By Gretchen Keiser

A year ago, camps for children were front-page news in Atlanta. Children were being murdered and camps were one way the city, and the Archdiocese of Atlanta, tried to respond to provide a measure of safety.

This summer there is no shocking urgency surrounding the story, but those who spent the month of July working at a camp at Sts. Peter and Paul parish in Decatur are quietly proud of what was accomplished.

The camp ran from July 5 - 30, funded partly by an archdiocesan collection and by nominal fees charged to those who came, from $5 a week for the first child from any family, to $2.50 a week for additional children from the same family.

Co-directed by seminarian Jim Murray and parishioner Helen Ray, a Henry County teacher, the camp began with low registration, but quickly climbed to an average of 90 to 100 children a week. Teachers included several people from the parish and five Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters from Philadelphia who worked in the camp as their summer assignment.

The philosophy that stitched together many different elements at the camp was to provide a relaxed place for the kids to have some Bible study, some recreation and fun and some time with one another.

Mrs. Ray said that it's her belief a camp is a way of ministering to some special people in a parish -- its children.

"I really believe in the camp atmosphere for the kids," she said. "I really am committed to what it does for our children as parishioners. I see it as a place where the kids have a chance to be with sisters, with priests, parents, seminarians in a relaxed way."

At the ages involved, from kindergarten through eighth grade, children are most likely to remember the care and attention they receive, rather than a summertime lesson, Mrs. Ray said. "They're going to remember, "Hey, that church was a nice place to be -- it's pleasant, it's relaxed." Many parents and some teenagers worked as volunteers throughout the four weeks.

In that perspective, the camp was also an "outreach to the neighborhood community," she said. Children from the parish and neighborhood children often came to the camp together. Unlike last year, however, there was no attempt to bring children to the camp by bus from housing projects in the vicinity.

To keep classes manageable, there was a concerted effort to keep the size to no more than 20 and, except for the oldest children, classroom periods were limited to 40 minutes, followed by a break or recreation. In classroom time, teachers worked with a Christian Bible study program. The children then rotated through other activities such as recreation, directed by Judy Sylvester, a Sts. Peter and Paul teacher, or cooking with Andy Faraca, a parishioner who teaches in College Park during the school year.

Under Faraca's tutelage, campers gained firsthand experience with cooking and serving, making cookies, doughnuts, and other treats from scratch and then bringing them to other classes. Whether it was because of their role model or not, Faraca found that "oftentimes the boys are more responsive and eager than the girls" in cooking class.

Another parishioner, Cassandra Simmons, involved children in a variety of creative outlets, such as quilt making, painting, illustrating, to teach arts and crafts to develop their self-awareness by letting them create on their own.

In addition to the core staff of teachers and volunteers, many people came to the camp for special events, including the Georgia Generals, a fencing instructor, a puppeteer and DeKalb police and fire representatives. On free afternoons, the children were taken to swim at DeKalb Community College.

Perhaps the most objective sign to Helen Ray is that those who came to help, whether for a special demonstration, or for the four weeks, like Sister Thomas Aloysius from Bridgeport, PA, want to come back.

With their help and commitment, Mrs. Ray could say, "I'm really proud of what we've done."