daniellelizcantor

[daniellelizcantor]

Week 6 (6/20)

This week, the camp's theme was Courts and Communities. The History Center itself is housed in the restored Orange County courthouse where visitors can still walk around a courtroom on the third floor, which definitely adds to the excitement of the week's theme.

My first shift for the week began with some new campers and a visit to the Native Peoples and Natural Environment exhibits, which are definitely a favorite among the kids for all their interactive elements. For the morning activity, I tagged along with a group that was given a lesson on blood types and their uses in medical settings and as evidence in court cases. The campers then did an activity where they were given a stuffed animal with a specific blood type and had to search the room for other stuffed animals with compatible blood types. In the afternoon, I helped out with another group of campers and their lesson on communities, specifically what can make a community diverse and inclusive and the importance of having those elements within your community. Kids then split up into groups where they would make their own cities based on their wants and needs for their community and were encouraged to write down possible problems with inclusivity and how they would fix them. I really enjoyed helping out with this lesson because I believe it's important to introduce kids to these ideas early on. When ideas of diversity and inclusion are promoted, children begin to understand the value of them and hopefully will grow to become more empathetic and thoughtful individuals as a result.

My last shift of the week was on a very hot day, so camp began with indoor recess. Sticking with one teacher for the day, I helped out with their morning activity, which was a lawmaking lesson tying into the court theme. After learning the many steps of how a bill becomes a law, campers participated in a game show where they tried their hand at being judges in different scenarios and familiarized themselves with some interesting laws from different states in America. In the afternoon, our group of campers got to be detectives in a crime scene escape room. They collected evidence and clues from around the room and pieced them together to figure out what happened. Once the mystery was solved, campers learned a bit about fingerprints and how they are helpful as evidence in court cases. Ink pads and paper were passed out so they could see their fingerprint types and make art from it.

[daniellelizcantor]

Week 5 (6/13)

This week was the second week of camp and the theme was VIP (Very Important Pioneers). The morning of day 1 for me was spent helping out at recess, which was nice because it wasn't too sunny yet. Our group's morning activity was a lesson on Florida cowmen and their methods for catching and herding cows. The kids then got to try out an obstacle course where they would lasso a cow at the end, all while riding a horse like cowmen did (of course, theirs were inflatable toys). For the afternoon activity, a new group of kids came in and got to try their hand at acting. A short lesson was given on Ariana Grande, a famous singer and actress from Boca Raton, Florida, and then the campers chose a story that they would perform later in the week. I helped out a group of girls pick roles and make props for their performance of Rapunzel. I'm gathering that the activities set up for camp are either related to the history theme of the week or creative ones where the campers get to express themselves. I think it's a good mix that keeps the kids engaged throughout the week. No matter what activity, though, there is always a way to tie it back to Florida.

Continuing that theme into my second day of the week, we returned to the indigenous peoples exhibit and focused on a Timucuan canoe artifact that directly related to the morning activity. Campers learned more about the Timucua and how they made and used these canoes, then made their own by carving them from soap bars. After lunch, I helped out another teacher and their group with their afternoon lesson, Bob Ross painting. Campers got a quick background on the famous painter, Bob Ross (who I learned was from Daytona Beach that day), and his famous nature paintings. They then got to follow one of his tutorials and make their own nature paintings.

My third day working was another field trip day, this time to Pioneer Village in Osceola County. My responsibilities were fairly the same as last week's field trip, except this was a further away location where we would be for most of the day. I had a small group of kiddos to watch over as they explored the replica village. A scavenger hunt booklet was given to us so we could find the details of each building. Activities were set up all around as well, like pioneer games, schoolhouse lessons, and farming techniques. The kids had a great time and learned lots about the pioneers of Florida.

[daniellelizcantor]

Week 4 (6/6)

Hello! This week was the beginning of summer camp and the official start of my internship. I work three days out of the week; my first two were fairly similar. Camp usually begins with morning care and snack time, which is nice because it gives the kids, teachers, interns, and volunteers a bit to get ready and ease into the day. For interns, we were instructed to stick with a teacher for the week to get used to their teaching style and routine, so I stuck with Ms. Lily, who is very nice and has a teaching style that is definitely compatible with how I handle kids. When snack time was over, we brought our group over to an exhibit about the indigenous groups of Florida and the natural environment. The room had lots of interactives for the kids to learn from. It was interesting hearing what they already knew and what information they gained from the exhibit. Next for that group was recess, so a new group of kids came to us for our next activity. The theme for the week was tourism and the destinations people come to Florida to visit, so naturally our activity had to do with theme parks. Kids were given a little lesson about the many rollercoasters our theme parks had to offer, then got to build their own and roll marbles down them to test their success. Lunch was next, then we brought another group of kids to our afternoon activity, which was making wands and potions based on the many Harry Potter lands of Universal Florida's theme parks. Helping the kids with this activity was definitely the highlight of my first two days, it was fun seeing their creativity process.

