By Khalida Sarwari
With their treehouse all but finished, a cadre of amateur architects gathered around a table in a nearby shed-like studio to address one of the more pressing matters of the day: giving the treehouse a name.
Suggestions flew left and right across the long table, some in the form of enthusiastic shouts, others in between giggles. Votes were taken, hands flew up and their weeklong labor of love finally had a name: “Redwood Juice Bar.”
Cue cheering.
Redwood Juice Bar edged out a dozen other names, including classics such as Juice Fort, Fort Redwood and Fort Knox Juice. These campers definitely had a specific vision in mind. One kid threw out “Lemon” for a name. A few people liked it, notably the camp lead instructor, Kevin Kim, but it wasn’t enough to sway the majority vote. Still, it generated a few laughs.
With that task completed, the group moved on to putting the finishing touches on their treehouse before the big showcase planned for later that afternoon to an audience of parents and siblings. And yes, juice would be served.
This was the culmination of a weeklong camp at the Montalvo Arts Center where, in the process of designing and building a treehouse, 26 kids ages 9 to 13 learned about architecture, engineering and how to safely use tools such as saws and hammers.
The camp has been offered in the past, but for Kim the June 20-24 session was his first exposure to Montalvo. Though he lives in Santa Cruz and works as a behavioral specialist at Special Need Aid full-time during the school year, he has signed on to lead a number of camps at Montalvo this summer.
On Monday, his campers arrived to an empty patch of land that had been designated as their building site. After surveying the site, they went back to the studio, where they were split into two groups. One group worked on designing the stairs while the other group worked on a fantasy tree drawing. Later in the week, they were split again into three groups to execute their design.
The end result was a roofless, redwood tree-supported structure with a shelf for juice, a pulley system to transport things from the ground, a planter box and, to just about every camper’s delight, a slide.
Kim said he noticed a difference in some of his campers by the end of the week. They learned to be more self-aware and careful, he said. They were patient and compassionate toward each other and learned how to work together.
Though the week wasn’t without its challenges–exacerbated by the heat and the effort of supervising “rambunctious” kids around dangerous tools–Kim found the experience rewarding. Having struggled with depression years ago, Kim said he found a remedy in working with children, so that’s what he’s dedicated himself to doing for the last six years.
“Kids definitely give you that sense of life,” he said.
Kim was aided by three camp volunteers who helped to keep the campers quiet and on task. With three weeks of camp volunteering experience, Moira Campi, a 15-year-old Presentation High School junior, was designated as the lead volunteer. She said she signed up to volunteer for the treehouse camp because it was different than the average arts-based camp.
“The most rewarding part is seeing the kids in the treehouse,” she said. “They really light up when they go over there and they’re very proud.”
Still, she found supervising the campers around power tools and containing their energy when they needed to stay on task to be a challenging exercise. “But overall they’re a good group of kids and they have a lot of spirit,” she said.
Thirteen-year-old Addison Horowicz, a seventh-grader at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, said she can’t wait to return to Montalvo later this summer with her family so she can point out her finished masterpiece to them. Her family recently moved to Los Gatos from Baltimore, Md., and enjoys hiking at Montalvo. Now she can say she contributed to its landscape in some way, albeit temporarily. Montalvo typically keeps the treehouses up for about a year as part of its “Arts on the Grounds” exhibition.
“It looks pretty interesting, but pretty fun,” she said of the tree. “I definitely want to come back and see how it turned out.”
On the side, Addison and her fellow campers also created their own birdhouse to take home or hang up in the treehouse, their choice. Addison said that was her favorite part of the camp.
“It was definitely a different experience than what I’m used to,” she said. “Now I understand a little more about tools and things.”
Unlike Addison, 11-year-old Caleb Sparks came into the camp knowing a few things about tools and treehouses, this being his third treehouse camp. But it’s the thrill of building that keeps him coming back year after year.
“I do enjoy building things,” he said. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to build a treehouse?”
Sparks, who lives in Saratoga and is a fifth-grader at Casa diMir in Campbell, said he has observed slight differences between the three treehouses he’s been a part of building. Though the others incorporated a slide and pulley system, the juice bar is a new feature for him.
“I think it’s a good idea, even though I didn’t like it at first,” he said. “It’s actually a good idea.”
His favorite part of the camp, said Caleb, was anytime he’d get to “drive a screw or build something.” The impact driver, he said, was his favorite tool to use.
And, though he was sad about saying goodbye to the camp, he knows there’s always next year … or next month, as it turns out to be the case. Montalvo is offering the camp a second time this summer from July 18 to 22, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The registration cost is $425.
For more information or to register, visit montalvoarts.org/camps.
Link:
Los Gatos, Saratoga: Children learn basics of the building process during treehouse camp at Montalvo
