These last five weeks have gone extremely fast. I was very busy to say the least. I enjoyed my internship, I liked how I was able to take charge of the Summer Programs and plan which activity the kids were going to do each week. I was given the opportunity to cover the office for Holly when she was unable to be there. I was given the authority to make decisions and to deal with any situations that arose until she got back. This experience proved to me that I can handle situations that arise at the spur of the moment. It also helped me be more confident. I enjoyed the staff that I worked with this summer, they were all very sweet people and also very welcoming. It was nice to put some of my managerial skills to work. Even though I was in the office a lot during the summer programs, I was still able to help teach a few classes as the Running Club which is one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the kids that were in that class this summer. Another class I was glad I was able to help teach was science, the kids were always excited to see what experiments we were going to do that day. In general, it was the same routine each week. Except for the last week which was the craziest week of them all. The fourth of July week included: decorating, Cutie Contest, getting the 5k t-shirts, setting up for the 5k, the fourth of July parade, making sure vendors got what they needed, and lastly running the 5k. Holly and I were basically in charge of the entire 4th of July week. Along with summer programs I was able to experience what it was like to pretty much be in charge with Holly during that week. I enjoyed helping and seeing what all goes into running the 4th of July week. Holly really enjoyed having me as her assistant this summer and she definitely didn’t want it to end. She was very helpful in teaching me the ropes, she was always there for me to help me learn and also become a better person. This internship has given me a great experience and also gave me an incite on how a parks and recreation department is run, especially during its busiest season.
Thursday morning I came in and set up for the seniors right away, and then I went and got all the supplies ready for the summer programs. Then it was time for running club and the kids did not let me forget that I promised them that we would go “exploring today”. Their goal was to get lost in the trails, but little did they know I knew the trails very well and there was no way that we were going to get lost. We took off and I let my group of kids pick which trail and direction in where they wanted to go. I’ve really enjoyed the group of kids that did running club this year, and I was really impressed cause I never had any problems with them. Thursday afternoon I sorted the 5k registrations and then went around Winona and collected the door prizes that were donated. On Friday I got the programs ready to go and went and picked up the golf cart since we had a lot of running around to do. In the park vendors were setting up, Holly & I drove around and made sure they got what they needed. Friday at 5pm was parade registration and this year’s theme was Solute to Our Heroes. Once again I was in charge of registration for the parade. Saturday morning came very quickly. I was at the park by 6:00 a.m. and setting up tables for registrations, prizes fruit and water. I was in charge of registration for the Firecracker 5k & then after the race had to hand out the awards for each age category. KRA does our timing for our Firecracker 5k and this year they tried a new program, which didn’t work correctly after the first 2 racers finished. It recorded everyone’s times, but it didn’t match up with the correct person. So we had to write down everyone’s number in the order that they crossed they finished line. We then had to go through and make a list of each age and gender category from 1-6. As well as going through each age registration form to see who they were and what category they belonged in. For example we had numbers in order like 2106, 4078, 334 so we had to find that number on their form and find out whom that person was and their age/gender. That delayed the results for a while.
The second half of my Tuesday was finishing up doing phone calls for the firecracker 5k door prizes and confirming when we would be around to pick them all up. Wednesday was our cutie contest, so on Tuesday afternoon I made all the posters, saying: “Cutie Contest” “Prince & Princess Registration” “King & Queen Registration.” The Prince & Princess are for ages 3-4 and the King & Queen are for ages 5-6. Wednesday morning I got supplies ready for day. Then I pulled out decorations for the Cutie Contest and put them up in main room in the community building. I put up decorations (which were mainly red white and blue) set up all the posters, and got the tables and chairs set up as well and got all the registration paper ready to go. I also put together 30 gift bags one for each kid that entered the contest received a gift bag. It consisted of candy, necklace or bracelet, gum, stickers, and some stick-on tattoos, and crayons and pencils. Wednesday night the registration started at 5:30 and the pageant started at 6. I was in charge of registration for the cutie contest. One of the activities for our summer program was Pinteresting. This is a class where we use ideas that are off of pinterest.com. During this week the kids did crafts such as crayon art on a canvas, they made a bracelet out of pop tabs; they used corks and paint to help make different animals, and they also made tie-dye t-shirts. This class is always a big hit, and the kids always cannot wait to see what they are going to make/create today.
