Artwork by Callie Habegger Artwork by Jamie Chiles

Page 1 Page 20

www.derbyweathervane.org

Thanks to Everyone who Contributed to the

Weathervane this Year!

Staff

Alex Gordon

Peter Fernandez

Brian Perrault

Period 1

Claire Ackerman

David Ansaldi

Brianna Bennett

Calli Bianchi

Ava Bub

Aizza Chase

Emma Haney

Jenna Herman

Kyra McConnell

Kaitlyn Patterson

Andreea Robu

Period 2

Trevor Bady

Abbey Buffington

Emily Buffington

Olivia Cataldo

Jamie Chiles

Callie Habegger

Andrew Levy

Xavier Meyers

Olivia Pace

Period 3

Max Goldenberg

Andrew Jones

Henry Keohan

Luke MacDonald

Charles Megwa

Clelia Megwa

Matthew Weiner

Jonathan Wisler

Other Contributors

Sarah Allen

Charlie Bruggeman

Delaney Carnes

Harrison Coyne

Isabella Dahil

Sophia Hess

Reid Hosp

Samantha Hosp

Kate Lewack

Abby Martin

Tess Meyers

Victoria Miles

Rebecca Palmer

Alexus Ray

Margaret Strehle

Ned Torrey

Lindsey Vogelmann

Page 2 Page 19

The Talking Tree

By Callie Habegger

Age: 12

Once upon a time, there lived a woman in a cute

little cottage by a fresh stream. This woman was a

witch, but a good witch. Her name was Casey.

Casey was in the process of creating a potion that

you pour onto an animal and the animal will the

able to speak the human language. Casey had a

huge cauldron of boiling water over a fire. She

was pouring in all different looking bottles of

mysterious mixtures into the cauldron. Each time

a different liquid combination was drizzled into

the bubbling pot, sparks of numerous colors

would shoot out of the pot and the potion would

change to a different color, at the moment, it was

blue. When Casey had finished putting all of the

main ingredients in, the potion had been an ugly

green. Casey always likes her potions to look nice

so she has a strategy that she does with every po-

tion she whips up. She went over to a bottle of

water she had got from the nearby stream and

dipped a cup into the bottle filling it to the brim.

She then was very precise to put in just a single

drop into the cauldron. When the drop of water

hit the surface of the potion, the whole concoc-

tion sizzled turning a beautiful light pink. Casey

then filled 25 flasks of the potion emptying the

cauldron. She then went to test it. She tested it on

a toad she found by the stream. When she

poured it over the bumpy back of the creature,

nothing happened. After all that work, Casey was

frustrated, this rarely happened. So she just

dumped the entire potion on to the roots of a

tree. The next morning, Casey heard a voice sing-

ing outside her cottage. She peaked out the win-

dow and couldn’t believe her eyes. The tree she

had poured the potion on to was singing! The

potion Casey had made makes plants talk, not

animals.

A few days ago I lost a tooth and the Tooth

Fairy came. She took my tooth and left me

$8.00.I put my $8.00 in my wallet because I

am saving up for an American Girl Doll. Her

name is Saige. 2013 is the only year she is

here. I think the tooth fairy is 2” tall. There

are so many secrets about the tooth fairy. I

wonder what his/her name is.

The Tooth Fairy

By Ava Bub

Age: 8

Traveling by car from place to place is sim-

ple, but what are some other ways to get

around? People that have to go a very long

distance, like several hundred miles or more

might take a plane. There’s also easy public

ground transportation like a bus or a train.

Kids who just want to go to and from places

but can’t yet drive a car could just ride a bike,

skateboard, rollerblade, or they could simply

walk. There’s always ways to get around, so

get up and go somewhere!

Ways to Travel

By Brianna Bennett

Age: 14

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 VOLUME 25

25th Year

Friday marked the 25th anniversary of Derby

Summer Arts. Monday we celebrated with ice

cream and cake; I am in tech theater so I am

doing the lighting for the play “Adaptation.”

I am so excited for my first year at Derby. I

am so coming back!

By Charles Megwa

Age: 11

Page 3 Page 18

Sally

By Clelia Megwa

Age: 9

Sally has worked here since 1999. That’s 14

years! Sally’s daughter Maddie also works

here. She teaches J.R’s, music video class, a

capella, and Animal Art. Sally’s favorite mo-

saic was seashells and stars. Her favorite Fes-

tival that she will teach is the Fairy Houses.

