Camp Koinonia offers an experience as unique as its name both for the youngsters with disabilities who attend and their counselors, UT students enrolled in a special Recreation and Leisure Studies class.

“This camp is an opportunity for (disabled) kids to get out of their every day environment,” said Sarah Owings, a graduate assistant in recreation & leisure studies.

“This might be their only opportunity to leave their homes or their parents. It’s an outdoor recreational experience that a lot of these kids don’t get.”

Every spring, UT students from various departments sign up for Recreation and Leisure Studies 425. After some classroom training, the students spend April 13-20 at Clyde M. York 4-H Center in Crossville where they help children with disabilities participate in horseback riding, canoeing, crafts, music, camping, cooking, hay rides and socials.

“This is my sixth year as a counselor,” Owings said. “It wouldn’t be a spring semester for me without it.”

The camp is almost completely UT student-organized and funded. During the summer, UT students hold fund-raisers, including a charity motorcycle ride and poker run. Campers pay $175 to attend, and the UT students pay $125 to take the associated course. Those monies help pay for the camp expenses.

Owings said she's been amazed at how much she's learned about herself -- and how much patience she's gained from working with the disabled campers.

Unlike most camps for disabled children, Camp Koinonia places fewer restrictions on campers. Other camps are often disability specific or require that the child not be too medically involved. Camp Koinonia welcomes all children with all types of disabilities and only draws the line at extreme behavioral problems or medical conditions that are not well-suited for the outdoors.

Another camp run by UT students, Camp Koinonia II, was developed in 2002 for disabled adults who had reached the cut-off age of 22. Along with social activities, this camp focuses on skills young adults need, like job skills and learning how to live on one’s own. The cost of Camp Koinonia II is $75 and lasts from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at Jubilee Farms in Knoxville.

The word "koinonia" is a Greek word that means "fellowship and caring community." The name was chosen during a contest held during the camp's first year at Virginia Tech where it was administered by Dr. Gene Hayes, now a UT professor in exercise, sport and leisure studies and administrator of UT's camp.