CAMP FITCH St. Matthias pupils to head outdoors

Pupils raised $2,250 in three months.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jamie Yuhasz wants to become a marine biologist someday.
That's why the sixth-grade St. Matthias School pupil was looking forward to studying Lake Erie as she and classmates prepared last week to take their first trip to Camp Fitch.
The 17 campers raised the $2,200 needed to attend the North Springfield, Pa., camp, which is owned and operated by the Youngstown YMCA.
This is the first time pupils from St. Matthias will attend the camp, which each year draws thousands of youngsters from 82 schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The pupils were to board a bus this morning to head out for the three-day, two-night visit.
Kathy Poorman, camp registrar, guessed that roughly 8,000 of the camp's more than 19,000 annual visitors are children who attend with school groups.
"A lot of the children who go are inner-city children who otherwise would not have the opportunity to see outside the city," Poorman said. "There's just so much they can learn that they were not able to do before."
Like many of her classmates, this is the first time Jamie, of Youngstown, has been camping and she was so excited she was ready for today's departure date three days early.
"I'm already packed," she said Friday morning as she and friends discussed the camp.
Anticipation
Angela Stana said she was most looking forward to being in the woods and doing the obstacle course. Jeff Leonard was interested in American Indian studies and archery. Cory Timmings said he, too, was looking forward to archery.
On second thought, the girls said they were excited about archery too. Angela, Jeff and Cory are from Youngstown.
"I like 'Lord of the Rings,'" Jamie said, as Angela nodded.
The pupils also will partake in horsemanship, pioneer crafts and rock climbing.
Janet Cadman, an art teacher at the school, said she has wanted to have pupils visit Camp Fitch since she started working at St. Matthias about four years ago. She worked with Principal Christine Kijowski, sixth-grade teacher Stephanie Creighton and parents to achieve the goal.
Cadman is hoping the pupils will appreciate Camp Fitch as much as she has over the years.
She worked at the camp for about five summers when she was in college and had attended when she was a fourth-grader at Lynn Kirk school in Austintown.
Memories
What she most remembers about her fourth-grade stay are morning announcements in the camp dining hall, the horse barn and searching Lake Erie for a rock to paint, a rock that she can still find at her parents' house.
Pupils, with parent help, achieved their $2,200 goal -- plus $50 -- in three months.
The pupils said they sold chocolate suckers, held a Krispy Kreme fund-raiser and food-bake sales. Their parents also sponsored hot lunch days at the school to earn money for the trip.
A food-bake sale at Sam's Club in Boardman earned the pupils the lion's share of funding. Though they collected about $600, Sam's Club matched that amount and donated an additional $200.