WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (August 2016) -- There are many ways to measure success at the Army's manufacturing center in Watervliet.
Some here measure success by the number of wartime products that depart on schedule, while others look at tracking the amount of dollars they have saved the government. But there is another important segment of the arsenal that has a voice, too, and they measure success by the number of smiles they create in a day.
"Oh, my gosh, I love seeing these kids have fun," said Laurol Bartlett, the Arsenal's summer camp lead counselor who has been with the arsenal's camp program since it began in 2008.
"I have seen the program grow from about 20 kids to the more than 60 that we have in the program today," Laurol said. "And the only thing better than the kids is the great staff that I have."
The summer camp program runs from the end of June to the end of August and provides an inexpensive option to arsenal parents who want their kids to have an active and safe summer, Laurol said. Additionally, every camp counselor is a teacher in one of the local schools and so, they are well-experienced in making sure that there is a strong education component of the camp.
In addition to swimming, games, and crafts, the camp also goes on field trips every week and the activities range from white-water rafting to the Bronx Zoo in New York City.
But it is one thing for Laurol to claim that her camp creates fun, but it may be another thing for what the kids say.
"If I wasn't coming to summer camp, I probably would be sitting at home watching TV," said Molly Sheldon, who has been attending summer camp for about eight years. "I love coming here because it is a lot of fun and I'm able to make friends."
As much fun as Molly is having she said she is a little sad, too. This will her last summer at summer camp, as she will soon start ninth grade and will therefore, as she calls it, "age out" of eligibility for summer camp. Children must have completed 1st grade but not more than 8th grade in order to participate in the Summer Program.
Sam Griswold said he has been coming to summer camp for the last five years and his number-one fun activity is swimming.
"When I first started coming to summer camp, all I could do was dog paddle," Sam said. "I now swim pretty well."
An interesting comment by Sam may be refreshing to hear from a sixth grader.
"I really like coming to summer camp because the counselors keep us busy," Sam said. "As children, we should be as productive as we can be and summer camp allows us to do just that."
Although Abby Zayhowski is only in her second summer camp, she has a history of participating in arsenal activities. Abby, with her father John, have marched in several Memorial Day parades with the arsenal.
She confirmed what Molly and Sam had previously stated, as she has found that summer camp is "very, very fun."
"When I came here last year, I was a little scared because I didn't know anyone," Abby said. "I have made a lot of friends and the camp counselors really make the activities fun."
On any given day, with the exception of the days with field trips, one will find many parents having lunch with their kids. Which is something that rarely happens when the kids are in school. That is one of the added values of having a summer camp a 10-minute walk from the parents' workplace.
Getting back to the measurement of success, it is impossible to count each time a child smiles or laughs at camp. Suffice it to say, there is no limit to the amount of safe fun that a child, or even a camp counselor, may attain here every day.
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