Every year, our school hosts a week full of many activities and field trips for the six graders to enrich their learning and to be able to connect more with their peers. However, this year’s six grade camp will be different compared to any other one. To keep everyone safe, Mrs. Mak and the Preuss staff came to the conclusion that due to the pandemic, the camp should be done virtually. The good news is that it won’t be cancelled like last year’s six grade camp.

“Unfortunately, we had to cancel camp last year, but we never considered cancelling camp this year,” Mrs. Mak, 6th grade math teacher, expressed. “We knew we wanted to have a camp, but had to think outside the box!”

The person in charge of this year’s camp is Mrs. Mak. She is a six grade math teacher who has been teaching in Preuss for many years now and this year, she was chosen to manage and organize the six grade camp. Having to organize this traditional camp virtually this year was something unexpected for Mrs. Mak.

“I never thought we would have to do a virtual camp. Nothing about this year is normal – everything is new,” Mrs. Mak expressed.

The camp will take place from March 22nd – 26th, a week before Spring Break begins. The sessions Mrs. Mak and the students look forward to participating in are The Fleet Science Center, The Living Coast Discovery Center, The La Jolla Playhouse and the Ceramics Class, which will be hosted by one of our Preuss History teachers, Vanessa Van De Vanter. Some fun activities they have planned for the students are crafts, art projects, origami, drawing, jigsaw puzzles, storytime and much more. Yet on Thursday, March 25th, the students will have a special opportunity to participate in a showcase where they can share something fun to their classmates and perform a talent or skill they have. On the last day, the students will join the rest of The Preuss School on identity day and will learn about other people’s unique identities.

The other options rather than conducting the camp virtually, were to have social distanced field trips. Nevertheless, this option came with multiple complications, such as transportation due to social distancing. Busing was not going to be a good option and some students don’t have any other transportation methods. Another problem was that many places were closed or shut down due to the pandemic.

“We considered doing some socially distanced field trips or visits to UCSD, but it became too complicated with transportation and busing.” Mrs. Mak, stated. “Also, a lot of organizations are closed due to COVID restrictions.”

The most exciting part of this camp has always been the sleepover at school. Although, due to COVID-19 the sleepover will not take place this year. Unfortunately there isn’t a way where the students are able to have this experience. However, the students and organizers are still very positive and excited about the camp.

“Sadly, there won’t be a sleepover this year. Camp will only be run during normal school hours,” Mrs. Mak said. “However, I think the students are excited! We have some fun sessions planned that will be different than their normal classes, and doing something different is always a nice change of pace!”

By the end of the week, the hope of Mrs. Mak is that everything goes well and everyone has fun. But overall, that six grade camp never becomes virtual again.

“If things go well – great!…but I don’t ever want to have another virtual camp,” Mrs. Mak enforced. “Kids need to be in person – playing, moving, exploring, and socializing. We’re doing the best we can, but being remote is not ideal.”