Jasper Winterton
Feature/Video Editor
“Camp Wyman experienced significant staff changes in mid-September, just over one week prior to the first week of school camp for Hixson students,” Dr. Shenita Mayes, Hixson principal, said in a letter sent to students and families regarding the cancellation of Camp Wyman.
Camp Wyman was originally founded as a youth camp in 1898, and in the 1990s it expanded to what it is now, including the camp itself along with a Teen Outreach program and Teen Connection project.
According to Allison Williams, Camp Wyman CEO and president, Wyman serves over 1,000 teens in the St. Louis area through the programs, and through 74 national and local partnerships, 24,000 teens are served from connection with Wyman’s Teen Outreach and Teen Connection programs.
With the staff changes occurring slightly over a week prior to the first scheduled sixth grade trip, Williams and Hixson’s camp coordinators worked together as efficiently as possible to try and figure out a solution and collectively decided that the best decision would be to cancel the fall trip, as there weren’t enough workers on the program team to provide the full experience.
According to Williams, they are currently assessing their ability to reschedule the trip for this spring.
The letter sent to students and families impacted by the cancellation additionally stated that the “Webster Groves School District holds a unique place in the history of Wyman as the longest running partnership – coming in at a strong 75 years of supporting students in the district. That longevity of service made the decision to not hold Camp Wyman for Hixson sixth graders this fall so very hard to make.”
Williams slightly edited the content of the letter to provide more context in regards to this article.
Williams said, “Wyman operated primarily as Camp Wyman for many years, serving children through summer camp programs, as well as developing school camp models such as the one with Webster Groves during the school year.”
Feature Image: Seniors Noah Dent, Che Sanchez, David Kern and Noah Burgess high five before attempting the climbing the wall at Camp Wyman on Monday, Oct. 5, 2016. Photo by Caroline Fellows
Jasper Winterton-Feature EditorThis will be Jasper Winterton’s first year on ECHO staff. He made several contributions while taking journalism class his freshman year. |
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