A camp with equal parts of academics, fun
Vail Valley facility meets long-frustrated need of learning-disabled children, their parents
By Carol Kreck - Denver Post
February 23, 1999

Ann Cathcart of Edwards was searching for summer academics that would be fun for her son, a child with learning disabilities. When she couldn't find what Tucker wanted, she started a camp of her own.

Or his own.

"There was nothing like (it) in the West," she said. ".Those I found in the East were really large camps with no academics. I knew there had to be other mothers looking."

"I had a business background, so I figured I could run a summer camp. We did a day camp the first year to see if there was any interest, and we had 23 local kids."

After that session ended, Cathcart got a loan to start an overnight camp she called Vail Valley Learning Camp. This summer will mark its fourth season. Teachers and counselors from all over the country apply to work there.

Tucker, now 14, had his doubts at first. He was tired of summer school and tired of being tutored, Cathcart said, "but he had such a good time that he became instrumental in designing a summer camp for kids."

He argued for more fun, more outings. Mornings are spent learning in an outdoor setting, but for the afternoon, "He pushed the horseback riding, water activities, river rafting and creek hikes." Headed into the ninth grade, Tucker still comes to two sessions a summer.

Tucker has been on the honor roll twice, but more than his hard-won academic achievement, "He likes the boost camp's given him," Cathcart said.

"Children with learning disabilities are intelligent children who for whatever reason struggle with reading, writing or math. Often times these same children are children who are misunderstood in a school setting and are very lonely because of it," she said.

"It takes so much courage for kids with learning disabilities to go to school every day because they're afraid of being exposed for what they don't know, they're afraid of being made fun of.

"In elementary and middle school they're also afraid of being alienated from their peers and teachers because of their learning differences."

Vail Valley Learning Camp creates a safe, nurturing environment in which they can learn, she said. In small groups, "they are safe to try new techniques, safe to say I don't understand." Teachers and counselors who specialize in learning disabilities are there purely to help them, she said, and campers come because they want extra help and relationships with other campers.

When Tucker got his diagnosis eight years ago, "I didn't know anything about learning disabilities," Cathcart said. "Teachers didn't know what they (the students) didn't know." Things have changed dramatically since then.

The camp focuses on learning-disabled kids between 7 and 14 years old; however, any child who needs or wants summer academics would fit in, Cathcart said. She has had kids with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder, memorization problems and information processing disorders, but she hates those harmful labels. "Just say (they're) intelligent children who learn differently."

A third of her campers come from outside Colorado; most heard about the camp on the Internet. This year, she's adding a fourth session, only 10 days long for kids who have never been away from home.

"I overcompensated for my son's disability by being overprotective," Cathcart said, but at camp "the greatest gift we give these children is we build their self-esteem and foster independence."

Three-week sessions are $2,100, which is prohibitive for many families. The camp has given away many scholarships, and is always looking for angels who will sponsor a child, she said. Now that it's established, Cathcart intends to go nonprofit and raise funds, a process for which she didn't have time in the beginning.

Each of the four sessions is limited to 35, children. The first session is June 9-19 and, costs $1,700. The next three sessions ($2,100 each) are June 21-July 10, July 12-31 and Aug. 2-21. Tuition includes room and board, daily individual tutoring and small-group instruction, all camp activities and materials, camp store and laundry fees. For more information, call 970-926-2706 or visit the Web site (www.learningcamp.com).

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