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Super Summer Camp Ready To Wrap
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Gavin Peral draws in his favorite activities on his All About Me poster at the Oakdale Super Summer Camp held at the Magnolia Elementary School campus on July 22, during the final week of camp. - photo by Dawn M. Henley/The Leader

It’s hard to say goodbye to summer but school is about to start and the eight-week Super Summer Camp program in Oakdale is wrapping up its final week, ending on July 26.

With the final week’s theme being “Summer Blowout,” the campers are making tie-dye T-shirts, sun visors and other summer-themed crafts, taking a field trip to Funworks on Wednesday, and a couple of walking trips to splash around in the community pool.

The camp, operated by the Oakdale Joint Unified School District at the Magnolia Elementary School campus, started on June 3 with a record 74 children in the first week. Super Summer Camp supervisor Annette Kimball said they averaged about 70 students per week this year, continuing the growth they’ve seen each year since it started.

The camp catered to kindergarten through sixth grade children from Oakdale and surrounding areas, as well as those from out of the area who were visiting. Each week of camp had a different theme, with the activities and weekly field trips following the theme. Camp supervisors surveyed students last year to see what they liked and didn’t like and then planned camp themes around that information this year.

New themes this year included “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” with a field trip to an Oakland A’s game, “Wild Wild West” with a trip to Murphys Big Trees, and “Abra Cadabra” that featured a magician at camp instead of a field trip.

There were also a science theme week with a trip to The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, “Welcome to the Jungle” week with a trip to the Fresno Zoo, a bowling theme week with a trip to McHenry Bowl, and another week where they visited the Stanislaus County Fair.

Fellow camp supervisor Matt Dillon had said that their goal is for students to not be bored and to have fun, so keeping them busy with a variety of activities and structure was key.

Along with field trips and swimming at the city pool, other activities included sports, computer club, chess club, book club, cooking, pottery, gardening, and arts and crafts.

The camp offered the opportunity for many students to visit places they’ve never been and participate in activities that they may not normally get to do.