When Camp Cranium was in its beginning stages, I approached my teacher friends for ideas on classes they would like to teach. I wanted them to think “out of the box” and choose topics that 1) wouldn’t be taught in school and 2) would really pull kids in. My friend Jenny suggested a class on Zombies….
It was a little further outside of the box than I originally anticipated.
But, based on her enthusiasm alone, and what a fantastic classroom teacher she is, I knew it had to be good. I decided to let her run with it and see what she came up with.
Now, I am a Walking Dead rookie. I have come into this television show way later than everyone else and definitely do not feel that I possess anything more than rudimentary Zombie knowledge. Based on my experience, Zombies were grunting, smelly monsters who barely have an ability to think, that shuffle through the world with one goal: to find and eat human brains. There can’t be anything educational about that, right?
Jenny, however, is a bona fide expert. If When the Zombie Apocalypse comes, I have decided that I definitely want to be on her team. She is ready, willing, and able with a survival plan, and knows all about the skills one would need during this event.
Before I knew it, her class plan involved (among other things) first aid skills, building shelters, collecting rain water, purifying water, disease outbreak, transmission and studies on contagion. I couldn’t believe it. She actually turned a Zombie class into something educational! I put my apprehension on hold and let her have the reins completely.
This is the BEST kind of class for gifted students. It gives them real world skills under the context of something magical, or in this case, monstrous. It gives scope to their imagination, and allows them to be a kid — but also makes them think about real world scenarios that might require them to use these skills: natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics, etc. The world is a scary place, with or without Zombies.
I brought this class back by popular demand from last year. I was amazed at how much fun the kids had — and on top of that how much they learned! I would take any of this class’s alumni on my survival team! If you are interested in taking the Zombie Survival Class at Camp Cranium this summer, please contact us!! We would LOVE to have you join us!