Senior Andrew Briss looks forward to another summer at Camp Rainbow.
photo by Manny Perez
As the end of his high school career approaches and the nostalgia for the glory days beckons, the excitement for his summer keeps Student of the Week, Senior Andrew Briss, looking on the bright side.
Andrew has been an avid member of his youth group since the first grade. Beginning with religious school in 1997, Briss has now graduated to the Special Projects Coordinator (SPC), where he raises money for a summer camp that serves children who have been diagnosed with an illness.
Camp Rainbow is a week-long summer camp located in Saint Louis, Missouri. The camp is mainly targeted at children who have been diagnosed with cancer and other blood related diseases. “This camp gives the kids a chance to get away from their everyday lives of pain and struggle,” said Andrew.
During the camp, counselors like Briss are paired up with one child for the whole week. “You’re pretty much their parent for a week. We do multiple activities with the kids on a daily basis. For example, every day has a certain theme, like ‘Superhero Day’, in which the local fire and police departments come and bring hands-on interactive entertainments for the kids,” said Andrew.
Camp Rainbow is designed to impact the kids with different illnesses in extremely positive ways. “From my personal experience, my first year at Camp Rainbow I had two campers, one of which his cancer came back after treatment and he passed away. After meeting with his family, they said that Camp Rainbow was the most positive and most influential part of his life since he was diagnosed,” said Andrew.
Being a part of Camp Rainbow can be extremely rewarding for the mentors as well. “Camp Rainbow introduced a new perspective on how precious life is and that it should not be taken for granted. Bonding and developing new relationships with kids who are deprived of part of their childhood because of cancer and disease shows me that we need to take life as it comes to us, as opposed to stressing over what you can’t predict in the future,” said Andrew.
Andrew was nominated as “Student of the Week” for his commitment to Camp Rainbow by the Computer Magnet Director Matt Spampinato, who felt that Andrew was very qualified to receive this award. “Drew’s the Man,” said Spamp. “He’s the guy I’ve depended on – on a daily basis – for the past two years for various reasons: last year it was as the producer of the Spartan Edition, this year it’s as a reporter for the Journal and as the super colossal mad genius behind the Math-O-Matic Man puzzler series. Andrew is one-of-a-kind, full of heart and dedication, and uniquely rough around the edges. I’m very happy that he’s getting some well deserved recognition.”
Andrew has been a part of the Computer Magnet Program since his freshman year. He also is in Spampinato’s Video Intern class, which is the capstone course of the Communications strand of the Computer Magnet program. “I’ve learned so much being in Spamp’s Video Intern Class. I will take a lot of it on to college and apply the knowledge in my future where it’s needed,” said Andrew.
Applying to Camp Rainbow is very simple. “Anyone interested can go to www.camprainbow.com or they can just come to me. I’d be more than happy to help or answer any questions about the program,” said Andrew.
Andrew was born and raised in Denver. In his free time, he enjoys playing sports and hanging out with his friends. “I recently joined a club rugby team. I always wanted to play, and once soccer ended I needed an activity to fill in some of my free time,” said Andrew.
On top of playing rugby and soccer, Andrew also snowboards when winter rolls around. “I’ve been snowboarding for six years now. There’s nothing more satisfying than being at the top of a mountain looking out at Colorado’s natural beauty,” said Andrew.
Andrew is looking forward to this summer where he plans to spend another week down at Camp Rainbow. “I’m really sad that my high school career is basically over, but one thing I do have to look forward to is my summer with the amazing kids at Camp Rainbow,” said Andrew.
Teachers: If you’d like to nominate a student for Student of the Week, please pick up a nomination form in the main office, or see Mr. Lessard.
