Camp Discover Hosts Second Event

Children from Tracy City Elementary School, along with their families and community members, gathered at the South Cumberland State Park Visitor’s Center on June 14 to celebrate the end of the second annual Camp Discover, a two-week summer program for schoolchildren in grades 1–6. Students explored the region, participated in literacy activities and engaged in experiences designed to inspire questions and celebrate the community’s history.
More than 75 students participated and visited sites such as the Dutch Maid Bakery, the Silverbait Worm Farm, Beersheba Springs Assembly and the Coal Miner’s Museum. Campers in grades 1–3 learned photography from Pradip Malde, a professor at the University of the South, and older campers completed a Junior Ranger curriculum with support from the South Cumberland State Park, Sewanee’s Environmental Studies Program and the Friends of the South Cumberland. All students read books to build community connections through literacy, including, for the younger group, “Dad’s Railroad: The Mountain Goat” by Mary Priestley and, for the older campers, “My Side of the Mountain” by Jean Craighead George.
Camp Discover is a partnership between Yale Child Study Center, Scholastic, Inc., Tracy City Elementary and the University of the South. The University Dining Services and Morton Memorial Methodist Church volunteers provided food for each day of camp. Mountain T.O.P. also helped support the event.