Thanks Luke and Update

A huge thanks to Luke Sanford for providing us with an update on Pine Tree Camp while he was down there earlier in the month. Pine Tree is an exceptional place for everyone and certainly looks like a ton of fun!

The SMILE program was in action last weekend as well. Camp Catapult which is a leadership camp for teenagers going into high school participated in a SMILE day. Sunday August 22, 2011 the campers got a feel of what the SMILE program at Acadia is all about including a chance to play Sledge hockey, goal ball, boccia ball and take part in an obstacle course.

It was a great opportunity to create awareness for children and youth with varying ability levels and provide the campers with an experience they have never had.

We are now just a week away from the start of the Academic year at Acadia and the start of the SMILE program! 

Pine Tree Camp Update - Luke Sanford - Take 3!

Hello again from Pine Tree Camp! 

A quick update about Luke's last few days at camp! He and Stuart finished up the week with lots of activities. 

They went to archery in Outdoor Games! 

They went to the overnight for dinner over the campfire, made wish boats and s'mores too! 

On the beach getting ready to send out his wish boat

Hanging out with friends! 

The week ended with a visit from the ice cream truck, the banquet, awards night and the DANCE! 

Luke had a great week and we look forward to seeing him next year for another 

fantastic summer at Pine Tree Camp! 

Thanks for reading! 

Mel 

Pine Tree Camp Update (2) - Luke Sanford

Hello from Pine Tree Camp!

Just wanted to share some of the highlights of Luke's time at camp so far. We've been keeping him very busy!

Luke has participated in a number of activities including Arts-n-Crafts where he painted a birdhouse and a small wooden car. He and Stuart also went fishing on the pontoon boats! Only one fish was caught that morning by a fellow camper. Maybe the next fishing trip will be more successful! Luke has also gone to Outdoor Games and played a game of soccer and basketball with his cabin mates. He and Stuart have gone swimming a couple of times in the lake :)  This morning Luke went to the Nature program in the tree house! Pine Tree Camp is proud to have the only fully accessible tree house in the state of Maine! The activity was a lesson on animal tracks and scats. Then they used plaster of paris to make molds of the different animals' tracks and scats. Luke made a mold of a porcupine track!

This week the cabins are participating in a Colour War! Luke's cabin, Cabin 5, is green. Campers and counselors participate in a bunch of different challenges throughout the week to earn points for their team. One of the counselor challenges was an onion eating contest. Ew! Cabin 5 stayed strong through all of the tears and came in 3rd place! Nice work boys! Another way for the teams to earn points is to decorate the cabin. Boy did Cabin 5 go all out! They searched all over camp for anything and everything they could find that was green including a small christmas tree for the front room!


Right now Luke is out sailing on the lake with Stuart and a camp volunteer named Bruce. It's a beautiful day for sailing! We hope you've enjoyed this little update and the photos. 

Thanks for reading!

Mel & Stuart

Pine Tree Camp Update - Luke Sanford

Hi all

Luke has asked us to update on his adventure this week - his annual return to Pine Tree Camp (http://www.pinetreesociety.org/camp.asp). This year there was some new fun and excitement brought on by flying to Boston with his family and camp co-conspirator Stuart Layton (Acadia Kinesiology student). From there we enjoyed an entertaining drive to New Hampshire with Uncle Darrell (Darrell Zwicker - founder of Zoo Nation - http://zoonation.com/). Dad, Stuart and Luke then went on together to Maine.

Before getting to camp we went for a great supper in Freeport followed by a visit to LL Bean (some cool kayaks there).

Exciting times on camp arrival as longtime SMILE volunteer and former SMILE staff member Mel Dash was on hand to greet Luke. Met Cabin 5 leaders - Joe, Josh, Nick, Mike, and Taff. Stuart and Luke settled in and enjoyed a few laughs at the end of a long day.

Luke also wants to let everyone know about a special blog from his good friend - Acadia Basketball Axemen team member Owen Klassen who has a blog at  http://acadiabasketball.com/. Owen is representing Canada in China right now.

Lots of old faces and new faces to become acquainted with. Looking forward to a fun week.

Mel and Stuart will update on adventures so far tomorrow. Luke looks forward to seeing everyone on his return to Nova Scotia next week. 

Thanks

Luke's Dad (James)

Awereness Wednesday - PE Central

Today I would like to share with you, a phenomenal resource for activities and games for children and youth. Games that are age appropriate and work on all areas of fundamental motor skills, balance, aquatics, nutrition, etc. 

