KinderCaminata is an annual event that gives kindergartners a chance to explore what they want to do and who they want to be when they grow up. This exciting experience is held county wide on a college campus and it teaches kids more about the community and the many jobs there are to support a community.
“It is never too early to instill in each student the importance of a good education and staying in school in order to have the opportunity to reach their dreams and goals,” according to the Fullerton College site.
The KinderCaminata Experience began because of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez and his recognizable devotion to humanity and improving the lives of labor workers. He made a huge impact and a positive difference in the lives of all children and families living in California. His motto, “Si, Se Puede!”, has been the KinderCaminata theme since it began in 1994.
The heart of this annual event definitely lies within the kindergartners. It gives them a chance to be their inquisitive selves and to explore an educational world through their eager learning habits.
“I do this for the kids. When I see the joy on these kids faces and how sweet and innocent they are, it makes me realize why we work so hard to coordinate this exciting event,” said Diana Kyle, psychology instructor.
This year, Fullerton College hosted over 2,000 kindergartners form four participating districts with the help of more than 200 Fullerton College volunteers. Taking a second to let those numbers sink in, one can only imagine the type of organized chaos that scampered throughout the college campus last Friday.
Assemblywoman Young Kim was among the many visitors at this year’s event along with former students who are now parents and teachers of participating children.
In addition to the various stations that each classroom had the opportunity to participate in, informative parent workshops were available to give parents helpful insight on funding and prepping for college, unfortunately, not one parent showed up to the short classes.
Here are some of this year’s stations and activities that were held around campus by the different departments:
Administration of Justice Department: The main theme was “Stranger Danger” which was focused on teaching the classes that strangers are, in fact, dangerous. Every class that walked passed their station was drawn to the hyper activity that was going on. The training academy held demonstrations on how to take down a “stranger” and even gave students a chance to take turns kicking training pads.
Oceanography Department: Their station was called “Gone Fishing”. Instructor Sean Chamberlain acted as the captain of their boat and took each class on a fishing trip to two different oceans. One ocean was filled with plastic while the other was filled with fish. They taught the kindergartners that humans are destroying the ocean with plastic and other trash, but by picking up trash on the beaches and recycling, one can help ocean life a great deal.
Veteran’s Club: At this station, an obstacle and agility course was set up for kids. They crawled under nets and through tunnels and pushed themselves to the finish line. Soldiers and Marines were also there to cheer the kids on.
Ethnic Studies Department: The Native American Experience was divided into a two-part station where kids got touch and feel different hides, play with various tools and even build their own headbands; the other part of the experience was a big and fun interactive dance.
Biology Department: Hidden in the 400 Building, a paper chromatography experiment was conducted by biology students teaching kids all about the word “DISSOLVE”. Dr. Jo Wu informed the groups that biology is the study of living creatures and to become a biologist, she emphasized that finishing kindergarten, going on to middle school and then high school will bring them back to exact place they were sitting.
The Fullerton College Library also had a station that informed the kindergartners on the exciting benefits of reading and research. They showed students a painting of Fullerton by Frank Romero and gave a brief description on the history of the college and the city.
This event emphasizes the importance in encouraging education within the younger generation because the desire to go to college sometimes gets lost in one’s journey through adolescence.
