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There's laughter, hugging, crying, and a desire to explore that can be seen in every child-and in every councilor. Walking through the campus, it's easy to see how much everyone cares about everyone else. We all love the kids and want to make a difference in their lives and we want to help them be the best kids that they can be."Īnd Our Victory has also made a difference in Erwin-Maguire's life. You can see that in every person that works here. Here, you're here because you love the kids. You're there not to make an impact on the kids' lives but just to give them someplace to go. "I feel like a lot of camps are more like a babysitting service. "We see each kid as an individual and each kid has their own potential that we want them to live up to," said Assistant Counselor Emily Erwin-Mcguire, who is working her seventh summer at Our Victory.
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Treating each child with the respect he or she deserves is of paramount importance at Our Victory. Because then they're not like their siblings they're not like everybody else." "To offer these kids a program without swim-putting them under the sprinkler instead-we would probably stop and not run the camp. "Without Mercy College's compassion, we couldn't have this camp," Fred said. During a normal day, campers may have art, movement, sports, drama, music, and swimming- which they do at a small pool across the street at Mercy College. to 3:45 p.m.- and runs for seven weeks, generally beginning in the last week of June and ending in mid-August. The camp is open five days a week- from 9 a.m. "Because at that point in their lives, where do they go?" "Once they're mine, I'll keep them for as long as they want," Fred said. Technically, that's the oldest child they'll take, but they do make exceptions. The Tunicks will interview a new child for placement at the camp starting at age five and going all the way up to age 12. The children come from all over Westchester, as well as Stamford and New York City. "And the kids are our grandchildren in many ways." "The staff are our kids in many ways." Fred said. This helps create the unique bond that permeates the camp. The Tunicks never advertise for new counselors because so many family members step forward with recommendations when an opening occurs. Many of the counselors have a brother or sister in the camp, or are the brother or sister of a previous counselor. It would be easy and perhaps cliché to say that Our Victory becomes one big family year after year, but in this case, it's true.
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"A lot of the kids come back year after year as well as the staff, so it forms a really awesome environment for the kids," said Rotanelli, who is currently working her third summer at the camp. This year, there are only six new counselors out of the 36 staff members. Most of the counselors return to Our Victory year after year, and so are already acquainted with many of the children. "And the assistants are at least in college, usually studying something in the field." "The head of each group is usually in the field of special education," Fred said. Equally important as the quantity of counselors is the quality.