Chloe Rippe
Reporter
Summer provides the perfect opportunity for many NCHS students to put aside the books and focus on their passions. Some kids go to sports camps to perfect their athletic form while others spend their time by the pool. But The Personal Fulfillment Art Camp, hosted by Saxe Middle School, draws in a certain group of high schoolers who are willing to dedicate their time towards serving as camp counselors and teaching art to youth.
Senior Kerinne O’Connor will be spending her third summer as a counselor at the camp. “Not many jobs allow you to do something you love and get paid for it,” she said. “The kids always make me laugh and I’ve made some great friends working there.”
Middle school art teacher and Camp Director Andrea Levai has made sure that children and even teens can enjoy being a part of this enriching experience, having conducted the camp for twenty two years and making it a mainstay in New Canaan summer youth life. “I enjoy seeing kids trying many different forms of art that interest them, and I am glad to see them come year after year, first as campers and then as counselors who work with the campers and the teachers who instruct them,” she said.
Many of the returning high school counselors are drawn to the opportunity to work with children. “It’s special because you get to know the kids and help them explore their creative, artistic sides, which isn’t very common in summer camps,” sophomore Caroline St. George said.
Junior Eugene Constandaki has also enjoyed getting to know the campers in an artistic environment. “I make friends with the campers and it’s nice to see them every year,” he said.
High schoolers like junior Lauren Serena, sophomore Hannah Kirkpatrick, and many more who have worked at the camp said that the sense of community enforced by the art camp makes for a welcoming environment.
Art camp traditions contribute to this environment by lightening up the mood, such as the weekly “Baby Shark Wednesday” and “Disco Friday,” during which all of the campers and counselors take part in special dances. “[They] affect the counselors and the great job they do day after day,” Ms. Levai said.
The staff effectively maintains this ambience even during work through their respect for one another’s positions. “The highest rank of command at the art camp, above the counselors in training who don’t get paid and the counselors, is the Levai sisters, and at the top you have Ms. Levai,” Eugene said. “It’s good how the lower staff reports to the next highest rank. It’s a very good system because the ‘higher ranked’ people make the less experienced feel comfortable.”
Even though the order of command is based on age and years of experience, all of the high schoolers at the camp said that they enjoyed making new friends with the rest of the staff, as senior and returning counselor Will Hennessy said. “Working with friends makes [the experience]a hundred times better, we even hang out after camp.”
Sophomore Sarah Klearman, who worked at the art camp as a counselor in training, agrees. “I actually took interest in the job because a few of my best friends were working there at the time, but it ended up being an amazing opportunity to meet new people like Kerinne, and also to really teach a younger generation about art,” she said.
Working at Saxe’s art camp has been the highlight of many NCHS high schoolers’ summers. While most graduating seniors have to say goodbye to their friends and family during the school year, some NCHS grads, notably Jackie Slemp, still enjoy returning to work at the art camp during their summer break.
“It’s just been such a great experience,” Jackie said. “Not only to we get to teach children to love art, but we get to do it with our friends.”