Sally’s favorite painting that she made is

called “Fox At The Pond.” Sally met Thaila

at the Creative Arts Park. Then Thalia started

DSA the fowling year. And once her kids got

old enough to be campers Sally started teach-

ing mosaic’s here. And she “Loved It Ever

Since”!

This year was my fourth year at Derby Sum-

mer Arts. I took many good classes, and had

quite a bit of fun. I worked on a lot of pro-

jects that were very enjoyable to make. It

gave me a lot of experience and I got to cre-

ate things that were terrific in the end. I was

able to be a part of the 25th year of Derby

and I was happy that I could see such an im-

portant event for the camp. 2013 was a great

year for Derby and I bet 2014 will be even

better.

A Good Year

By Max Goldenberg

Age: 14

Well the summer of Derby has come to an

end and that means that it is time for the su-

per issue. For those who don’t know, the

super issue is a giant collection of articles that

were written specifically for it. The newspa-

per people make sure that it is filled with in-

teresting articles, drawings and all sorts of

other things. It replaces the small normal is-

sues that are given to campers throughout

the summer. The super issue is a big deal and

a lot of work goes into making it. Many peo-

ple create things to go into it and they put a

lot of effort into them. The super issue is

always great and this year isn’t any different.

So have a great time reading it and seeing

everything that people have done.

Super Issue

By Max Goldenberg

Age: 14

DSA Ice Cream

By Emma Haney

Age: 8

Smile :)

Frown :(

Excited :D

Laughing: xD

Winking: ;-)

Crying: :’-(

Silly Face: :-P

Cool Face: B-)

Symbol Pictures

By Lauren Kearns

Age: 12

One of the coolest people here at the Weath-

ervane is Trevor, who likes to play bass and

electric guitar.

Trevor is very cool and smart. He started

playing bass since the day Dave Ruggiano

told him to play bass and it has been his fa-

vorite thing ever since. He started playing

electric guitar when he was five.

About Trevor

By Xavier Meyers

Age: 12

Weathervane Online!

www.derbyweathervane.org

Check it out.

The Super Issue

By David Ansaldi

Age: 9

Page 4 Page 17

25th Anniversary Quilt By Trevor Bady and Andrew Levy

Age: 10 and 8

This is a quilt they

were making for

Thalia. It was a

surprise gift. They

used a sewing

maching and old T

shirt designs for

the squares.

I love to bake. I once baked a 2 layer cake. It

was awesome. I piped flowers and added

candy toppings that were blue. I thought that

it was the best cake that I ever made. It was

really fun to make! I also have made some

cupcakes. I usually make vanilla cupcakes but

I have once made blueberry cupcakes.

Baking

By Clelia Megwa

Age: 9

Breakfast is different for everyone. Some

have cereal, some have pancakes, and some

enjoy waffles or English muffins. People

don’t always have the standard “breakfast”

items sometimes you’re running late so you

eat some chocolate or pringles as you run out

the door. Breakfast is the most important

meal of the day, so as long as you eat some-

thing you’ll be fine.

Breakfast

By Brianna Bennett

Age: 14

Breakfast is said to be the most important

meal of the day because it gets you started

for the day. Without breakfast your body will

not have enough energy to function. It is

very important to have a healthy breakfast.

Try to make most of you grains whole grains.

Here are some healthy suggestions for a nu-

tritious and delicious breakfast.

Yogurt with granola and fresh fruit and

nuts for protein

Low sugar cereal (cheerios, Wheaties,

bran flakes, etc.) with skim milk and

fresh fruit

An omelet with veggies and a side of

fresh fruit

Sugar free oatmeal with berries

A healthy smoothie made with low fat

yogurt and fresh fruit

A whole wheat bagel with peanut butter

and fruit

A Healthy Breakfast

By Lauren Kearns and

Calli Bianchi

Age: 12

There is a little more to talk about the new

update, so let’s get started. First, hay. I do

not know what hay does but it is a good ad-

dition with your horse pen. Speaking of

which the next new thing is lead which keeps

your horse from moving. Next thing is hard-

en clay. Which I have no idea what it does.

Last but not least, block of coal which makes

no sense like a block of diamond.

Minecraft 1.6.2

By Andrew Jones and

Jonathan Wisler

Age: 10 and 9

Page 5 Page 16

Merida and Trevor

By Olivia Pace

Age: 8

Personality Test

By Andreea Robu

Age: 14 Merida and Trevor are alike because they are

both humans. But Merida is from a movie

and Trevor is not. They lived, or live, in dif-

ferent times. One is girl and one is a boy.

