Chapa Middle School Language Arts teacher Leah Cochran flashes a smile that lasts all the way through the morning at this year’s 6th Annual Camp Cougar. Cochran shares her reflections on the camp and its meaning in a special guest feature. (Photo by Jim Cullen)
by LEAH COCHRAN
Special to the Hays Free Press
(Editor’s note – Leah Cochran is one of Chapa Middle School’s original teachers and she continues to coordinate Camp Cougar for incoming 6th-graders making the transition out of elementary school. Her thoughts on that always exciting time typify teachers’ feelings at this time of year.)
This morning I was asked by an incoming 6th grade parent, “Why are you so involved in this, if you do not even teach 6th grade?”
For so many reasons.
When Chapa opened, Lehman came over and guided us through our first Camp Cougar, and I was instantly hooked. My son, Jacob, was about five weeks old at the time, and Camp Cougar was immediately about family, building those positive relationships that are so crucial to teaching and so vital in life.
Camp Cougar is about welcoming those 9th, 10th and 11th graders who still volunteer to help the “newbies” know the ropes and who read about camp in the paper and stop by... just because...
While at camp, we laugh and we cheer. Students tour the entire building. We watch skits performed by upperclassmen about rules and expectations. We get our cameras to record Mrs. Walls and Mr. Vela (and a few others we entrap on the stage) as they race with incoming students through obstacle courses, watermelon, pudding or today’s menu - baby food.
But it is so much more than all this. Each year, as camp dawns, I watch reluctant students cling to their parent’s backs, wide-eyed and frightened, tear-filled eyes pleading “don’t leave me here.” Through the morning, I watch those eyes learn to dance and fly on wings as eagles, as they grow in confidence and friendship facing the year ahead.
This year, Jacob is on his way to Science Hall’s Dual-Language Kindergarten Program. As I stood in the entryway greeting today’s parents, I understood more deeply that Camp Cougar is for them, too. It is about helping families adapt to new expectations, anticipations and school cultures. It is about uniting together to achieve the imaginable. For this moment. For the days ahead. For joining together to build. Memories.
Camp Cougar is about meeting new families while reuniting with others who have entrusted us with their Older Cougars-become-Lobos. It is about welcoming new Cougars, and embracing old ones. There is always more room at Our Cougar Den.
