Over summer vacation, RMA students did lots of different and interesting things. From travelling to other parts of the world to working with kids right here at RMA, students from our school found a lot of different ways to spend their precious time in the summer. Here are ten summer experiences from our student body

Moondance – Edward Barnhill

Not to be confused with the Van Morrison song, Moondance is an adventure summer camp that enables teenagers from around the country to experience the world on various types of trips, including discovery, leadership, and service. This summer, 9th grader Edward Barnhill was lucky enough to participate in one of these camps, and here is what he had to say about this once in a lifetime experience.

Q: What is Moondance?

A: On Moondance you go with around 10 kids and a few counselors to places including Belize, Hawaii, California, Greenland, and a load of other places around the world for usually about 2 weeks doing a bunch of activities. 

Q: Where did you travel?

A: This year my trip went to Belize and Costa Rica for two weeks.

Q: What did you do while you were there?

A: We spent the first five days scuba diving 2 hours out of Belize. Afterwards, we went to Costa Rica and we went surfing, zip-lining, hiking, and also spent a few days doing community service. 

Q: What was the coolest part of your experience?

A: There were a bunch of cool experiences on the trip, but the top one for me was the scuba diving because almost every dive we went on we would see sharks swimming around with us, especially on our dive in The Blue Hole which had a bunch of sharks and some barracuda.

Camp Seafarer – Abigail Newcomb

During the summer, lots of students from our school go away to summer camp, an all-time favorite of summer experiences. A known camp-goer, Abigail Newcomb, returned to Camp Seafarer this summer, and here’s what she had to say:

Q: How many years have you gone to camp?

A: This was my 8th year at camp.

Q: How long are you gone when you leave?

A: I am gone for one month (June 18th-14th) with no cell phone. It sounds terrible but it makes the experience greater.

Q: What do you do while you’re there?

A: Setting goals and earning ranks are an important part of life at Camp Seafarer. Campers can learn to sail sunfish, drive a powerboat, go fishing or skiing, and work on land activities, such as archery, riflery, fold, tennis, lacrosse — really any sport. I got my powerboating license at camp, so while I’m there I always make sure to go motor-boating. This year I also went knee-boarding, rode on a jeep through a muddy trail, sailed with my friends, learned how to tie new knots, went to archery for the first time, and lots of other things.

Q: What’s your favorite part about camp?

A: My favorite part about camp is how we get to be ourselves without judgement, how it brings me closer to my faith, how close I get with my cabin mates, and how I always come home knowing how to do more things than I did before going to camo. Camp Seafarer is honestly a life changing camp!

Peru – Thorne Pruden

Making his way to the southern hemisphere, Thorne Pruden travelled to Peru this summer. After experiencing a new part of the world, I asked Thorne how his trip went and this is what he had to say:

Q: How did you travel to Peru (was it a family vacation, a church trip, a trip with friends, etc.)?

A: We took a family trip to Peru: my mother, father, brother and myself.  We flew from RDU to Miami and into Lima. The next day we flew from Lima to Cusco.  

Q: Where did you go in Peru?

A: From Cusco we traveled to the Sacred Valley and Urubamba. Tom Urubamba we traveled to Machu Picchu. From Machu Picchu we returned to Cusco via the Hiram Bingham train. And finally from Cusco back to Lima.

Q: What kinds of things did you do and which was your favorite?

A: We observed the ancient art of weaving, went whitewater rafting on the Urubamba River, hiked in Machu Picchu, and learned how to make chocolate. My favorite activity was either Machu Picchu or white water rafting.

Q: Did you try any new, exciting foods?

A: I was hoping to try the guinea pig but missed my opportunity, but I tried the trout on the Hiram Bingham and contracted food poisoning.

Italy – Charlie Miller

One student that went out to see the world this summer was Charlie Miller, who visited Italy with one of his best friends. After an amazing trip, Charlie had a lot to say about this awesome summer experience.

Q: What parts of Italy did you visit?

A: I visited a small commune called Noli, which is a coast commune in Liguria. I was there for one week and the second week was in Rome.

Q: What did you do while you were there?

A: In Noli, Matthew and I would hang out with the local Italian kids. We would pretty much just go to the beach every day and have a grand time. It most definitely was one of the best weeks of my life. In Rome, we visited all the main tourist attractions such as the Coliseum and St. Peter’s Church.

Q: What was your favorite thing you did while you were there?

A: The favorite thing I did while I was there was eating the great cuisine of Italy.

Q: What was your favorite food that you tried?

A: My favorite food was obviously the pizza. Anything you could think of they could put on a pizza. It was mighty declicious.

Austria – Ann Sumner Thorp

In her last few weeks of summer, Ann Sumner Thorp travelled out of the country and visited Austria. I asked her a few questions about her trip, and here are her answers:

Q: Why did your family choose Austria to visit?

A: The Salzburg Festival takes place every year in Austria, and orchestras from around the world come to play in it. I love music, so I saved up for a while, so that I could go and watch the concerts that take place during it. 

