The Project for Beam this year was called the Macro-Micro Domes. What we did was build five geodesic domes of different sizes. Then we decorated 4 of them to look like geodesic viruses: Hepatitis C, Herpes, the Rhino Virus, and HIV. The fifth dome, which is the biggest, was the Beam Virus, which we, the Beam Campers, designed.

The Rhino Virus was the dome we started decorating first. We decorated it by attaching triangular panels to each triangle, some clear, some green. We drilled holes in each panel in the places we needed holes in. In the clear panels, we poked strands of ‘Flagellae’ through the holes. On the green panels, the holes were arranged so that for every five green panels, there was a star shape. We poked blue lights through those holes.

Next was HIV. We decorated it by attaching the panels and spraying it with spray foam. Then we glued red fabric to each triangle. The color had changed, but we still had the spray foam texture. Then we put “mushrooms” we had made, complete with latex and pipe cleaners, to the dome with giant staples. None of us campers were allowed to attach the mushrooms; it was ‘too dangerous.

The Hepatitis C dome was the smallest one. This time, we didn’t attach any panels; we attached yellow fabric with noodles sticking out of it. But how did the noodles get there? The campers wove them onto the fabric. They got the noodles from paper cutouts. We pinned them onto the fabric, then cut out around the edges.

Then Herpes. We silk-screened the designs onto the fabric, then attached that onto the dome. Again, we didn’t use any panels. There were still open triangles, so we attached green fabric to those open triangles.

Last but not least was the Beam Virus. Since we had six “waves” [roving, working groups], and there were six pentagons to a dome, each wave got an assignment. One wave made face parts, one wave made “Patterns in Nature,” et cetera. Then we attached triangles with facial parts, patterns in nature, et cetera, to the dome. Inside the dome, there are pictures of parts of our bodies, only taken with microscope cameras.

Lucas, Proton

Campers worked with Beam Guide Jeremy Bailey to create these mini-masterpieces of video juxtaposition.

Campers worked with Beam Guide Jeremy Bailey to create these mini-masterpieces of video juxtaposition.

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Campers worked with Beam Guide Jeremy Bailey to create these mini-masterpieces of video juxtaposition.

Please, Tom, don’t do it!

I know a lot of people like breakfast foods. Some of these foods are blueberry muffins, cornbread, pancakes and French toast. The people that like these foods are Sylvie, Ruby, Izzi, Olivia, Cassie, Kali and Jade. Mostly I know this because I asked them and I see them eating a lot of these foods. When these foods are made, these people take a lot. Sylvie once took five blueberry muffins! Ruby goes crazy when Pancakes are served. She puts on sooooo much syrup. When we had French toast, Olivia had four sticks of it. When the cornbread came out everyone got only one square and everyone was whining for more. It was sooooo good. Before, I ate about 6 or 7 strips of french toast!

Tess, 8, Pulsar

Beamers gathered in Greenpoint to get ghoulish with good friends, great counselors and Gerbo.

One slightly unexpected and interesting domain being offered this summer at Beam Camp is “Solar Cooking.” It was held first domain period on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during Week One. Solar Cooking includes instruction on how to put together a solar cooker, and each pair of campers were able to cook several delectable meals at the end of the session.

But first, domain leader, Christi, gave an introduction. The Solar Cooker consists of a large funnel-shaped piece of cardboard, covered with aluminum foil. The funnel is placed in a milk crate and a glass jar—spray-painted black—is placed at the bottom of the funnel on a small piece of cardboard inside a plastic bag. Almost anything can be cooked, as long as it fits inside the jar.

The way the Solar Cooker works is the foil gathers the rays of the sun in the wider part of the funnel and reflects and concentrates the heat towards the jar area. The food will cook surprisingly rapidly. The plastic bag is placed around the jar because hot air moves faster than cold air and can create somewhat of a breeze, causing the food to cook slower. The plastic bag insulates the jar. Christi explains that the solar cooker is very easy to make and has several benefits. One third of the people in the world don’t have access to clean water or cooking fuel. Most of them live near the equator, so there is plenty of sun. With the solar cooker being quite economical and easy to make, it’s a safer and cleaner way to cook. In addition, unlike fuel, sunlight is a renewable source of energy.

After a long process of putting the cooker together and preparing several dishes, the campers finally saw the outcome of their hard work by enjoying some delicious brownies, omelettes, vegetables, and apple crisp. Who knew science could be so tasty?

—Becca, 13, Quark

This morning I found a baby toad. I put it in a bush. It jumped on to my shoulder. A chipmunk that I saw jumped through a spider web. My friends saw it. The first night, I heard an owl. A snake was outside the girls’ cabin and they could see it was a garter snake. The snake was black and yellow. It just dove into the ground. After it rains, turkeys come across the field. Bess, 13, a Quark, saw a fox run across the field. In bird watching, my friend saw a pretty woodpecker. The woodpecker made a pretty sound. In the evening I saw a loon. Now this is wildlife at beam.

Olivia, 8, Pulsar

If you look around, do you see a pinecone? A twig? Some sticks? But do you see a sculpture? In “Found Sculpture,” we look for the sculpture in a big box of acorns, pinecones, twigs, sticks, leaves, and anything else you can find outside. And the super glue keeps the sculpture a long keep project, so you can use it to decorate.