This week is our busiest of the summer. On top of the normal summer programs, the week of the 4th of July we put on a cutie contest, parade, and the firecracker 5k. Monday morning was like normal I set up all the tables, chairs and got the video ready for the seniors and then started their video at 930am. Then I went and got all the supplies needed for the classes and explained to the instructors how today and this week was going to work out. This week we had preschool art of Wild Wild West. During this week the kids made their own sheriff badges, they made a horse out of a paper plate, and also made a vest out of a paper bag. Also this week was peewee t-ball, youth volleyball, fishing, and Pinteresting. I covered the office with Holly and help answer phone calls, and start making a list of everything we had to get done this week. In the afternoon I called different businesses around Winona and asked if they would like to donate door prizes for the Firecracker 5k again this year. Almost everyone said they would love to donate something for the 5k. For example different businesses would donate gift cards, samples of a product, or an item from their store. Tuesday morning I once again got the crafts ready for the day. Since it was Tuesday morning it was running club day. So today I took the kids through the dirt trails; they absolutely love going through the dirt trails because there is a creek that we have to cross, but the only way to cross is to walk across a fallen tree, also my running club kids love to take new paths and find other ways out of the trial. By the time they asked me to take a new path it was already time to head back so I promised them that we would go “exploring” on Thursday morning. Once I got back from running club I checked on all the other programs to make sure they were going smoothly, and I changed the marque sign for Free Family Fun Winona Lake Fireworks. Also I went up the hill to the gas station and stocked up on bait for the week for our fishing class. We usually provide the poles for fishing, but sometimes kids like to bring their own poles. This is another class that we really stress about safety. Well today one kid accidently stuck a duck and we had to cut the fishing hook out of him. The kid felt terrible bout getting the duck, but we explained to him that accidents happen and we all need to be a little bit more careful.
Thursday I came in and got the seniors all set up and the video ready to go. Got the craft baskets ready to go for the day and then I had running club. Today we did the same thing as what we did on Tuesday, went and ran through the paved trail then on our way back we hiked through the dirt trails. This time through the dirt trails they wanted to listen to music. We got through to the beginning of the trail rather quickly today, since we had extra time I let the kids go hang out and play by the creek for a few minutes before the hour was up. This week we also had archery. This class is a huge one on safety. This year we had old cottages that were going to be tore down in a couple of weeks, so we took the targets and sat them up against the cottage and the kids shot from there. This way we did not have to worry about people crossing behind the targets and possibly getting hit. During archery we are tougher on the kids with safety rules. We go over the rules every single day before they start shooting. Thankfully we have not had any injuries due to archery. Just like any set of kids, we are constantly reminding them during the entire hour to back up, not point he arrows at anyone and to only point them at the ground, and so on. Some of the kids missed and accidently hit a window of the cottage and shattered it. The kids thought this was funny and next thing we know everyone is aiming for the window and not the targets. We then had to make a rule everyone must aim and shoot at the targets only, instead of the window. At the end of the week we blew up balloons, placed them on one side of the house and the kids took turns shooting trying to pop the balloon. This took them the entire hour to pop 10 different balloons. I then helped cover the office the rest of the day and also took care of some boat rentals. I had multiple people call in asking about registration for the 5k next weekend. On Friday I got the craft basket ready to go for the day. Then in the afternoon I had to pick up and put all the materials away that we pulled out from this week. Also I pulled out more Fourth of July stuff to see what we could use for this year. I then sorted what we had for the cutie pageant, parade, firecracker 5k, and festivities of Friday night. Holly and I were preparing for next week to be a busy one for us.
Tuesday afternoon I posted pictures for my boss on Facebook and Instagram of the ground breaking and summer programs. I then put away materials in the craft room. And started talking to Holly about how next week is going to go (4th of July, our busiest week of the summer). We talked about what we needed to get done for this week, and we figured out who was going to be doing what for next week. We posted a list so that the other employees could sign up to volunteers to help out with the festivities of next Friday night. Wednesday I came in got the craft baskets ready and then made sure that tennis was running smoothly. We had a complaint from a parent already about how the tennis needs to be ran better. This would be the first incident we have had with out new staff. Come to find out that the kids were not listening to the instructor. So on Wednesday morning I went out with the other instructor and helped her out getting the kids to listen and focus. When we got the complaint we wanted to nip it in the but so for the rest of the week I am going to be helping out with teaching tennis, and hopefully it will go little more smoothly with two of us out there. Sometimes we have classes that no one may sign up for, well this week we didn’t have anyone sign up for the Mini Monet art class, so at 1pm all we had was archery. Then on Wednesday afternoon Holly and I started pulling out Fourth of July, Firecracker 5k, Cutie Contest stuff from last year to see what we had and what we were going to need to purchase for next week. After going through everything we already had we found out that we only needed a handful of items, and we could get by with what we have for this year. But next year we will have to order more decorations and such for this next week.
On this Monday I set up for the seniors, and started their video at 930am. Then I went and made sure everything was good to go for the craft basket. This weeks activities were Under the Sea, Peewee Tennis, Youth Tennis, Pinteresting, and Archery. Monday morning the first preschool activity was Under the Sea. During this week the kids get to make a picture frame in the shape of a fish bowl, made a jellyfish out of a bowl, and yarn, they also made, a shark visor, and made an octopus with their hands and paint. We usually have about 3-5 kids in our preschool art classes and during these classes we usually have to help and show them exactly how to do each project. This morning was a slower Monday morning. I covered the office and answered the phone all morning while Holly was running the Bingo session with the seniors. In the afternoon on Monday I covered the office while Holly was in meetings. I had multiple people come in and give us registration for the firecracker 5k, which is next weekend. Once, I started getting a handful of registration forms I had to put them in alphabetical order. I had only one family come and rent a canoe in the afternoon for an hour, other than that it was a slow Monday afternoon for us. Then on Tuesday morning I got the craft basket ready and then had running club. Half of the kids wanted to do dirt trails while the other half wanted to do the paved trails. So I told them that we would run the pave trail to the other end and then on the way back we would do the dirt trail. On the way back every kid wanted to go down a different path, they were all begging to go down separate. Well since we only had 30 minutes left I had them all stick together and go down a shorter path that led us to the begging of the trial. The trail that we took today had multiple up and down hills. The kids decided we were all going to stick together and play roller coaster while we ran through the dirt trail. This consisted of every time we would come to a hill going downward, you would throw your hands up like you were on a roller coaster. The kids enjoyed this game and I think we got through the trail quicker than normal. I took pictures for my boss of the ground breaking of the Winona Lake Limitless Park and the summer programs.
