The Summer Inspiration Program offered kids a variety of activities to keep them not only occupied but also learning and developing during summer months. Touring Putnam County camp for middle school students provided an opportunity for the kids to learn about life and the rich history of Putnam County.
“There are so many different camps going on. I chose to do this one because it was something I felt passionate about,” said camp instructor Grayson Huskins. “There are so many available resources in Eatonton and Putnam County. I wanted to take kids around and show them what’s out there, and maybe they go back to their families and take advantage of what we have in our backyard. You don’t have to travel far. Most everything that’s available is either free or very inexpensive.”
Huskins, an Eatonton native, is a physical education teacher at Putnam County Middle School with 26 years of teaching experience. He made a list of places to visit. According to him, each day of the camp they had three hours for their travels. If time allowed, on some days the campers visited more than one place.
On the first week, the campers went to the Oconee Springs Park, where they stayed the entire time enjoying swimming in the lake and the inflatable water attractions.
“The kids loved it,” Huskins said.
On another day, they went to Wallace Dam separating two local lakes – Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair. It is the newest and largest of the 18 hydroelectric plants in Georgia Power's generating system.
“The guys at Georgia Power took us on a tour, where we walked underneath the dam,” Huskins said.
The other locations the campers explored included the Rock Hawk trails and effigy, Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch, Old Prison with Jim Stone and Tytan Productions, Georgia Writers Museum and The Plaza Art Center, where they did the scavenger hunt at the Old School History Museum and toured the theatre. They also visited Tim Camp’s Dairy, an operating dairy farm in Putnam County.
“That's what Putnam County is known for. We could see the process of cows getting milked and how the farm works,” Huskins said.
“This camp is pretty good because we get to go places,” said sixthgrader Harrison Esau. “I learned a lot about Putnam County and how the turbines worked at Wallace Dam.”
“I learned about the authors at the museum we went to,” said fifth-grader Avery Thomas speaking about the Georgia Writers Museum.
“We have a lot of students and general population, who don’t realize what we have. There are kids, who have never done this tour,” said Huskins. “If you live here, you need to come and see what we’ve got. We got our history.”