Maigen Pool will be taking her passion for archery and astronomy and passing them on to youngsters who sign up for Odessa College’s summer camps.
Registration for Odessa College’s summer camps is now open.
Camps will run from June to the first part of August, Director of Community Recreation Christine Williams said.
Pool was a prekindergarten and kindergarten teacher at Blanton Elementary, but is on hiatus because she had a baby girl just two months ago.
Having been involved in archery and a competitor in the sport, Pool has been teaching archery at OC summer camps since 2014 and is adding astronomy this year.
Her parents and brother are all into the sport. “It’s a whole family affair,” Pool said.
She said she had an amazing archery instructor that taught her how.
Pool said she pitched the astronomy idea to Williams before COVID. Pool went to Odessa College and University of Texas Permian Basin where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history.
“Whenever I was a student here, I took all the astronomy science courses here. … I’ve loved astronomy since I was little. I’ve kept up with it throughout the years …,” Pool said.
When Williams was asking about new camp ideas, Pool suggested astronomy.
“What kid doesn’t like to know more about the stars?” she said.
Pool hopes to take her astronomy campers on a field trip to the Museum of the Southwest in Midland to go to the planetarium. Williams said 600 to 800 youngsters are expected to join the camps. There will be about 30 options with multiple dates available. All camps are Monday through Thursday.
OC has had a lot of ECISD teachers as camp instructors before. “We are back to normal, or as safe as possible for normal. But I’m excited,” Williams said.
For example, Camp Runamuckus will have field trips again and along with astronomy camp there will be additional Fab Lab camps.
“Last year, we started the Fab Academy, and that one was you’re going to come and learn digital design, computer coding and such. We still have Fab Academy again this year. They actually programmed their own light boxes, learned how to use 3D printers, laser cutters, all of that and actually doing the coding for it. This year in addition to Fab Academy, we’ve got Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs which is the actual camp name. … Our Fab Lab got a grant from the fabricators and Manufacturers Association International. In that one, they’re going to learn how to build a space rover and a spaceship. That one is for older aged kids about 14-17. And then we are going to do a VR (Virtual Reality) camp with them as well where they’re going to make their own VR headsets and 3D objects …,” Williams said.
Another new camp will be bullet journaling.
She added that they are also bringing back co-ed basketball with their women’s basketball coaches and some basketball players.
Favorites such as Zombie Preparedness, tennis and golf are returning, as well.
Archery with Pool is certainly one of the favorites. It is for children 8 to 12. They learn the rules off the top.
She added that they always remind campers that the bows are not toys; they’re weapons.
They use children’s bows — longbows, recurve and compound bows. The lightest bow is 5 pounds and the heaviest is 20.
The campers will make an arrow as their arts and crafts project that they can take home with them.
The little girls usually like the longbow or recurve bows cause they can get the arrow farther, Pool said.
Pool’s mother, Tina White, is Pool’s assistant and she has two helpers.
“We teach them everything from safety to fundamentals, along with games and we even do arts and crafts with them and history” of archery, Pool said.
“It’s something I like incorporating, so that way if they are actually interested, they have a little bit more background on what they’re doing,” Pool said. The camp covers the rules, fundamentals of stance, for example, how to properly pull the bow all the way to safety of what not to do,” she added.
What got Pool into archery is that she has always been into sports. “Whenever I got into college, I didn’t really have a sport. And my dad was like, why don’t you try archery with me and your brother? I was like, okay, and so one day after school we went to practice and I’ve been doing it ever since. It was really nice and helped relax me during finals. It’s very relaxing and centering,” she added.
Although she is on hiatus from teaching, she can’t stay away from the profession.
“I love teaching. I truly do. I love showing others what they can aspire to be and helping guide them,” Pool said.
She added that it’s always fun to see the expression on children’s faces when something clicks and they like something.
Her camps usually max out and the top number is usually 20.
“We always have repeat students and even some kids do archery camp a couple of times each summer,” Pool said.
