[Ohio-talk] I talked to this young person who attended the 2017 NFB Youth Slam so read this.

[rchpay7 at gmail.com]

I am Camryn Gattuso, and I am 15 years old, a sophomore at Tuslaw High School in Massilon, Ohio. This is what I did at the 2017 NFB Youth Slam.   My parents and I drove to Baltimore, Maryland. We then went to the Towson University, my parents left, and me and the sixty other students started our week at Youth Slam. We followed marshalls to the Suskohana Dining Hall and the food was really good. After dinner, we had an activity that was supposed to get us acquainted with the other people. The object was to blow up a balloon by holding it and seeing whose would pop  first.  Then, a man told us the rules for the week and what would happen if we didn’t follow them. Next  I went to my room and met my roomMate, her name was Marley, from Utah.   The next day, I got up, went to the  Dining Hall, ate, then went to Installation Art class. A woman named Anne told us that we would be working all week to make an exhibit. We would be going to White Marsh wetlands the next day to collect random things that we would use in our project. During the first day we spent over two hours learning where all the tools and the other necessary items for our project were. I figured I would use a motor in my project and  was shown the three types of motors they had. One I was particularly fascinated by was the 180 motor, which when connected to a controller box, would move up and down, similar to the way a bird flaps its wings.     After we were dismissed for the day from Installation Art, we had some free time and the evening program was Karaoke.  At this session I sang two Disney songs, “Beauty And The Beast” and “Let It Go”. Then we went back to the Dorms, I was fascinated at the Cosmo robot that my roommate brought with her.   The next day, I continued with my project in Installation Art. My class boarded  a bus  to White Marsh wetlands. We were supposed to listen and tell the people in charge how many different bird calls we heard, which was really fun. We were then given a project  to identify by feel whether the plants in that area were living or dead. Then we put on rubber boots and went into the water and tried to catch random aquatic life forms with a net.  We then met the Forest Ranger there and went on a nature walk along the wooden boardwalk  where we were told about different plants native to the area. We then  returned to the University for the afternoon session,  For me that day it was The Chemistry Of Cooking, where we learned how to prepare food. After supper, we had the Jam Session.  I played songs on the piano and listened to others as they did there talents.    The next day I continued Installation Art, and I came up with the brilliant plan of turning the 180 motor into a bird with flapping wings by attaching gears and shafts to the motor. I learned how to use the hot-glue gun in creating my project. I made the head out of foam, and the beak out of a triangular-shaped piece of paper. After making sure everybody’s projects worked, we set up our exhibits to display to everybody at the end of the week. We used a five-button switch board,  which would activate different sounds and music which would be programmed into it.  Later that day, I went to a session called “Hot Stuff”, where I learned how to solder  wires together. That night there was an outside Carnival set up for us, and we ate hot dogs and cotton candy. The funniest thing that happened that night was when I was sitting on the concrete outside, and this kid walks up to me, and asks “what is this?” I raised my head and yelled, “You know full well what it is. It’s a person!” Surprised that he didn’t know that I was the person sitting there.    The next day, I did Installation Art, and finished my project, a bird with flapping wings. The afternoon session that day was 3D Printing The Stars, where we all got to feel 3D models of stars and other things. That day’s session in the evening was Yoga. We got to make essential oils, and then we learned different positions in yoga. There was relaxing music in the background, which sounded good.    The next day was the day that everyone got to see what their peers had learned to make.Everyone was fascinated by my bird project, and I was fascinated  by the Computer Science project where the kids made audio games. I required a knowledge of Jaws to play the games. In the afternoon, we went to the NFB Jernigan Institute, where I listened to presentations on the  college application process. Then we had a Block Party in the garage at the Jernigan. We got to dance and eat. T

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Camryn Gattuso