My third day was a field trip day. It started similarly to earlier in the week with an exhibit; this time we brought our group of kids to the "Destination Florida" exhibit that had information on the past 100 years of Florida tourism. The kids got to do a scavenger hunt that familiarized them with the artifacts of the room. Next, we took half the camp kids on a field trip to the nearby Lake Eola park. I was paired with a younger volunteer and put in charge of a group of six kids to guide around the lake for a bigger scavenger hunt, where we found animals like swans and turtles and learned about the types of plants that surround the park.

Overall, I'm having a great time and learning lots at my internship! The kids and staff alike are so nice and welcoming!

[daniellelizcantor]

Week 3 (5/30)

Hello! My internship officially starts next Monday, so nothing to report on that end yet. This week, I wanted to reflect a bit more on my past work experience and some skills I hope to develop/build upon during my time at the History Center.

Like I mentioned in my week one blog post, I have some experience working with children. I currently work at a church where I guide children through Sunday school lessons and activities. During my time there, I have worked with and cared for a diverse range of age groups, from babies to six-year-olds. I have the most experience with children ages four to six, so working with slightly older kids during my internship should be a new and interesting way to broaden my experience. I never gave the idea of education as a career much thought until I started working at the church; I just figured I wasn't the teaching type and was initially nervous about that responsibility when I moved up to our older kids, but I found that I actually really enjoyed guiding them through lessons and crafts. During my orientation last week, I was told I would have the opportunity to teach a lesson to the kids near the end of camp, which I'm both nervous and excited about. I always feel nerves when it comes to public speaking, so that doesn't surprise me, but ultimately, I'm just very excited to take my past teaching experience and expand upon it in this new environment. I'm interested to see how this internship will influence my thoughts on history education as a future career for me.

[daniellelizcantor]

Week 2 (5/24)

Hello! This week, I continued with my onboarding process in order for everything to be set once summer camp begins and I start working. I spent the previous weeks filling out some background information forms and even took a trip to the Orange County offices downtown for fingerprinting, which I had never done before. I went back to that office this week to retrieve my intern badge.

Today, I spent the day at the History Center for their summer camp orientation. Interns and volunteers were invited so we could learn more about our roles and what summer camp would look like. We began the morning with an icebreaker where we listed a couple of things we loved and went around the room to sign other pages if we liked something on their lists as well. After the icebreaker was a powerpoint presentation with lots of details about the camp. Slides covered topics like how we can be a good role model/example for the kids, our responsibilities depending on morning or afternoon shifts, and tips on interacting and forming positive relationships with the kids. From there, we broke out into smaller groups and moved around through stations. My group's first station had us touring the building and areas we would be in often, then we practiced setting up tables and tents for outside activities in our second station. We got a lunch break after going through our first two stations. It was a nice opportunity to meet and chat with volunteers, interns, and staff that I would most likely be seeing a lot throughout the summer. Everyone I talked to was kind and friendly, which was good because I'm on the shyer side so that gave me the confidence to make conversation. We continued with stations after lunch. My group's next station involved making friendship bracelets, an activity we were told would come back during camp, so it was good practice for when we would be helping the kids, but also just a fun activity to do for orientation. Our last station was cleaning practice in one of the classrooms. We wiped down tables that were covered in paint, markers, glue, and other general craft supplies and learned where those supplies would be for activities during camp. Then, of course, we got to do some crafts ourselves. It was a messy and fun way to end the day and, overall, orientation helped me get familiar with the work environment and built excitement for when I start the job!

[daniellelizcantor]

Week 1 (5/16)

Hello! My name is Danielle and I am a senior at the University of Central Florida majoring in history. Through the several history courses I have taken there and at Valencia College, where I earned my Associate in Arts, I have found myself gravitating towards and researching more about European history and humanities, especially the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Learning about the culture, artwork, literature, and events of those eras is fascinating.

Alongside my interest in European history, I am also eager to learn more about the rich and complex history of Florida. The Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando is the perfect place to do so, which makes the opportunity to intern there so exciting for me. This particular intern position will be with their summer camp for children ages 6-11, meaning I will build experience not only in public history but in history education as well. I am familiar with and work in childcare and have a little experience teaching as well, so I am excited to continue developing those skills in a setting that involves history, the area I would like to make a career in. The fields of curation and history education are ones I plan to pursue in the future, so this will be a wonderful way to gain firsthand experience.

I hope you enjoy reading about my journey!