A Slippery Rock University student experienced what it’s like to nurture the potential of local school-age kids by helping them avoid summer learning loss, all while having fun doing it.
Dimajio Locante, an SRU sophomore secondary education major from Pittsburgh (Keystone Oaks HS), spent this summer as a lead counselor for Camp Batch, a summer camp program in Homestead for students in grades 3-10 run by the Best of the Batch Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by former Pittsburgh Steeler Charlie Batch.
As an aspiring teacher, Locante has a soft spot for helping kids, particularly when it comes to helping kids express themselves. One of the many activities his group enjoyed during the camp’s run was the production of a short film that the students wrote, shot, acted in and edited.
“Experiences like that help the kids to stay true to themselves, but also to be better,” Locante explained. “It gives them space to express in ways that they don’t normally get the opportunity to.”
Many of the students that Locante met over the summer came from underserved communities. Because of their backgrounds, they oftentimes have to deal with challenges that would be difficult even for adults, like food security and safety for themselves and their families.
“It was an eye-opening experience for me,” Locante said. “Some of the things the kids were going through were things that I couldn’t personally even imagine, so it was important to make them feel safe, loved and seen.”
The experience also helped Locante to get a better sense of what it looks like to manage a large group of energetic kids, something that will serve him in developing his classroom management skills before student teaching and then having a classroom of his own.
“I had to figure out how to manage them closely while still allowing them to have fun and be themselves,” Locante said.
This was difficult when students were outside during games and chasing one another with pool noodles, but Locante eagerly stepped in and guided his campers toward making responsible choices with the freedom that they were given.
“They’re kids now, but one day they’re going to be adults who need to make decisions that affect themselves, the country and the whole world,” Locante said. “But while they’re kids, it’s important for them to have a space to be kids.”
As if making movies and playing games isn’t exciting enough for a kid, this year’s camp was space themed, and students got to learn scientific facts about our solar system and what it’s made of.
“We were able to expose them to a lot of information that they might not have yet,” Locante said.
This information is also sure to help these students going into future science classes and perhaps even future careers in the sciences.
“As a future teacher, it helped with my classroom management skills, helped me to get a better grasp of how to help students engage with what they’re doing in class, and helped me to be understanding of different students’ feelings and situations,” Locante said. “But beyond that, it really gives you perspective for what kids are dealing with and what they need.”
Through supporting the potential of kids who are so often, at best, overlooked and, at worst, maligned, Locante is making good use of the time before stepping into his own classroom by empowering students to express themselves and the strive to be the best that they can be.
More information about the secondary education major at SRU is available on the program’s webpage. More information about Camp Batch can be found on the Batch Foundation’s website.
