Law student creates Evansville summer camp for diverse students

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – On a sunny afternoon in Evansville’s Bayard Park, Antonio Williams paused to play with friends.

Antonio rummaged in his backpack, pulled out a green LEGO block candy, and grinned.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said before putting it in his mouth.

It was no ordinary candy.

He deserves to do something that many 12-year-old kids like Antonio would rather forget over their summer vacation – algebra.

Antonio didn’t mind, however. In fact, it was one of his favorite things to do during his first week at Black Lemonade, a summer camp in urban Evansville.

“In math, we do fun things. We pop balloons and then solve the math equations in them,” he said.

After the first week, the new program has all the children it can take.

Fun is an important part of the learning equation, said Tim Catron, a business graduate from the University of Southern Indiana who teaches math at Black Lemonade.

“We want to do it in a fun way, especially since it’s summer,” he said. “I want these children to have the best chances and a chance for a bright future. My aim is to treat people equally and with respect. We are all unique.”

For Antonio, as for many of the children taking part in Black Lemonade, the summer program offers more than just a learning opportunity.

“I mostly see new people who I wouldn’t speak or interact with without the camp,” said Antonio.

In the first three days Antonio had already solved algebra equations, worked in the garden and made new friends, some of whom he was happy to discover are from the new school he will attend in August.

“I will already know some people there,” he said.

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For sixth grader Ryan Simmons, Black Lemonade is the first time she has been in a learning setting with other children in a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she moved to Evansville from Virginia.

“I moved here in December, the day before Christmas. I wanted to go to school, but I had to do a virtual school,” she said. “It’s cool because I haven’t been with kids for almost two years.”

Jazmine Hale, 12, said she was learning to become a leader.

“It is better to be like this because if you are a follower you can get to a place in life that is not good,” she said.

Even the volcano experiment with baking soda and vinegar (with green food coloring) that she enjoyed while doing science had a more serious lesson behind learning how to control anger.

Green was for the cartoon character Hulk, who turns into a huge, incredibly powerful green superhero when he gets too angry.

It was part of Black Lemonade’s superhero curriculum, which ties each week’s learning to a specific superhero associated with a specific lesson.

“In the end, we’re supposed to do a comic with our own superhero,” said Antonio.

When life gives you lemons

The woman behind Black Lemonade is Kaymi Butler, a 26-year-old law student and a Central High School graduate.

Butler said she decided to start the charitable program in June 2020 in response to the indifference she saw in the world.

“I want students to see that they have their own superpowers that they can use to help them in life,” she said.

Butler, who goes to school in Tennessee, said her undergraduate degree in criminal justice led her to volunteer at a juvenile detention center and nonprofit where she developed a passion for working with teens.

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Butler, a self-proclaimed rebellious teenage girl, said she understood the pressures children face.

Butler said she drew on the encouragement she received in her own life while working on putting together Black Lemonade.

“Every piece of advice and every word of encouragement came back to me. I remember those positive words,” she said.

Butler said she wanted to start an organization to offer an affordable program that values ​​both diversity and learning.

“I saw the need here. I am a product of that environment,” she said. “I didn’t understand the importance of diversity and inclusion until I moved. I remember being intimidated in college. It was the first time that I saw people of color in a progressive environment. “

While working on putting the program together, Butler said she took inspiration for the name of her program from the old adage, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

The program lasts from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. five days a week through July 30th. Between breakfast and lunch, the students alternate between math, English / reading and science, depending on their age group. Classes are designed to actively involve students with fun, hands-on learning activities.

Afternoons are spent on group activities that promote inclusion, diversity and teamwork, as well as sports and physical activities.

Find a home

After developing her curriculum, Butler said she asked others to review it to make sure it met the EVSC’s educational standards.

Black Lemonade still needed money, a location, and staff, however, so Butler hit up on Facebook and social media.

Kerseclia Patterson, academic outreach coordinator at the Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center at the University of Southern Indiana, responded.

Patterson saw an opportunity to integrate the centre’s mission to recruit, train and retain health workers in underserved communities.

She enlisted members of the Black Nurses Association to provide on-site health care workers and incorporated a health science component into Black Lemonade’s curriculum.

Patterson connected Butler with Boom Squad, a like-minded organization in Evansville dedicated to helping children from historically underserved communities.

Boom Squad’s headquarters at 800 S. Evans Ave. the former school building of the Stanley Hall Enrichment Center next to Bayard Park was the perfect home.

While Boom Squad received a scholarship to expand its summer activities, it needed a curriculum.

“She brought some great programs with her,” said James Hale, Boom Squad program director. “The children just see a new aspect of learning. If it’s something that will encourage and improve children’s learning and get them to college; we are all for it. “

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/law-student-creates-evansville-summer-camp-for-diverse-students/