Las Vegas Summer Camp Emphasizes Right Mind Creativity

(Newswire.net — May 29, 2015) Las Vegas, NV — Since No Child Left Behind became a federal law, every state has been required to test every child, every year in third through eighth grade in math and reading. Slowly, districts have added many tests to follow on to state-mandated tests, to make sure that their schools are in good standing with the NCLB requirements. This was one of the instigators for reduced fine arts instructional time, as well as reduced foreign languages and other non-core subjects. The new common core standards is an evolvement of the need to set common standards in core subjects. Language arts and mathematics have continued to be measured in schools and in higher education. Daniel Pink in his book A Whole New Mind (2006) called this phenomenon the SATocracy, a regime in which access to a good life depends on the ability to reason logically, sequentially, and speedily. According to Pink, in contrast to the left brain education driven by high stake testing education, the 21st century economy appears more and more to be built on people’s right brain. In an era where people must perform work that overseas knowledge, workers can’t do cheaper, and computers can’t do faster, unique productivity is measured with aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual distinction. According to Forbes magazine, the 10 best-selling products of all time are Rubik’s Cube, I Phone, Harry Potter, Mario Video Game franchise, IPad, Star Wars Movies, Michael Jackson albums, Toyota Corolla, Lipitor, and PlayStation. All had much to do with sensing the needs of humanity, brilliant ideas, unique designs, excellent manufacturing, and genius marketing. The left brain was instrumental in making it happen in all cases, but the right brain was the initiator, the designer, the visionary, and the leader in making these great inventions.

This is exactly how Las Vegas summer camps influence our children’s education. For almost 10 months schools focus on traditional logical skills. But here comes the summer, and the traditional schooling is leaving the stage for sports, arts, drama, physical challenge, social challenge, leadership, speaking, singing, wild life, robotics, and many more. There are camps for subjects that you never heard of. Israeli Special Forces camp in Israel, Ninja Camp in Japan, The Lord of the Ring Camp in England, Safari Camp in South Africa, European programs with a mix of academics, arts, sports and travel, DJ camps, Shark Studies Camp in Fiji, Plantation Farm Camp in California, the list is endless.

The physical, emotional, social, cognitive, creative, and unique experience of each of the summer camps is a necessary addition to our children’s development. Peter Scales, Ph.D., is a senior fellow with the Search Institute in Minneapolis. A noted educator, author, and psychologist, Dr. Scales says, “Camp is one of the few institutions where young people can experience and satisfy their need for physical activity, creative expression and true participation in a community environment. Most schools don’t satisfy all these needs.”

Shenker Academy contracted with musicians, scientists, language experts, story tellers, fashionistas, martial arts specialists, athletes, and more, to continue and nurture the development of the creative nature of the young learner minds. Cultivating sports and arts during the summer camp is a priority at Shenker, and the summer camp committee are busy with preparing the many wonderful activities.

Dr. Sharon Knafo is an educator, a parent of two children, previously a school principal in Memphis, TN, Houston, TX, and now at Shenker Academy, Las Vegas, NV.