If Alex was Queen Elinor I think that he

would have fancy dresses and he would go to

balls and he would even have a fancy accent.

For this assignment I had to put together

two nouns and see how different and how

their alike from each other. I picked Queen

Elinor and Alex. I think Alex and Queen Eli-

nor are different from each other because

Alex is a boy and Queen Elinor is a girl and

Alex doesn’t wear pretty dresses and I think

that the only thing that Queen Elinor and

Alex have in common is they are both hu-

man.

If Alex was Queen Elinor

By Jamie Chiles

Age: 9

A dog is like a pencil because they are nouns,

a person, place, or thing. They are both

things. They are also alike because you can

hold both of them. They can also make some

noise: A dog whimpers or barks and a pencil

can squeak when you use it. They both have

something sharp: If the pencil is sharpened,

and the dog’s teeth.

A Dog is like a Pencil

By Callie Habegger

Age: 12

Some jellyfish can be larger than humans!

Other jellyfish can be no bigger than the

point of a pin!

In some countries, jellyfish can be con-

sidered a tasty treat!

Jellyfish have been on earth longer than

dinosaurs!

Jellyfish do not have a brain, yet certain

types have eyes!

The main makeup of a jellyfish is water &

protein!

A clan of jellyfish is called a smack!

Facts About Jellyfish

By Lauren Kearns

Age: 12

Page 6 Page 15

We Be Jammin’

By David Ansaldi

Age: 8

Facts About Squirrels

By Emma Haney

Age: 8

flying squirrels can fly

squirrels eat nuts

squirrels don’t play tennis

squirrels also like to eat pancakes

squirrels don’t use the internet

squirrels live in trees

squirrels steal your nuts

squirrels sleep

squirrels can climb

squirrels are cool

Food is really good. There are many types of

food in the world. There can be different

types of food from different parts of the

worlds. Food is one of the pleasures of the

world. If there was no food there would be

no us. It makes us healthy and strong. But if

we don’t eat good and healthy food, it is no

use. You always need a good food plan. So

make sure you eat good food. That is why

food is so good.

Food

By Claire Ackerman

Age: 9

Berry season is upon us! The weather this

year has yielded an amazing crop of straw-

berries. This time last year, with the unsea-

sonably warm winter/spring, was already

peak raspberry picking. Take a trip with the

family to pick some fresh strawberries at lo-

cal farms or visit the Farmer’s Market in

town and grab them while they are at their

best. Since there is no shortage of juicy,

sweet strawberries this June, why not make

some jam? Strawberry jam is one of the easi-

est to make.

Strawberry Jam

You will need:

1 ½ pints fresh

strawberries,

stems removed

and cut in half

2 cups sugar

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions:

Combine strawberries, sugar, lemon zest, and

juice into a small saucepan. Stir until sugar is

completely dissolved. Cook over very low

heat 25-30 minutes until the strawberries re-

lease their juices and the mixture boils slowly.

Cook until a spoonful of the juice gels on a

very cold plate. Pour carefully into two pint

jars. Refrigerate once mixture cools. Enjoy!

By Liz Hilt

Age: Counselor

Step 1: Put on rain boots

Step 2: Put lipstick on your arm

Step 3: Take a relative’s favorite shirt and put it in the sink

Step 4: Jump on the couch

Step 5: Eat some cereal

Step 6: Pour water on your head

Step 7: Drink root beer

Step 8: Stand on a table

Step 9: Scream your name as loud as you can

Step 10: Roll on the floor

Step 11: Dance

Step 12: Don’t do this at home or anywhere

How to Dance

By Jenna Herman

Age: 11

Hull

By Matthew Weiner

Age: 9

Hull is a really good town by the water. The

sand is soft and fun to dig in. Once, I made a

hot tub but it got flooded over. Go to a Hull

beach and have fun!

Jennie Finch was an Olympic softball player.

She played on the US team and was a gold

medalist in the Olympics of 2004. She was

also a silver medalist in the 2008 Olympics in

Beijing. Jennie was born in 1980 in Califor-

nia. She started playing softball at the age of

five and started pitching at the age of 8. Her

dad was her pitching coach. She went to col-

lege at the University of Arizona and pitched

and played 1st base for their softball team.

After college she pitched for the US Olympic

softball team, leading them to a 2-0 victory in

the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Her pitching

lead the US to another near win in 2008. She

then decided that she needed to spend more

time with her family. So on July 20th 2010

Jennie Finch retired. Jennie Finch is a very

important person to me because we both

play first base and pitcher.

