July 19, 1998
Camp offers hope to special-needs children
By Melissa Shelt
Staff Writer
Working at a camp for special-needs children may not be for everyone, but it is just what 20-year-old Megan Murray wants to do.
Megan is a child psychology major at Wittenberg College in Springfield who hopes to work with special-needs children after her graduation in 1999. She decided that spending her summer away from Tiffin by helping special-needs children at Camp Nuhop in Perrysville would be the perfect job for her.
''My big thing has always been to work with children to increase their self-esteem, so I knew this camp would be great for me,'' she said.
Camp Nuhop is celebrating 25 years of helping 6- to 16-year-old special-needs kids or kids at risk to gain self-esteem. This helps the kids make friends and to take certain coping situations from the camp and apply them to succeeding in and out of school.
''We work with all kinds of kids, including kids with learning disabilities, behavior disorders, physically handicapped and sexually and verbally abused kids,'' Megan said.
Six 5- to 7-day camp sessions run June 11 through August 8, with 50-60 kids attending each session.
The children are broken up into smaller groups that concentrate on different areas. Two of those areas are exploration and wilderness.
The exploration group concentrates on getting the children accustomed to being in nature, whereas the wilderness group is more specific and helps the children get in tune with nature.
Megan usually works with a group of seven to nine kids in the wilderness group.
''There are about three counselors with each group, so there are usually about three kids to every one counselor. This makes it more one-on-one and more individual,'' she said.
The children are given awards daily for their achievement and at the end of every week there is a large awards ceremony.
''I love getting a chance to see kids succeeding and being proud of themselves -- kids who don't normally feel that way about themselves on a day-to-day basis. It's just an amazing place to be and see the kids grow over the week,'' Megan said.
It is difficult for Megan to find anything she dislikes about her counseling job.
''I guess the only thing I don't like is that the kids only get to stay a week, because their growth time is so short, but it is amazing to see how different their attitude is when they leave,'' she said.
With such a busy schedule, Megan still finds time to come to Tiffin and visit her parents, Margaret and Dave Murray.
''I come home during breaks. I always have about two days between each session where I write evaluations for the kids in my group and visit my parents,'' she said.
The experience Megan has had at Camp Nuhop is one that will keep her coming back for at least one more year.
''I would definitely love to come back again. The pay may not be the greatest, but it's addicting. I couldn't see myself not coming back.''
For more information about Camp Nuhop, call (419) 938-3221.