While COVID-19 has shuttered most plans for large-scale events, Jumpstart Charities launched its Jumpstart Summer Camp online and Whitehorse’s own Stephanie Dixon is set to be the head counsellor for a week.
The camp, which Jumpstart says is to “help kids get active and have fun all summer long”, is nine weeks long in total with a different theme for each week.
Rather than meeting in person, campers (and their families) simply check out Jumpstart’s Instagram or Facebook pages every weekday for activities to participate in.
Week five is titled “Go For Gold Week 2” and will include Dixon, a 19-time Paralympic medallist and a member of the Order of Canada, as the head counsellor for the week.
Dixon said her role involves explaining the broad strokes of the challenges and the themes of the week, with other athletes-turned-counsellors leading the activities.
“Each week has a different theme and different counsellors,” Dixon said. “And I think Jumpstart does a great job to try and create lots of different role models, so instead of having one counsellor for nine weeks, kids are being exposed to lots of different people who do activities in different ways.”
As the camp is being held entirely over social media, Dixon said access to the internet in some form or fashion is the only barrier to entry.
“There is no specialized equipment,” Dixon said. “The programming is inclusive; all the activities can be easily modified. We try and give different examples on how you can do different activities to kind of pull in as many kids as possible of all abilities and ages.”
While the camp is geared toward those ages five to 12, Dixon said it’s fun for everybody.
“I find the activities fun, so really anyone can do it.”
Week five of the camp is scheduled for July 27 to 31, and the counsellors working alongside Dixon are set to be announced closer to the start of the week.
More information about the camp, including daily and weekly activities is available at instagram.com/ctjumpstart/ and facebook.com/CTJumpstart/.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com