Jenny Finch

Dear all,

Hope you have a great rest of the summer. I

will miss you all and Derby.

From, Matthew

By Matthew Weiner

Age: 9

Letter to All

Page 7 Page 14

Super Issue

By Olivia Pace

Age: 8

Mind Trick

By Reid Hosp

Age: 12

This is how you do a mind trick that I’m sure

will work.

1. Ask someone to give you their money

2. They won’t give it

3. Hit them on the head with a bat

4. They fall

5. They wake up

6. Tell them that they’re your butler, and to

give money to you

7. If this goes wrong, run for your life

8. Pay Reid 135 dollars. I’m broke

I am saying a big secret: I sleep with a stuffed

bear every night. I cannot sleep without her.

Her name is Beary. She is always is on the

floor when I wake up in the morning. She

eats breakfast with me. She eats chicken

soup. She is a brown bear with a red bow she

is so quiet. They say that it is babyish but it is

not. When I am sad Beary cheers me up. And

that is my big secret.

My Bear

By Anonymous

Age: unknown

In the far edge of space there is a planet

called Koppai. Due to its blooming popula-

tion, the people over used their soil and it is

no longer good for the crops. Just like the

Potato Fanon. So Koppai sent pods all

around the Universe. Just as they were about

to give up they found a planet blooming with

edible matter. Koppai sent 3 brave explorers

to the planet they called PNF-404 (AKA

Earth or Planet of the Pikmin.) This Planet

relies on Alph, Britney, and Captain Charlie

to save their hungry home planet. But, just as

they were to apply the landing, something

terrible happened. They were all ejected from

their ship. They all landed in different places.

Alph was lucky, the ship crashed where he

was. He then discovers red Pikmin. At the

end of the day he gets a call from Britney and

she says she’s in a different area. In the new

area called The Garden of Hope, Alph finds

the rock Pikmin. He then later finds Britney.

They battle the

Armored Maw-

dad. Buy Pikmin

3 to find out what

happens next

(Only for Wii U.)

Pikmin

By David Ansaldi

Age: 9

The title of my article sounds a bit scary, but

this actually involves stuffed animals. I have

discovered that stuffed animals can come to

life! I know everyone has to at least have one

or two stuffed animals in their house, so

what I am about to explain, happens every

Friday night at your house while you are

sleeping. I have set up high tech camouflaged

infer red light cameras up around my room.

My family had just moved back into our

house from a huge project (redoing our

kitchen) and I had cleaned out my room. I

have bags of stuffed animal I don’t need and

I’m giving them away to children who do. So

I have been checking my cameras (last week)

to see if there were signs of any movement

from the bags of stuffed animals, none…

until Friday. On Saturday morning, I got out

of bed and the first thing that caught my eye

was that the bag of stuffed animals was

tipped over. I grabbed my cameras off of

their perch on my bookshelf and played back

the video. At first, I saw nothing, my eager-

ness slipping away, but wait, what was that?!

A small fluffy looking image climbed slowly

out of the trash bag and looked around. I

recognized it as a panda stuffed animal from

webkinz, a website I used to be obsessed

with. It looked as if he was making sure no

one was around. He called out the other

stuffed animals and they had a party! I can’t

believe I didn’t even hear anything! Well now

that you are prepared, you can see your

stuffed animals come to life.

While You’re Sleeping

By Callie Habegger

Age: 12

Club penguin is now Monsters University

from the movie. You can get prizes from the

scare games by getting a loud scream. But

club penguin is not just that. There are also

pets called puffles which you can get in al-

most every color. There is also a rainbow

puffle for members.

Club Penguin

By Andrew Jones

Age: 10

Page 8 Page 13

The Super Issue

By Claire Ackerman

Age: 9

What is this?

By Matthew Weiner

Age: 9

William Penn was an English real estate en-

trepreneur, philosopher, and the founder of

the Providence of Pennsylvania. William

Penn lived from 14 October 1644 – 30 July

1718. Mr. Penn was born in London, Eng-

land. He died in Berkshire, England. William

Penn’s religion was Quakerism (Religious

Society of Friends). William was married to

Gulielma Maria Springett and Hannah Mar-

garet Callowhill. William’s children’s names

were William Penn Jr., John Penn (“The

American”), Thomas Penn, Richard Penn,

Sr., Letitia Penn, Margaret Penn, Dennis

Penn and Hannah Penn. His parents were

Admiral Sir William Penn and Margaret Jas-

per. He was one of the first people to realize

that democracy and religious freedom is

good. He was given the land of what now is

Pennsylvania and Delaware from King

Charles II because the king needed to satisfy

the debt he owed to Mr. Penn’s father. The

city of Philadelphia was planned and devel-

oped by Mr. Penn.

