Hannah Kraft didn’t set out to launch a bilingual vacation Bible camp at her Morristown parish, but the successful new summer program at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church was the payoff for her curiosity.
Originally, the idea was to help Spanish-speaking kids learn English.
Hannah, 17, envisioned teaching other teens English when she joined a Bible study class of Principe de Paz, an evangelical congregation that rents space at St. Peter’s.
But the teens already spoke English quite well. They said their parents needed the help.
And so Hannah set about devising an English tutoring program for adults. She walked across the street to the Morristown & Township Library and did some research, then reached out to the Literacy Volunteers of America.
Before long, 30 parents were showing up on wintry Friday nights for classes.
When Hannah asked what the parents needed next, they expressed concerns about how to occupy their kids all summer. Daycare was too expensive. And so the St. Peter’s Bilingual Summer Bible Camp was born.
Leaders from the two churches met to share ideas and plan. The Simon Foundation provided a $20,000 grant, and the F.M. Kirby Foundation kicked in another $2,000. St. Peter’s parishioners came up with more than $5,000 in matching donations, enabling the church to extend the month-long camp with two weeks of day-trip excursions.
Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon for captions.
‘YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH SO MUCH’
Since July 8, some 50 kids, ranging from kindergarteners to seventh-graders, have kept busy from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. every weekday. They sing songs, worship, create artwork, sculpt pottery and study the Bible in English and Spanish.
A sprinkler on the church lawn is popular on hot days. Friday field trips to Sunrise Lake are even more popular. The Liberty Science Center and Somerset Patriots games also are on the itinerary.
Sports activities include volleyball and ping pong. The kids eat lunch together every day, and their families come on Thursdays for supper at St. Peter’s, where children pitch in by preparing Rice Krispie treats and other desserts.
They provide the entertainment, too, singing and displaying the week’s artwork. St. Peter’s parishioners as well as the camp staff are invited to the Thursday suppers as well.
“This shows that if you work together with harmony and love, you can accomplish so much,” says Patricia Recarte, secretary of Principe de Paz and wife of its pastor, Alex Recarte.
Patricia says the camp has made a huge difference in the lives of children and parents from Principe de Paz, which was established three years ago. About half of the congregation’s 200 members are Guatemalan, and the other half are Honduran.
She’s witnessed positive changes in her own daughter, Melissa, an assistant counselor at the camp. “She’s discovered her true calling is teaching. She likes working with kids,” the mom says.
Adult and teen counselors are drawn from both churches. The counselors say they learn as much as the children, whose age groups are identified with flashy names: Unicorns, Pandas, Coconuts, Rock Stars.
“I’ve learned a lot about time management,” says Hannah, who teaches the art classes, one of the camp’s most popular offerings.
Kids whip through her arts-and-crafts assignments so fast that she had to come up with ways to pace the class. She also credits the camp with improving her Spanish. Kids are honest and direct: “They will tell you if your Spanish is no good,” she says.
Although acting runs through her family – Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are her uncle and aunt – Hannah does not feel pulled in that direction.
“I definitely love teaching,” she says. “This is a different kind of teaching, where you know you’re helping someone.”
Julio Monzon, 16, is a counselor from Principe de Paz.
“What’s fun is I enjoy working with kids. I learn a lot from them. I learned that I’m not as patient as I thought I was!” Julio says. And the children, who hail from different ethnic groups, learned how to practice what they learn in Bible class, he says.
How dies he like working with Hannah?
“She’s chill. She’s the best,” Julio says.
Josh Boccino, 17, of St. Peter’s also is part of the team.
“I needed a job for the summer,” he says. A prior babysitting gig prepared him. “I have fun taking care of the kids most of the time. It helps build patience and responsibility.”
Julian Cantu, 13, chose the St. Peter’s camp over another one because he knows lots of people there. Volunteering in the cooking classes is his favorite part.
“I like to help kids,” he says.
THE ‘CHAIR OF SHAME’
Instructor Stephany Vargas, 21, says this is the first camp experience for many of the kids. It also is invaluable experience for her; she is studying at Seton Hall University to become a pediatrics nurse.
“It’s really tiring,” she says of the camp, where she teaches kindergarteners and first-graders. For those who get too rambunctious, there is the Chair of Shame. Ten minutes of silence in the Chair can feel like a lifetime in Leavenworth for a 5-year-old.
St. Peter’s member Catie Owen, 16, studies Spanish in school and aspires to be a kindergarten teacher. The kids inspire her.
“They all like to talk about where they’re from. They all ask for the colors of their flag. It’s pretty cool,” Catie says.
The counselors see the value for the children, too.
“This way,” says Melissa Recarte, 16, “50 kids aren’t sitting home watching TV all day.”
And what made the kids happy campers?
“We get wet and do sports,” answers Jonathan Zuluaga, who will be a second-grader this fall.
Daniella Pachecho, 10, says she enjoyed Bible studies and hanging art with her friends. Hannah Linares, 9, says she likes doing art, too.
Campers’ parents, who pay less than it would cost to hire a babysitter, seem pretty happy as well.
Everyone volunteers a few hours per work for church maintenance; those who cannot afford to pay for their children’s camp fees volunteer a little extra time.
“The parents feel very welcome,” Patricia says. “Everyone chips in. They almost feel like it’s their camp. You can feel the love.”
Melissa James says her 8-year-old son, Mekhi Wall, come home every day singing new songs and sharing stories from camp.
“He likes it because it’s something different. He never knew Spanish. Now he comes home with words I don’t know,” Melissa says.
Gladys Escobars, a housecleaner from Guatemala, heard about the camp from a Morristown neighbor. Her 6-year-old son, Kevin, loves the art and music classes, she says.
“When he comes home, he talks about God, his friends and the love of other people. It’s a good experience for him and for me,” Gladys says.
Julian Barrera, an employee for a metal-working company, pays $70 a week to send his sons, Michael, 7, and Julian Jr., 6, to the camp.
“They love it,” says the native of Colombia. “It helps me a lot, too. If we didn’t do that, my kids would be home watching TV. This is much better, They come here and learn a lot of things. They get to know about the Bible and God and all that stuff.”
‘NOTHING BUT JOY’
The whole thing is overseen by Dee Klikier, a retired Harding school principal who manages St. Peter’s facilities. Her friends from Harding donated 15 computers to St. Peter’s; on a recent afternoon, young campers were enjoying educational video games.
“For me, this is nothing but joy,” says Dee, who formerly ran a summer day camp in Harding. “I love to be with kids. They’re so appreciative. Every day they come here, they’re so happy.”
St. Peter’s Rector Janet Broderick, Hannah’s mother, says the camp has enabled her congregation and Principe de Paz to share more than a physical space.
“It’s truly a community,” she says.
A special sort of “immersion” is required to help parents from Principe de Paz learn to read and speak English, Janet says. It involves mixing Spanish … and fellowship.
“To teach these things, you need community. That’s why we eat together. This is not just giving someone a class — it’s making a friend. For a child, a summer is a lifetime. To experience a summer together creates bonds of friendship.”
She credits her daughter Hannah with sowing the seeds.
“I never would have thought of this. She wanted to join the Latino youth group,” Janet says.
Hannah’s Spanish is pretty good, thanks to immersion programs in Costa Rica and California studies at Newark Academy.
But she was curious about Principe de Paz.
“I wondered what they were up to,” Hannah says.
