The Big Finish

Once upon a time, there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one.”  Attributed to  Loren Eiseley  and shared by Sara.

The sun came up around 4:30 and ushered in a very hot morning for our last day at this language camp. We each had two individual sessions with our classes. Practice continued for the evening program during the classes.

For Lessons 3 and 4 we offered the campers the choice of several different types of activities ranging from sports to putting together puzzles to playing Uno. Each camper could choose two activities. And then suddenly our teaching responsibilities which had seemed so daunting two weeks ago were all done.  We sincerely hope we also have made a difference.

The afternoon was quiet and passed by quickly, since obiad ended about 2 PM and kolecja was early today at 5 PM.  Parents began arriving about this time and were helping the children pack their belongings and move them to the cars.

At 6 PM we all gathered in the tent for the evening program.We all enjoyed seeing a display of the art projects the students had done during their camp experiences.

 Marek Błaszczyk. Director of Reymontówka, introduced all the camp staff, Dorota, and we volunteers.  We were also honored to have the Siedlce County (our local host organization) Deputy Governor attend the program. She graciously greeted us.

The program began with the theatre performance. The presentations by the English teaching groups were interspersed between dance performances. It is always a pleasure to see the students show off their other talents. We can’t forget, too, that the program closed with a terrific piano performance by one of the campers.

Sara’s group presented The Three Little Pigs. The students did an excellent job with this. Lynn’s group presented the song, Head and Shoulders. Both of these groups did their performance without use of audiovisual support!

 Lori’s group did the song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.”  They also stood up and sang the best they could!

 The group taught one week by Carol and then one week by Dorota presented Farmer in the Dell. The evening closed with a terrific piano performance by one of the campers.

Then all went to the bonfire area for kielbasa. The students enjoyed getting autographs on their shirts.

All the campers left with their families and Reymontówka suddenly became the same quiet place we had found on July 14.