First person to guess right

gets a prize.

William Penn

By Jenna Herman

Age: 11

Animation

By Andrew Levy and

Trevor Bady

Age: 8 and 10

They are animating.

Some of the movie was

in the noontime show.

Yesterday after camp I decided to write an-

other article. The only problem was I needed

a topic. My mom decided to stop at Shoe

Market kids to get my little brothers foot

measured. On the car ride there I was think-

ing about what a good topic would be. After

a while we arrived at the store and I still did-

n’t have an idea. We got out of the car and

walked to the sidewalk. My mom held the

door for me and I walked in. At first I

thought it was a dream house, shoes, clothes

and jewelry were surrounding me. Now im-

agine over 30 of your favorite shoe brands

stacked neatly in piles on shelves. They sell

ballet shoes to wedged sneakers. In the right

corner of the room is a playroom. Are you

looking for “cool” shoes on sale? Over 100

pairs of shoes are on sale. If you’re looking

for them they’re on the right wall. If you

need help finding anything just ask there

amazing employees. All three of them run

the store by themselves. If you need anything

I can assure you they’ll be there to help. You

better believe me because it’s true, Shoe Mar-

ket Kids is the best shoe store ever!

Shoe Market Kids

By Abbey Buffington

Age: 10

I asked 5 people in a room, and they all

agreed that blue is up high on the list of

their favorite colors. But the question is,

WHY? Some could turn to neurology. Oth-

er might use philosophy. I, however, like to

use the basic visual of blue. It is a very

calming color. Baby’s rooms often are

painted blue as it is a calming color. There-

fore, people may enjoy the color blue be-

cause it calms them. If you feel stressed,

you should look at the color blue.

Everyone Loves Blue

By Sam Vita

Age: CIT

Page 9 Page 12

By Andreea Robu

Age: 14

My Dream Bedroom

By Olivia Pace

Age: 8

“When I first got to DSA, I thought…

… later, I realized…“

When I first got to Derby Summer Arts I

thought a little bit afraid because all that I

had in my had was: “I`ll stay here 4 weeks

with new people and I`ll speak another lan-

guage”.

Later, I realized that I don`t have any reason

to be afraid because the counselors are really

friendly and helpful and all the children are

very happy and friendly too. I like all the

classes at Derby Summer Arts because all of

these are funny and interesting. Now, I am

really happy to be here because I met a lot of

people and I made a lot of friends.

When I first got to derby summer arts I

thought that this might be good. Then a

week later, this is becoming to be a good

start. This is a good camp. Then on the sec-

ond to last week it was wonderful. I took the

classes I wanted. My brother wanted to go to

this camp really badly too.

By Aizza Chase

Age: 8

When I first came to DSA I thought it was

too tough to handle. My friend Eliza asked

me if I wanted to join her at DSA. I’m actu-

ally kind of shy. Most people think I’m a

chatter box. (Especially my brother and sis-

ter.) But when it comes to people above 45

I’m pretty shy. I knew it was going to be fun

if she thought it was fun. Because she’s awe-

some! DSA is where I met my friend Betsy. I

was really awesome at all my periods. Now I

think this is the best option for camps. It’s a

pretty good school, even though I don’t go

here. Have a great summer! Even though it’s

not over! BYE!

By Emma Haney

Age: 8 Alex gave us a boring assignment. We had to

write about our first day at Derby Summer

Arts. It was so boring that my brother, Sam-

my (he’s a dog) howled so much he passed

out. Well I think I should show you the Arti-

cle now…

On my first day at Derby, I was okay, I

guess. I knew it would be fun.

WAIT! I forgot what happened on my first

day at Derby. I can’t remember that my mom

and grandfather dropped me off and I had a

blast. I can’t remember anything. I can’t even

remember breakfast yesterday, too. Sorry!

“Heh heh!”

By David Ansaldi

Age: 8

My dream bedroom would have a bunk bed

with a canapé. A brave night light. A chair

and a TV. A dog bed. It would have a bath-

room and secret club house attached to it.

(See picture below)

Bad Things

By Jenna Herman

Age: 11

There are many things that people consider “bad”. To be bad, may also mean that you are awesome. Another strange thing about being bad is that some good people decide to do bad things. Most good people that decide to bad things do these bad things because something bad happens to them such as a death in the family or a divorce.

