(Thursday, January 31, 2013) – The yellow bus filled with campers pulled up next to the empty cabins on Friday, Jan. 18. The enthusiastic counselors and advisors from Crescenta Valley and Clark Magnet High Schools lined up to greet this year’s Rosemont Middle School campers with a flurry of high five’s and cheers.

Soon as the campers arrived, there was no time to rest. The activities and announcements were started before the campers even settled down in the cabins.

“We gathered around the campfire site and introduced ourselves as well as the rules, procedures and the camp in general,” said junior and counselor assistant (CA) Tatevik Stepanyan.Camp Firework emphasizes six core values: passion, respect, humility, integrity, courage and excellence. After introductions were made, campers were divided into six home groups representing these core values.

The campers stayed in these home groups for the rest of the weekend, learning about one another and participating in the various exercises. The first assignment given to the home groups was to create a cheer based on their core value and create a skit which would be presented on the last night of the camp. Everyone involved in the camp, including the staff and adult supervisors, created trail names.

Some of the most memorable ones were Foshizzle Manizzle Rdizzle, Skip to my Lou, and Negative 7, according to Stepanyan. “We played name games and dancing games,” said junior and first time CA David Olvera-Sanchez. “Stuff to make us all look kind of goofy and make us all a little vulnerable so maybe we can relate to each other better.”

Camp Firework is a leadership training camp for middle school students to develop the skills needed to become effective leaders and dynamic followers, according to junior and co-founder/counselor Sheina Sakhrani. The camp focuses on building these skills through various team-building and hands-on learning activities.

Junior Christian Mendoza, who was a CA for the first time, said that he likes that the camp focuses on teaching students leadership skills. “I was a Boy Scout when I learned those skills and it was pretty expensive. The camp is an inexpensive way for these kids to learn these valuable skills,” Mendoza said. “The camp is run by older students, so we know what [younger students] want and it’s more effective in conveying our message of leadership,” Sakhrani said.

The way the camp teaches students is 90 percent hands-on and 10 percent theory. This year there were two major presentations: one on leadership styles and one on leadership skills. On the last night of the camp, a talent show was held. These campers who were at first shy and timid came out to the stage to show off their talents in singing, instrument playing and dancing.

Little did the campers know, the co-founders and counselors planned a dance party with glow sticks and flashlights after the show. Mendoza said that the spontaneous dance party was his most memorable moment. “We were pretty tired after the show, but everyone jumped in and fully broke out of their shell,” Mendoza said.

“I loved seeing a kid be very shy and not wanting to talk and at the end of camp they’re giving you a big hug and thanking you. I think to myself, ‘What did I just do? Did I really change their life that much in just three days?’” Sakhrani said.