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Secular Camp Quest Texas is a success
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snapshot of CQT kids looking at fossils
I got the pleasure of speaking with Zachary Moore, via Facebook, about the first Camp Quest held in Texas this past Sunday. Mr. Moore is the Executive Director of the North Texas Church of Freethought and was a volunteer at the camp. The NTCOF was the sponsoring organization for the event and provided many volunteers along with the DFW Coalition of Reason.
About the event Mr. Moore told me, “We had 40 kids registered this year… Kids were dropped off at 9AM, and picked up at 5PM. We had ages from 5 to 15. We started by telling all of the kids about some Native American fire-creation myths, and then split them up into three groups based on age (5-7, 8-11, 12-15). The groups rotated through the activities, which included science activities, games, animal demonstrations, and pottery. We had a central location for snacks and lunch breaks –many parents stayed in this area throughout the day and talked among themselves about being a secular parent in North Texas.
The science activities differed by age group, and included making habitats for earthworms, assembling dinosaur fossils, and staging a UFO sighting hoax. Games included water balloon toss/fights and sack races. Pottery was thrown on a potter's wheel, and will be fired and returned to the kids at the next NTCOF service. The scavenger hunt included a search for an invisible pink unicorn, which was reported to be just one of the many animals located on the farm, which also included llamas, goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ponies, cats, and kangaroos.”
When I asked what plans they had for next year he said, “When we began planning, our hope was that we would be able to get half a dozen kids for this single-day event. No other Camp Quest has attempted a day camp before, and the national organization was very interested to see what we were able to do. Based on our success, we are planning for a week-long sleep-away camp for the summer of 2010. We're scouting locations and recruiting volunteers, and anyone who's interested can send an email to: campquest@churchoffreethought.org.”
Footage from the event:
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