2018 Summer Camp for Thai Scholars
Summer camp, Brewster Academy, NH, USA, 2018
When I first arrived in the US, all my Thai scholar friends and I had to go to a summer program in New Hampshire at Brewster Academy. There, we got to learn several English skills and survival skills, including communication, essay writing, public speaking, SAT, and also American history. The camp was meant to help us adjust to the American culture and prepare us for life in prep school. We could not be more grateful about the program. Then, for two years after in summer 2018, I went back to the program to be a TA for the next Thai scholar generation, TS 61 (Thai Scholars Buddist year 2561).
I worked with American TAs to help the kids with their English and also for the SAT. Before the program started, the TAs (roughly 10 Thai TAs and 10 American TAs) did some some activities together, for example, kayaking and swimming. I got to see many Thai scholar friends both from my year and 2018. It was such a lovely moment that I got to take care of the kids who were on the same adventure like me.
I worked with Scott who was a math teacher for the program. Scott and I taught math SAT for the kids, and we loved bringing them some snacks, like donut holes, chocolates, and others. Since there were quite a number of kids each year (around 50-60), they were divided into 4 groups according to their pre-test scores. From the high to low scores, we call them Platypus, Wombat, Bilby, and Echidna. The TAs would rotate to supervise the kids each study night. During that time, I usually brought them snack as well. Besides learning and snacking, we did have a lot of activities, for example, mock wedding, mock thanksgiving, and going to Boston.
Whenever any TA needed to take off, all the kids would gather and give each of us a farewell party. They were such a lovely group of people! I enjoyed being with them and spoiling them from time to time :)
More information:
Here’s the link to the Jeopardy night I hosted: Jeopardy night. Please give a credit to me and the kinds (as listed in the last slide before using! Thank you.
Another presentation that I made during the camp is A list of helpful resources to improve your English.