Camp Apple plants seeds of acceptance, friendship
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — When typical children and those with intellectual or physical needs are enrolled in summer camp together, a very special thing happens.
“By the end, there is no obvious division between the kids,” said Brenda Cole, Community Care Connections CEO.
Inclusive day camps are held for three age groups at the company’s facility in the Mount Chestnut area.
Camp Appleseeds, which is conducted three days during one week in May, is for children age 3 and 4, and is a sort of introduction to Camp Apple.
Camp Apple, for those age 5 to 11, is held Monday, Wednesday and Friday for six weeks each summer.
Teen Camp Apple, for those age 12 to 21, also is held for six weeks, plus a two-night campout.
She said attending a camp with their peers who have with intellectual or physical challenges is an invaluable lesson.
“They get the opportunity to understand that your abilities don’t determine who your friends should be,” Cole said. “They learn to be patient and understanding, and learn to communicate with everybody.”
Campers with autism and other conditions also leave the bucolic Community Care Connections campus with a life lesson.
“Kids with disabilities who don’t get to play with their typical peers can now make friendships with anyone,” Cole said.
Interacting with typical children their ages also can have practical advantages for the campers with disabilities.
“We want them to work when they get out of school,” Cole said.
The 65 youths in all three programs get to participate in a bevy of fun activities each day they attend camp, including a day of riding quads and side-by-sides, a visit from the Butler Dog Training Association, Bring your Bike to Camp Day, a Dairy Queen fundraiser and a foam party.
Visits to the Pittsburgh Zoo, the State Police Troop D Butler Barracks, a Pittsburgh Pirates game and a Glow Dance Party also are included in the camps.
The camp programs are funded by United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Butler County Human Services, and smaller grants and fundraisers, Cole said.
Sarah Sauers, Camp Apple program director, said camp activities promote building friendships, and she checks to ensure every camper is capable of participating.
Teen campers get to choose their own activities, and this year’s choices included fishing, swimming at Alameda Pool and visiting the Big Butler Fair.
“They also want to go to Kennywood,” Cole said.
Sauers said campers hate to leave at the end of the day.
“They always ask if they can come on off days, too,” she said.
Roman, 6, said his favorite activity was a band program, where campers learned music and paraded around the office showcasing their skills.
His friend, Zach, said the foam party was his favorite and Caleb enjoyed playing games with friends.
Sauers said camp counselors are paid staff who are largely comprised of teachers on summer break or college students finishing up their teaching degrees.
“They are mostly all returning staff,” she said. “Most have been here for at least six or seven years.”
Erica Leone has worked as a camp counselor at Camp Apple for three years. During the school year, she is a teacher at St. Wendelin Catholic School in Oakland Township.
“I want to teach campers to have fun and relax, and, if they are stressed out, how to cope,” Leone said.
She also loves to see children enjoying the outdoors while interacting with their friends, which is a sentiment corroborated by Ben, 10.
“The main purpose of this is going outside and touching some grass,” said the young camper.
Leone said serving as a camp counselor does not feel like work.
“I’m always excited to come to camp,” she said. “I love that it’s one big family. I love the staff and kids and I love Sarah. She’s the best boss, ever.”
Sauers, who is in her ninth year planning and leading Camp Apple, said she treasures her counselors.
“If I empower my staff and make them feel valued, in return, they are going to come back and work for me again next summer,” she said.
Holly Yount, of Center Township, sent her boys, age 6 and 8, to Camp Apple for the first time this year.
She looked at other day camps for her sons, but ultimately chose Camp Apple because the boys will be exposed to nontypical campers as well as typical.
“It gives them life experience and they realize not everyone is like them,” Yount said.
She said her sons love the camp and do not mention the intellectual or physical challenges of their fellow campers, which she assumes is because they consider them their peers.
“They just say ‘We all play together,’” Yount said. “They love it.”
The boys’ favorite activity so far was the day of riding quads and side-by-sides, followed closely by Bring Your Own Bike Day.
Yount said she plans to send the boys to Camp Apple again next year.
“I think it’s perfect,” she said. “There is always going to be some separation (between typical and nontypical children), but I think both of them getting to experience the same things together is just wonderful.”
Devon Bowser, also of Center Township, said two of her children are attending Camp Apple — Ana, 8, and Anthony, 12, who is autistic.
“It benefits the whole family,” Bowser said. “It allows Anthony to be able to participate in camp without worrying about fitting in.”
She said in other venues, activities are modified to accommodate Anthony or an extra adult is assigned to help him, which both make him stand out.
“At Camp Apple, the staff is extremely well trained,” Bowser said. “They see him as a person and not just his diagnosis.”
Ana gets to interact with others who have siblings with disabilities at Camp Apple, she said.
“It’s hard being the sibling of kids with special needs,” Bowser said. “You don’t always get as much attention.”
She said Camp Apple also spurs important discussions at home.
“We end up having lots of conversations about what disabilities are, and we call them ‘different abilities,’” Bowser said.
She is thrilled to send her children to Camp Apple each year.
“These kids grow up and they can make changes in the world,” Bowser said. “I hope Camp Apple is around for many years to come.”
