Catching Dreams

 For the last two weeks the HSU Education Department held their third year of the Dream-Catchers Literacy Camp.

This year’s camp included a variety of higher level thinking activities to build on literacy and science concepts. The busses arrived each morning with 68 young scholars from Ortiz Elementary School, each of them eager to spend the day immersed in science.  

Dr. Renee Collins, department head of education studies and founder of Dream Catchers, said, “My favorite part is seeing a summer enrichment program filled with so many opportunities for everyone involved to learn new concepts that are relevant and meaningful to them.”

The camp is made possible through the involvement of many individuals. The Reading Practicum class (READ 4394), has been in charge of designing and implementing lesson plans. Along with these students were 14 wellness (FSSC 1170) students, 17 other education majors assisting, five HSU alumni, three HSU faculty members, eight AISD teachers/aides and one incoming freshmen.

Olivia Cruzado, senior education major, said, “I was so excited to be involved in an experience that could change a child’s heart and idea of learning. I was able to learn what kind of workload and schedule being a teacher will requires.”

This kind of experience is not only beneficial to the young scholars, but for the HSU students as well. It provides an opportunity to design lesson plans, execute them, and begin realizing just how much effort, time, and joy is involved in teaching.

Madeline Schulle, senior education major from Colorado Springs, Colorado, said, “Teaching these students has been even more of a blessing than I could have anticipated. They are so full of knowledge and creativity. I would not have traded my Dream Catcher’s experience for anything.”

Funding for the Dream Catchers Literacy Camp was paid for in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Abilene and other donations. 

For more information on the Dream Catchers Camp or the Irvin School of Education visit https://www.hsutx.edu/academics/irvin/.