Q: What different places did you visit in Austria?

A: We went to Salzburg mainly and a few cities around it like St. Gilligan and St. Wolfgang.

Q: Which place Salzburg was definitely my favorite because the city was beautiful, and that was where all of the concerts took place. was your favorite and why?

A: Salzburg was definitely my favorite because the city was beautiful, and that was where all of the concerts took place. 

Q: Did you have any AP Euro flashbacks?

A: Very many, especially when I went into museums and saw references to the Holy Roman Empire, Catholic influence, and WW1 and WW2.

Volunteer Work – Virginia

Virginia Wooten, a friendly face in the junior class, spent some of her summer volunteering in her hometown of Tarboro. Here’s what she had to say about her experience:

Q: What kind of volunteer work did you do?

A: I tutored kids in Tarboro living in at risk environments teaching them how to read and write. The program is called Freedom School, and it has been proven to improve the kids’ reading ability by two grade levels over the summer. It is a two month long scholar program lead by the Roberson Scholars of Duke and UNC, so everyone working there ranged from ages sixteen to twenty six. 

Q: How do you think that volunteer work affected you and others?

A: The work affected me by opening my eyes to the world around me in Edgecombe County. I was exposed to kids of all ages, K through 8th grade, all eager to learn to become something great in life by working hard. It inspired me to help more in my local community and it also showed the difference education can make to a person.

Gatekeepers – Haven Ross

Gatekeepers is a well-known summer event that many students from RMA participate in over the summer. This work camp takes place during a hot week in the month of July and teenagers and adults from all over Rocky Mount spend their time volunteering to fix up houses in the downtown area of Rocky Mount. Haven Ross was part of this work camp and had a few things to say about the experience:

Q: Have you done Gatekeepers before?

A: This year was my third year working at Gatekeepers.

Q: What jobs did you do this year?

A: I usually stick to painting, but this year I broadened my Gatekeepers horizons by working on putting up the siding of a screened-in porch. Since I’m sixteen, I got to use power tools!

Q: How did you enjoy working with your crew?

A: My crew this year was great. Our leader, Carol Barker, did a fantastic job. We were very organized, and we finished our house early! We even got to have a water gun fight on Thursday.

Q: How do you think that volunteer work affected you and others?

A: It makes you realize just how great your life really is. You also form a unique bond with your homeowner and crew members. All of the hard days pay off when you see the finished project and a beaming homeowner on Friday. 

Summer Job – Sadie Blackshear

Some students spent their time working this summer. Sadie Blackshear is one of these students, who worked right here at RMA. Here’s how her summer went:

Q: Where did you work?

A: RMA Summer Day Camp.

Q: What kind of responsibilities did you have?

A: I was a counselor for a group of first through rising sixth graders both from RMA and other local schools and helped to conduct activities based on the specific theme of the week.

Q: How much did you work?

A: I worked nearly every day in June and August, because I was volunteering at another camp in July.

Q: How did you benefit from your job?

A: I love that I now know many of the lower school students and am able to talk to them as I see them walking around campus! Also, coloring truly is therapeutic.

Montreat – Lauren Seale

For years, students from RMA have gone to church camps around the state. One school favorite is Montreat, a week-long church trip in the mountains of North Carolina. This summer, Lauren Seale went to Montreat.

Q: How long have you been going to Montreat?

A: I’ve been going to Montreat since the summer before 9th grade, so this past summer was my 4th year.

Q: Are the churches from just North Carolina or all over?

A: There are churches from all across the United States! One of the bigger ones is from Texas, and I’ve had some people in my small groups from Ohio, Florida, and tons of other states. A lot of them are from NC though.

Q: What is your favorite part about it?

A: I really don’t know, it depends on the year. Sometimes it’s the music, sometimes it’s my small group, but normally it’s just getting closer to people either in my church or from other places.

Competitive Shooting – Jack Boucher

This summer, Jack Boucher has been killing it (not literally) in the shooting game. As a competitive shooter, Jack travelled to many places over the summer shooting clays and furthering his shooting reputation.

Q: How many places did you travel to this summer?

A: I went to 8-9 different places this summer but they weren’t all for shooting.

Q: Where did you go?

A:  Pennsville, NJ,  Gay, GA, Holly Springs, NC, Le Sueuer, MN, and Washington, NC for shoots.

Q: What do you like the most about shooting?

A: I like shooting because it requires a lot of focus and you don’t think about anything else while you do it. I also like meeting all the different people from photographers, to CEOs, to surgeons, to male-models.

Q: Which shoot was your favorite and why?

A: That would have to be a tie between the U.S. Open in Georgia and the North Central Regional. The U.S. Open was at one of my favorite clubs, was local enough where I knew some people but there was also a lot of people from all over the world there, and I ended up doing well. The North Central in Minnesota was really cool because it was in a very rural area of Minnesota so there was a lot to do and see, and also I met some really cool people out there.