After dropping off my daughter at Galileo Summer Quest each morning for two weeks and then hearing her daily summary, I was anxious to see what she had done at camp with my own eyes. The Camper Showcase was held on the last Friday at 2:00pm. Family and friends were invited to special presentations that the campers had prepared.
It was awful trying to find parking and I had to park out side the lot, hoping my car would still be there when we were done. My daughter majored in Chefology so our first stop was the cafeteria. Unlike the previous days, the driveway was devoid of anyone giving directions so many parents were lost. That included my husband. Though I had been circling the parking lot and had to walk from the entrance, I was there before my husband.
Wow, this was great! First the campers gave us a little tour of their classroom with each camper sharing a little blurb they were assigned. Then it was demonstration time. The children took turns using the burners to make us crepes. That’s my little girl spreading the lactose-free batter she made. When it was done (and it turned out perfectly by the way) I got to put on some topping the children had prepared. Doesn’t it look delicious?! Oh, it was by the way! Later my daughter made one for my husband as well. Each camper took home a box with recipes of the dishes they cooked during the week, spices, a class picture, and the jam and sunflower seed butter they made.
We then headed to her two minor classes. The first was Myth Smashers. The instructor gave us a summary of what was done during the two weeks. She handed out some certificates and next went to Green Design. This instructor demonstrated the water mill they made and experimented with. Then the students got in their groups and described the green companies they put together, including the headquarters they had built. The group my daughter was in was the only one that had a pool – that’s my girl! The presentation concluded with watching the solar-powered cars they made run outside, which was really fascinating. Out of all the designs the groups put together only two made the cut and worked. Since no one else took it, my daughter got to keep one of the two cars.
The Camper Showcase was a wonderful feature of the Galileo Summer Quest program. My husband actually got off work early and he was so glad that he did. We had the opportunity to see our normally timid daughter give an oral presentation and interact with other campers. We already knew that the highlight of the program for her was her major, Chefology. This reserved hour allowed us to see first-hand the environment that fostered in her a great desire to cook, and to cook from scratch at that. After seeing all this, there was no doubt in our minds that our daughter had in fact learned quite a lot and that the past two weeks were well-spent.