—Sophie, 10, Nebula

Walking up the hill towards the dining hall at BEAM Camp, a camper might hear the shouts of fellow campers or staff members planning activities. However, sounds of the fiddle tuning its strings is quite unexpected. Last Tuesday night, BEAM campers and staff enjoyed the first-annual BEAM Barn Dance.

Often when one thinks of a Barn Dance, they might imagine a big, red barn with a bunch of folks swinging their pardners round and round. A BEAM Barn Dance is this classic event with a few twists. First, the dance took place in the dining hall. Second, the dancers were a group of rowdy campers ranging in age from 6 to 14, along with their counselors. All were in a giddy mood though many, mostly boys, were not necessarily into the whole dancish thing, as Corey, 12, put it. The third and final twist was the music. It was provided by the talented counselors, Mike and Julie. The sounds coming from their guitar and fiddle created a beautiful atmosphere in the crowded and sweaty dining hall.

Dave, a math teacher and square dance caller extraordinaire of 15 years, was our guest caller for the night. He began with a Big Circle Square Dance as they call it in the south. This dance was done twice due to the fact that many uneager campers felt like causing havoc. For the second dance, the dancers split into four lines of 6 partners for a wild round of “Over the Top.

After a quick break, Dave called us to order to begin real square dances such as “Red Wing” and “Dig for the Oysters, Dive for the Clams.” Finally, we wound down and finished the evening with incredible chocolate cake, courtesy of Duddana, Lauren and Justin, our fabulous chefs.

At the end of the night, even those campers who were apprehensive at first, decided that they had enjoyed the Barn Dance.
Bess and Becca, both 13, Quarks

I have interviewed a chef that works at Camp Beam. Her name is Duddana. She told me a little bit about the kitchen and how she uses tips to cook for nearly 100 people. She says, “Anything you love to do is not hard.”

Duddana has worked with some famous people like Gwen Stefani, Nine Inch Nails, Conway West, James Conn, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Beastie Boys. She said that is was very demanding and a lot of pressure.

Duddana’s favorite food is Carribbean food because she is from there. She also loves all the flavors. Duddana favorite utensil to use is her blender. She loves it because it can mix different things together.

Duddana gets very tired after she cooks a lot of food, but she still loves what she does. She also loves giving people tips on how to cook. Duddana likes it when the campers thank her.

—Mary Carol, 11, Nebula

I interviewed the residents of the Nebula bunk, and this is what they had to say.

Eloise 10, Sophie 10, Imani 11, Mary Carol 11, Shea 12, and I are all from the cabin Nebula. Our cabin has 2 counselors, Prudence and Emily. I asked the girls what they thought of them.

Mary Carol said that Emily is really nice and caring and she also knows how to have fun. Sophie added that Prudence is a strong woman, a good counselor, and she lets us do stuff if we’re allowed.

I also aksed the Nebulas what they thought about our cabin. Eloise told me that our cabin is really clean and that everyone in it respects each other. Everyone plays cards a lot and the shower is hard to get hot water out of. She added that we keep our cabin clean to gain an S in the SSR’s.

The way I see it, SSR is a system that Brian came up with to get the campers motivated to clean. If we get all three words on one day we celebrate. The first “S” stands for Support, the second “S” stands for Sustain and the “R” stands for Reflect.

We get Support when all of the cabins clean their bunk, so we try our hardest. Shea thinks the shower is too small and is hard to clean. Shea, like Eloise thinks our cabin is very clean. Sophie also told me that at free time we laugh, read and write letters. Imani and Sophie agreed with Eloise and Shea. They thought that the cabin was very clean also. That’s pretty much all I have to say, I mean our cabin is super cool, so remember that!

Eliana, 11, Nebula

Today, like most days, I walked towards the dining hall for domains. It was steaming like most days and I could not wait until I got inside to the nice cool dining hall. But when I looked at the schedule to see what I had that day, I found an unpleasant surprise. My name had ceased to exist on the paper! My heart raced as I wondered what had happened. Perhaps I had ceased to exist as well! I asked a counselor and she told me that it was just a printing error, but because of it there were no domains open for me, she said that I had to do something else during the period instead. ‘Maybe I could do something for the Beam Blog.’ I thought. So I got a camera and started taking pictures of the other domains. I decided to go to Solar Cooking first because I was hungry and wanted food. I took a few pictures and moved on. Sadly, I did not receive any food. I went to bird watching next. This time I took pictures and interviewed as well. I asked everyone in the class whether they liked the class or not. They all said that it was very fun. One child, Crocket, stated that it was good, very exciting and Eli; the child sitting next to him said the exact same thing. Then Crocket informed the Eli politely that he was copying him. I left the premises soon after.

Joe, 14, Quasar

A lot of people have been swept away by the series by J. K. Rowling. “Harry Potter” truly is amazing, I think. I have read all of the books, some more than once. I’m sad that the series is over, and I think it kind-of changed the way I look at life. Since the seventh and final installment of “Harry Potter” came out right before camp, it was fresh in everyone’s mind. I took a survey to find out which character was the favorite at BEAM Camp. These were the results:

Fred & George: 4
Dobby: 4
Hermione: 4
Harry: 2
Grawp: (giant) 1
Tonks: 1
Ron: 0

—Sophie, 10, Nebula