Patton College math and literacy camp teaches children valuable skills while helping local charity

The Patton College’s Moving with Math and Literacy camp this summer added up to be a fun learning experience for elementary-aged children and a little help for area shelter dogs!

The weeklong camp involved 13 campers from kindergarten-fifth grade in activities that integrated mathematics, literacy, movement, and community-building activities. During the week as part of the camp’s curriculum, the kids set up a lemonade stand to collect money for a charitable organization, resulting in a $180 donation to the local organization, Friends of the Shelter Dogs.
 
The Moving with Math and Literacy camp was developed by Courtney Koestler, director of the OHIO Center for Equity in Mathematics and Science (OCEMS), and Julie Francis, director of the Stevens Literacy Center (SLC), and was supported by SLC Literacy Ambassadors Amanda Tier, Danielle Baston, Cierra Hall, Nicole Phillips, and Destanee Folden. The camp built on a previous grant by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation awarded to Koestler, Francis, and Brian Rider, lecturer in Physical Education Teacher Education.
 
“When we first began planning the camp, we started by pulling together a bunch of children’s books that integrated math, literacy, and the real world,” said Koestler. “One of the books happened to be ‘Lemonade for Sale’ by Stuart J. Murphy, and we thought that our campers might like the idea of setting up a lemonade stand.”

The activity was largely camper-led, as the children created advertising signage, determined the roles each child would play at the stand, and voted to select the organization that would receive the donated proceeds.

One of the Literacy Center Ambassadors who assisted in the camp, Amanda Tier, said as part of the experience she learned a lot about the children involved.

“The camp included many fun activities and time for exploration,” said Tier, “yet we found that the children craved dedicated time for the fundamentals like quiet, independent reading and number talks where they showed off their skills for problem solving and flexible thinking."

Tier, who also worked as the graduate assistant for the Teacher Education Department, recently graduated with her Master’s in Reading.

“The kids used all kinds of math and literacy skills, from making signs to measuring out the lemonade to writing letters to the Friends of the Shelter Dogs organization,” said Koestler. “The kids loved the experience.”

Friends of the Shelter Dogs (FOSD) is a non-profit organization that aids dogs in the Athens County Dog Shelter by providing veterinary support for sick and injured dogs, spaying and neutering, rescue operations, and promotion of the adoptable dogs in the shelter.

To culminate the experience, representatives of FOSD—both human and canine—visited the children to receive the donation, collecting the $180 raised from the lemonade stand sales.

The OHIO Center for Equity in Mathematics and Science and the Stevens Literacy Center (SLC) also provide other summer programming, including Social Issues and Math Camp for Middle Schoolers where campers explore social and political issues using mathematics and literacy enrichment.

Lisbeth Krubl and Parker Felton-Koestler learn measurements as they make the lemonade that will be sold at their stand.Photographer: Matt Felton

It was a hot day, so Patton College faculty/staff and other customers appreciated the various flavors of lemonade and the hard work by the camper entrepreneurs!Photographer: Matt Felton