) July 24th-27th Young actors of all skill levels are welcome, from novices to seasoned thespians alike. All you need is a little curiosity and a love for performing! Join local experts in discovering the wonderful world of the stage! We will focus on improvisation, theatre games, and group-building activities that help support building self-confidence and collaboration skills! Shane has over 20 years of experience working in theatre as a performer, director and producer. Teachers: Shane Skinner & Madeline DeCourcey
Rock Band Camp~ Jammin’ (Ages 8-14) July 31st-August 3rd Let’s get rocking. Rock band camp is back. Students will learn the mechanics of song writing, live stage performance, and production. Our goal is to write at least one original piece and perform it at the end of camp! The class focuses on creativity throughout its processes. Brian Risling is a professional musician with extensive stage experience and a professional educator. He is licensed to teach and has been a teacher since 1992. Frankie Hernandez is a professional musician of various instruments. Also, we will view Pacifica’s recording studio, originally built by Steve Miller, and record a track there with Grammy-award-winning engineer Dennis Dragon. Teachers: Brian Risling & Frankie Hernandez Art Camp ~ Passion for Paint (Ages 8-18) August 7th-10th Come explore yourself and the world around you through the medium of paint. Learn the art principles of color, contrast, mark making, layering, and incorporating “self,” while being inspired by the beauty of nature. We will experience different paint mediums while engaging in the dance of creation. Set your imagination free as you play with paint, creating original drawings, paintings, and creations to take home. Teachers: Mary Collins & Shauna Sorce Creativity Camp ~ Makin’ Magic (Ages 6-14) August 14th-17th Bring your playful spirit for a fun week of creating from scratch. We will use a variety of materials, including recycled items to make original creations. The possibilities are endless, as we use our imagination, the inspiration of nature, and the support of each other to produce daily creations to keep for ourselves or share with others. Teachers: Patty Goodin & Mary Collins Camp Botanica~ Plant Fairies of Pacifica (Ages 5-9) August 21st – 24th Join Ms. Dandelion for a week of exploring plants from a fairy’s perspective. If you were a fairy, how would you use a mullein leaf? If you were an elf, what plants would you use as medicine for a bee sting? Plant related stories, songs, games and creative projects will weave together our playful week. Teachers: Lauren Kemple & Alexa Trost Connecting with Nature Camp~ Ancestral Awareness (Ages 6-12) August 28th- 31st Connect with your inner Wild Child and learn to walk in balance and harmony with the living world. We will get in touch with nature through exploring the ponds, creek, and wild areas of Pacifica. Campers will have the opportunity to experience life like our ancestors did by learning and practicing a variety of primitive and survival skills. This camp incorporates storytelling, art, games, and sensory awareness activities with ecology, stewardship, and wilderness skills. Teachers: Shauna Sorce & Vanessa Martinez
Article is from The Daily Courier
WILLIAMS — “Rock ‘n’ roll is not dead,” the 10-member band of Pacifica Garden children’s Rock Band Camp screamed into the mic with some help from a guitar, some banging on the drums and a touch of the keyboard.
For four days this summer, youngsters from around the Grants Pass area and beyond explored the fundamentals of song writing, rhythm and tempo, how to play an instrument and, most importantly, how to work together as a synchronized band.
“Music is so important because it teaches the kids to work as a team,” remarked the band’s teacher, Frankie Hernandez, lead singer of the local band The Frankie Hernandez Band.
With just a few days left before the kids perform their end-of-the-week performance, Hernandez was pleased with the band’s progress. Some kids had never even picked up an instrument before.
“They’re really becoming a band,” he said.
Pacifica Garden, an education-based nonprofit, is offering nine summer camps for kids this summer with an array of topics ranging from yoga, acting, martial arts, wildernesss and sewing.
At the organization’s studio in Williams, originally built by rock legend Steve Miller, the band sounded pretty good practicing with four singers, a drummer, a keyboardist, a bassist, a guitarist and, of course, a tambourine.
One of the singers, 9-year-old Kaya Breeze-Newman, said she developed more confidence in herself and in her ability to sing.
“It made my voice louder,” Kaya said. “I used to be afraid of singing on stage, but after I saw everyone else on stage I wasn’t afraid anymore.”
The education director for Pacifica, Vanessa Martinez, talked about the importance of exposing children to all types of disciplines at a young age and the importance of one-on-one teaching. The organization understands the financial struggles families living in poverty face.
“All students come to camp no matter their family situation. We’ll find the money to get them to the camp,” she said.
The cost to attend the camp is $150, but Pacifica fundraises throughout the year to offer scholarship money. The last three camps of the season, which focus on the practices of yoga, dramatic arts and sewing, have scholarship money available.
For more than 15 years, Pacifica has offered summer camps for children, and Martinez believes it has been inspiring children ever since.
“It inspires the kids to follow their dreams,” she said.
The next camp starts Aug. 15. For more information call or email Vanessa Martinez at 541-621-6278 and vanessa@pacificagarden.org.
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Reach reporter Alex Madison at 541-474-3718 or amadison@thedailycourier.com
Pacifica’s Winter Arts Festival
Sat., December 2, 10:00 – 4:00
FREE Admission
40 local artists with high-quality, hand-made:
Jewelry, Ceramics, Fiber creations, Leather, Photographs, Paintings, & more
Magical Live music: 12 groups at two sites
Applegate Poets: Pond House downstairs, 11:00 and 2:00
Great food: Cedar Center: organic soups, burgers, tacos
Pond House: tri-tip sandwich, cookies (to decorate & eat!)
Friendly country atmosphere
Children: cookie decorating, photos, bird house making, costumes, more
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Fred Meyer is donating $2.5 million per year to non-profits in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, based on where their customers tell them to give. Here’s how the program works:
All of us at Pacifica Garden sincerely thank you for your support!
