Students show character and get ‘A Day of Play’

Sandburg pupils share time with kids at Camp ROBIN

BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

Jared and Mohamed, sixth-graders at Carl Sandburg Middle School, Old Bridge, discuss basketball fundamentals with Billy, a student at Camp ROBIN, during "A Day of Play" in Geick Park Saturday. The daylong event was the culminating activity for a group of Sandburg sixth-graders after a school year of character education lessons. Camp ROBIN is a therapeutic recreational facility for disabled and special needs children. Jared and Mohamed, sixth-graders at Carl Sandburg Middle School, Old Bridge, discuss basketball fundamentals with Billy, a student at Camp ROBIN, during “A Day of Play” in Geick Park Saturday. The daylong event was the culminating activity for a group of Sandburg sixth-graders after a school year of character education lessons. Camp ROBIN is a therapeutic recreational facility for disabled and special needs children. OLD BRIDGE – While countless area kids played outside last Saturday, a group of township youngsters gave their playtime a purpose.

“A Day of Play” brought sixth-graders from the Carl Sandburg Middle School together with kids at Camp ROBIN, a therapeutic recreational facility in Geick Park, Route 516, for people with special needs.

“It was such a wonderful event. Kids on both sides got a lot out of it. It was really heart-warming,” said Sally Fazio, a sixthgrade language arts and literacy teacher at Sandburg who organized the event.

The idea for the Camp ROBIN day came out of the district’s character education program, which started this year at both the Sandburg and Jonas Salk middle schools. The program centers on “six pillars of education”- responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, fairness, caring and citizenship. Created by Sandburg Vice Principal Thomas Ferry, Salk Vice Principal Anthony Arico and Director of Secondary Education Christine Piscitelli, the goal of the program is to take a proactive approach to teaching kids positive attributes, Ferry said.

PHOTOS BY STEVEN M. BARON Ryan from Carl Sandburg Middle School coaches Brian from Camp ROBIN on batswinging technique during Saturday's "A Day of Play." PHOTOS BY STEVEN M. BARON Ryan from Carl Sandburg Middle School coaches Brian from Camp ROBIN on batswinging technique during Saturday’s “A Day of Play.” “As we started teaching the children about caring and volunteering and citizenship, they started asking how they could volunteer,” Fazio said. “I just thought it would be a great way to practice what we preach.”

Fazio and her colleagues in Team 6C ran with the idea for “A Day of Play,” coordinating the day’s activities. Ferry praised the team’s efforts, and the initiative it took in making it happen.

“The event was a great success, and I think it was very rewarding for the teachers and students who were involved in that day,” said Ferry, who attended the event along with Fazio and several other teachers.

About 40 Sandburg students participated in the event, setting up numerous activities in a round-robin-style setup, Fazio said. Children had a chance to play soccer, hopscotch, T-ball and kickball. They also had the options of sidewalk chalk drawing, and playing on the camp’s playground, among other activities.

“What they loved the most was the camaraderie with other children,” Fazio said.

According to Fazio, the students were enthusiastic about the event from the time it was conceived, and each had some area in which to contribute. Fazio said the event was a way to give the children a taste of volunteerism, in hopes to inspire a motivation to continue in such endeavors.

“We wanted to create that spark, and that’s what we did,” Fazio said.

“A Day of Play” will likely be repeated in the future, she said. She and Camp ROBIN coordinator Peter Pero plan to organize another event for July, when water activities will also be included.

Ferry said the character education program in the middle schools has yielded very positive results in general, and that he and other school officials plan to expand its offerings for next year.

“We really wanted to teach students lessons on character traits … to help just build a culture where the norm and the expectation is respect,” Ferry said.

Fazio also said she notices a difference in the students from participating in the character education program, which is a requirement for all students in the two schools.

“Each lesson has been better than the next,” Fazio said. “I’m hoping as they go into high school, it will make a difference in their lives. A lot of kids have that volunteer spirit. It’s a steppingstone. It’s a start for them.”

The township-owned Camp ROBIN offers a gym, classrooms, a nurse’s station and specially equipped computers for attendees. Sessions and classes are available year-round.