The Illinois School for the Visually Impaired is hosting a summer camp this week for children that are blind or visually impaired from throughout Illinois.
Vocational Principal and Summer Camp Director for ISVI Heather Staats says twenty-eight kids from the ages of 9-19 will get to experience a variety of activities depending upon the group they are in: “The camp has been offered for awhile. This is our first time back in-person since Covid. The activities vary by age group. Our younger group, our juniors team are going to be doing things with music, art; they are building race cars out of Legos. On Tuesday, they actually brought in a race car so they can see them, feel them, and just get a feel of what a race car is like. We also have a STEAM group, which is a little bit older, they are going to have some presenter on ZOOM. They are going to learn some cooking skills, some independent living skills, and some computer skills. Then, our transition group, which is our oldest group that goes all the way to 19, they are learning cooking skills. We are going to do yoga. Another thing is, a blind fitness instructor is going to appear on ZOOM and give them a fitness lesson.”
Staats says that the last few years the camp was offered virtually and this is the first year of being back in person since the pandemic. Staats says campers will be staying on campus for the week-long camp: “We don’t normally offer the camp to our students. This year, being back from Covid, we did. We also have students attending that don’t attend ISVI that are from all over the state.”
Staats says students will be enjoying evening activities like bowling as well as celebrating a birthday. ISVI will be celebrating its 175th anniversary officially on January 13, 2024. Students will have a celebration of this event.