These activities are capable of being adapted to specific needs and are great to develop all levels of children's abilities.

PE Central is a resource that we use at S.M.I.L.E. constantly and derive many of our activities and games for the kids on a weekly basis.

Check out http://pecentral.org for all these great resources!

Pine Tree Camp

As a program specializing in Adapted Physical activity for children/youth with disabilities, the S.M.I.L.E. program provides a great opportunity for many people in the Annapolis Valley. In the interest of working together, today's Awareness piece will be on Pine Tree Camp.

Located in the state of Maine, Pine Tree Camp helps individuals with disabilities lead richer, more socially connected lives.

Pine Tree Camp was established in 1945 as a summer therapy outlet for children with disabilities. Over the years, it has evolved into an innovative barrier-free environment offering fully accessible recreation to Maine children and adults with physical and/or developmental disabilities. Pine Tree Camp is proud to be Maine’s only American Camping Association-Accredited camp for people with disabilities.

Pine Tree Camp is set on 285 beautiful acres of woods, fields and more than a mile of waterfront on North Pond in Maine’s Belgrade Lakes region. Pine Tree Camp’s facility includes 38 buildings, more than a mile of accessible nature trails, two accessible overnight camping areas and Maine’s only fully accessible treehouse.

Pine Tree Camp offers a number of programs for children and adults with disabilities including an overnight camp, day camp, a retreat space for groups with similar mission and specialized camping including Camp Communicate, a camp experience for children who use high-tech devices to communicate.

visit: http://www.pinetreesociety.org/camp.asp for more information

Awareness Wednesday - Boccia

Here we go...Wednesday is upon us and it is time for Awareness Wednesday with the SMILE program.

This week we are going to talk about the paralympic sport Boccia. We were fortunate to have Keven Smith-Worthylake come back to SMILE this year and give our participants and volunteers a session Friday night and Saturday Morning. Keven is a former SMILE participant, Volunteer leader and alumni of Acadia University. Keven now competes with the Canadian Paralympic team in Boccia. His success in the sport has been remarkable thus far winning a gold medal this past summer!


Boccia is a game of precision that requires extreme muscle control, accuracy and intense focus and concentration. It is practiced in more than 50 countries today.
Strategically similar to lawn bowling, Boccia is played indoors on a flat, smooth surface. The objective is to throw, kick, or use an assistive device to propel leather balls (six per competitor) as close as possible to a white target ball (called the “jack”) on a long, narrow field of play. A match has four ends. At the end of the game players receive 1 point for each ball closer to the “jack” than their opponent’s. 
All events are mixed gender and feature individual, pair, and team competitions for a total of seven medal events. Throwers with cerebral palsy play in teams of three members for six ends; each team member “throws” two of the six balls per end. Pair games are played by athletes with non-cerebral disabilities who are able to throw and by athletes who may use a ramp as an assistive device to propel the ball.  A pair of two plays four ends with each playing three balls.
Crowd participation is welcomed and encouraged, however, spectators, including team members not in competition, are encouraged to remain quiet during the action of a player throwing the ball.
Boccia is governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports & Recreation Association (CPISRA) internationally and The Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA) within Canada.

Who can compete   

Paralympic Boccia is open to male and female athletes with severe locomotor disabilities of a cerebral or non-cerebral origin. This includes individuals with cerebral palsy (CP), stroke, traumatic brain injury, high-level spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, ALS and arthrogryposis.  Only athletes with a severe disability are eligible to compete in Boccia.
Players are classified into four classes depending on their functional ability:

• BC1: For both CP1 throwers and CP2 foot players. Athletes may compete with the help of an assistant, who must remain outside the athlete's playing box. The assistant can only stabilize or adjust the playing chair and give a ball to the player on his request.
• BC2: For CP2 throwing players. Players are not eligible for assistance.
• BC3: For players with a very severe physical disability. Players use an assistive device and may be assisted by a person, who will remain in the player's box but who must keep his/her back to the court and eyes averted from play.
• BC4: For players with other severe physical disabilities. Players are not eligible for assistance.

History

Boccia originated in Ancient Greece and was later refined by Italians in the 16^th century when its popularity spread worldwide.  It was first introduced to the Paralympics at the 1984 New York Games and included in the official program of events in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games, primarily for athletes with cerebral palsy. Boccia was opened up to athletes using assistive devices in the 1996 Games. Boccia has no counterpart in the Olympic program.

source: www.paralympic.ca