SPORTS AND LIFE SKILLS CAMP

2008 Camp Information

The next Native Vision Sports and Life Skills Camp will be held on June 12-14, 2008 in Bernalillo, New Mexico.  We are grateful to the Southern Pueblo Tribes of New Mexico for hosting our 12th camp. 

For local registration (within 60 miles of Bernalillo High School) please complete the registration form  and mail it to the contact name on the form. 

For non-local registration (further than 60 miles from Bernalillo High School) please complete the registration form and fax to Marlena Hammen at 410-955-2010 or mail to:  Marlena Hammen, 621 N. Washington Street, Baltimore, MD  21205.  There are chaperone forms as well as camper registration forms to complete.  There must be 1 chaperone registered per 6 campers.

2007 Camp Information and Highlights

The 11th Annual Native Vision camp, held in Whiteriver, AZ, was hosted by the White Mountain Apache Tribe June 4–6, 2007, with approximately 500 youths from over 15 tribal nations. They received coaching from 50 of the nation’s top professional and collegiate athletes. Some 800 community members from the host tribe took part in camp activities, including a community feast, cultural celebrations, parenting workshops and opening and closing ceremonies.

The Native Vision camp offered six sports clinics, including football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, track and lacrosse. In addition, JHU organized a variety of life skills and self-expression workshops for campers and adults. These included:

• Leadership workshops in which campers participated in interactive activities to promote teamwork and a vision for their future.
  
• Arts and crafts workshops in which campers were guided through a creative process to produce their own sand art to illustrate their personal vision for how they would, “Stride, Soar, Succeed,”  the camp's theme.
  
• Approximately 40 parents, chaperones and community members attended the Native Vision parent workshop to learn parenting tips and ways to promote literacy with two experts from Catapult Online program, Rachel Whiting and Kim Fields.  The workshop was geared toward building parent’s skills to promote school readiness in their children, with a special emphasis on literacy.  In addition, the workshop facilitators were joined by Scottie Graham, retired running back from the Minnesota Vikings and father of two. Mr. Graham is an engaging, inspiring speaker and has conducted Native Vision parent workshops for the past seven years.  He emphasizes the important role parents play in shaping children’s lives, and how they themselves must be role models in terms of completing education, reading and academics. He also underscored the importance of working together to promote cultural respect and pride and setting high expectations for children, families and communities.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe also organized cultural events and community feasts to promote Native pride and traditional strengths for camp participants. More than 200 local volunteers assisted with the efforts. In addition, Native Vision awarded two $5000 scholarships to Native students entering college. Scholarship recipients were selected through a competitive narrative application and review process administered by the Center. Finally, on the last day of camp, Native Vision pro athlete mentors participated in a community service event in which more than 300 non-perishable food boxes from Feed the Children were distributed to needy and families on the reservation.

Many thanks to US Lacrosse for joining the Native Vision family.  Lacrosse was offered for the first time at the camp in 2007 and there was an overwhelming response from the campers to learn the sport.  For more information on US Lacrosse, visit their website at www.uslacrosse.org.

Contact Information

Native Vision National Office
Marlena Hammen, Native Vision Coordinator
621 N Washington St.
Baltimore, MD 21205
phone (410) 955-6931
fax (410) 955-2010
email: mhammen@jhsph.edu

Photos on the Native Vision website courtesy of Ed Cunicelli and Kristine Kauffman.
ed cunicelli/photographer inc.
p.o. box 86, glen mills, pa 19342
ewc@cunicelli.com