CATALINA—KODAWest embarked on their Annual Camp for 2014 on July 13. The annual camp is being held on the Catalina Island. KODAWest held a Counselors-In-Training (CIT) program for KODA/CODAs attending the camp on July 10 to prep for the arrival of the campers when developing team building and job/life skills.

 

According to KODAWest’s Camp Mission Statement, their annual camp is the biggest event of the year that KODAWest holds for under-served Kids Of Deaf Adults (KODAs). In an earlier interview conducted with KODAWest, they told Canyon News that their annual camp sees KODAs from all over, coming as far as Hawaii and even receives counselors for the camp from as far as Germany.

 

Their mission statement states that KODAWest Camp is a place where KODAs between the ages of 8 and 17 “enjoy a range of amazing experiences [and have the chance to] explore their identities as bi-cultural individuals through the increased awareness of ASL, Deaf culture and by sharing their own stories.”

 

“KODAWest aims to provide the hearing experience by exposing these children to music and by providing a community where these children can connect with one another through similar backgrounds.” The camp, like most, will consist of group games, arts and crafts, and sports; but it adds its own flair with KODA awareness activities for the campers to promote bi-cultural pride and boost their self-esteem.

 

Since 2012, KODAWest has been holding their annual camp on the Island of Catalina. In 2011 and 2010, they held an annual surf camp and in 2009, the camp was held at Big Bear.

 

They gave a shout out to Sprint Relay on their Facebook page for their support as one of the KODAWest Camp sponsors for the last eight years. According to KODAWest’s post, “Sprint is the largest and most technologically advanced Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) provider in the nation, with more than 20 years experience in providing relay services to those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind, or have a speech disability…Sprint Relay currently provides TRS for 34 US States, the US Federal Government, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Country of New Zealand.”