Thursday I came in and set up for the seniors, then I had running club. And we ran through the paved trail but today I told them lets see how far we can run with out stopping. A lot of them made it almost the entire way though. On the way back there is a creek towards the beginning of the trail, and on this day since we ran more, we had a little more extra time so we stopped by the creek. I let the kids play and hang out for about 10 minutes, until class was over. Also this week was pioneering. During this week, the kids got to make a horse out of a sock, doll rod, stuffing, and yarn. They also made their own wagon out of cardboard and construction paper. With news paper rolled up they made a little wood cabin. Another thing they did was made bonnets for themselves, and then we made a fire out of tissue paper; on this day they “roasted marshmallows” and made s’mores and on Friday they get to make their own ice cream. The kids thought this was a fun class. And they could not believe that people actually lived in a time where they traveled by wagon, and rode horses all around. Then Thursday in the afternoon I covered the office and answered phone calls for Holly. I also had to fill the pop machine. Our pop machines recently, have been a big pain for us. Multiple times a week we get people that come to the office saying that the machine took their money and they are unable to get a drink out. We then have to just go out there and open it up ourselves and hand them a drink, or we will return their money. We have four different machines, and at least a few times a week, one or two of them will get jammed and will not work properly. Friday I got the basket of crafts stuff ready for the day. On this day I helped out with Pioneering and they made their own ice cream. The kids thought this was the neatest thing and were all surprised that it actually tasted like ice cream. The kids also figured out that in order for this to work, they had to shake and shake and shake and shake until everything was all mixed up. But for the kids, the taste of ice cream was a great reward for them putting in the work to make it. Friday afternoon I picked up the craft room and started looking at lesson plans for next week. I made the class list for the classes. Holly and I once again had a cleaning day of the office.
Tuesday afternoon I put away the supplies that we used and made sure we had all the materials needed for the rest of the next couple days. We needed a few things so I made a Wal-Mart run to get what we needed. Then on Wednesday morning I got the crafts baskets ready and told the instructors what they were teaching today. Creepy Crawly Bugs is the preschool craft that is at 9am. During this week, the kids get to color and make their own bug boxes, make a butterfly, color their own bug mask, make their own ant farm with stickers, and trace their favorite bug from stencils. Also this week is Color My World. During this class they hot glue crayons to a canvas and then they put the blow dryer to it and melted the crayons. They also made fireworks with q-tips, and paint, made water color flowers out of water color paint and coffee liners, colorful stainless glass kites, and they used scrapbook paper, cut of different designs (one girl cut out flowers) and then we modge-podge them on a canvas board. One other thing the kids did during this class was get wax paper, and permanent markers, then they colored a design and then stuck that design over a candle and put the blow dryer to it & the ink transferred from the wax paper to the candle. We came to some difficulties doing this particular project because we had to really make the writing on the wax paper very heavy and dark, and it took a while for the color to transfer over to the candle. Some of the kids were too anxious and they got a fade of what it was suppose to look like, then they just made it darker on the candle by themselves with the marker. In the end they all turned out cute with their own little designs. On Wednesday afternoon I picked up the supplies from the morning. Then I put away the life jackets, and paddles and locked up all the canoes. Then I planned out the rest of the crafts for the last two days.
Monday morning I came in and set up for the seniors and then I got the baskets ready for the day. Then I started their video at 930am. This week our classes are: Creepy Crawly Bugs, Peewee and Youth Soccer, Color My World, Canoeing, and Pioneering. I got the craft basket ready and showed the instructors what activities they were doing for the day. Then Monday afternoon I looked up different activities we could possibly do for Creepy Crawly Bugs, Color My World, and Pioneering for the rest of the week. Then on Tuesday morning I first got the craft baskets ready to go then I had Running Club. Today we ran for 2 min and then we walked for 1 min, well that was the goal. The kids also like listening to music while they run, so I brought my phone with me. I told them we will listen to music, but while the music is on we have to be running. One person would pick a song and while that song played we would run then once it was done we could walk and figure out another song, then once that song started playing we had to run; and so on. The kids really enjoy this today and it kept them running together and the entire time. After running club I made sure the instructors had everything they needed for peewee soccer and youth soccer. I then went to the porch area and got out the life jackets, and paddles for canoeing. I unlocked the canoes as well. When canoeing. We have to have at least one lifeguard go with the group, and each canoe has to have one instructor in it. Then they would just canoe around the channel and back for the hour.
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