Bad List:

Power outages

Bad food

Bad weather

Bruins losing the Stanley Cup

Getting in trouble

Failing in class

Warm drink of water on a hot day

Melted ice cream

War

Fighting

Sadness

Netbooks

Homework

School

Missing Summer Arts for school

Tangled hair

Death Valley

Siblings

Page 10 Page 11

“After all these years at DSA, I’ve figured out…”

By Callie Habegger

Age: 12

By Kaitlyn Patterson

Age: 12

After all these years at Derby Summer Arts, I’ve figured out how lucky I am to be able to come to this superb camp every day until the end of July. When I began coming to camp here in 2006, I was a junior. Now I have been at Derby every summer for seven years, this being my seventh. Throughout my years here, I realized that every camper should stop and thank all the CIT’s, councilors, and staff for what they have done for us each year. They do all they can to have us campers have the time of our lives each and every day. They are always making sure that we are wearing smiles on our faces no matter what the circumstances are. They are obviously succeeding.

After all these years at DSA, I’ve figured out that being different is okay. No one will laugh at you no matter how weird you are. Even if you mess up you can fix it. If you do something weird people will compliment you not say something mean. Just be yourself. Just be who YOU want to be. You don’t have to do what everybody else does. Every-body has a talent and everybody should use it. And DSA has so many activities where you can express your talents. That is some of what I’ve learned during the past years at Derby.

By Claire Ackerman

Age: 9

After all these years at DSA I figured out that it‘s fun . Also everyone is so nice. You can make new friends. And there are lots of good classes. At the end there is always next year! The food is savory [tasty]. The noon time show is so funny. I love Derby!

By Olivia Pace

Age: 8

After all these years at Derby Summer Arts I have figured out that Summer Arts is a safe community, you can be yourself and never have to worry about anyone making fun of you. Derby Summer Arts has helped me come out of my shell. Up until second grade, my first year at Summer Arts, I was the quiet-est kid in the grade and I never talked. Dur-ing my experience at Derby I have made new friends and had new opportunities that have helped me “come out of my shell”. People also tell me “what happened, you used to be the quietest person ever and now you are one of the most outgoing people I know”. I am glad that my experiences and friends at Sum-mer Arts has helped me come out of my shell, but I am often told that I am too loud and I should go back into my shell of shy-ness. One example is as I am writing this Alex is telling me to “shhhhhh” and not talk.

By Calli Bianchi

Age: 12

After all these years at Derby Summer Arts I figured out how it is important to try new things. Whether it’s a new hobby or a new food, Derby offers a wide variety of ways to discover yourself. Trying out new things is important because to be successful, you have to start somewhere. I’ve also learned that with the many classes at Derby, it is easy to make new friends interested in the same kinds of things. I enjoy coming to camp eve-ry day because of all the friends I’ve made over the past five years. Derby has taught me about being yourself and making new friends because at Derby you are accepted no matter who you are.

After all these years at derby I’ve figured out that Derby Summer Arts is awesome and always will be. I love that all of the classes are so great. The food is so delicious and all of the staff are extraordinary and the noontime show is so cool and grand every day. That’s what I figured out over all the years!

By Jamie Chiles

Age: 9

After all these years at Derby Summer Arts, I’ve figured out that, at DSA, you have to be yourself because DSA is a very accepting place of all personalities. You also have to try new things and know that even if you do not succeed, no one will make fun of you of laugh at you. People will support you no mat-ter what. I also figured out that DSA has such a wide selection of classes and activities; it makes it so much easier to do something new and do something that you love. This year, I tried three new classes. I am in weath-ervane for the first time, I am in the big mu-sical for the first time, and I am in mini-musical tech for the first time, but I stuck with tap and jazz advanced because it has been my favorite class for a very long time. When I tried new classes, I made new friends because I wasn’t with the same people as the year before. Also, when trying a new class, you can meet a person with similar interests, which makes a better friendship. Those are some things that I have figured out over the five years I have been here.

By Jenna Herman

Age: 11

After all these years at Derby Summer Arts I’ve figured out, that everyone can come to this camp to be at peace and in a happy state of mind. During the wonderful days of Der-by, people are allowed to connect with friends, play many games, create many mas-terpieces and stay happy. When you walk in-to the camp on a bright sunny day, you see smiling faces left and right which makes you feel at home. During the years of Derby, I have made many clay bowls, cups etc. but I am very proud of my first bowl on the wheel that I have created. DSA has gave me a place to be myself without any regrets.

By Lauren Kearns

Age: 12