Move Over Nancy Drew, New Spies are in Town

Local girls Joanne Blood, Samantha Rowley, and  (12, 13 and 11-years-old, respectively) teamed up this past week for their their second annual "Spy Camp."

The camp is designated for girls 5-10 years old. Some of the training the attendees receive includes how to create a new secret identity, how to bluff in poker, how to fake British accent and how to escape from ropes. On the last day day of the week-long camp, each girl even receives a "mission" she must carry out and complete to graduate.

Rowley's mother, Kathryn, comments "all of these girls wanted to start a 'spy club' last year. Their love for spy books like Nancy Drew and Spyology inspired them to come up with a spy camp where they could train younger girls in the art of being a good spy, while also earning some summer money."

After the success of last summer's spy camp, Barnes, Rowley, and Blood worked for the past year to put together another comprehensive spy training course.

To create a secret identity, Rowley instructs: "You need to make up a new name or 'alias' and create a whole history for yourself. Be creative and include lots of information, like what your favorite food and favorite colors are."

All of the campers were given white t-shirts to decorate with their new secret identity names on them. They also get notebooks where they can take notes and they have certain assignments to complete where they can earn a sticker for their books. Assignments include fingerprinting, going through a "laser string course" (think Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment), master an agility course, choose out a new "spy" look and participate in a fashion show, complete with headshots for their new identification cards, and a scavenger hunt.

Blood explains "We will learn how to 'tail' people, do target practice, and on the last day each student will be given a mission to complete. We will have a big swim party with a piñata on the last day too. My favorite part of spy camp is leading all of the fun games like the clues for the scavenger hunt and finding the surprise."

Barnes comments: "You will get to make new friends and that is one of the most exciting parts of camp." 

Seven-year-old attendee Ruby Wilson loves that "you get to run around and have fun and spy on the other kids here at camp."

As "Spy Camp" 2011 comes to a close today, Blood, Rowley, and Barnes are excited to walk away with some summer spending money, but they also mentioned that they are tucking some money away into savings for college. All three of these camp leaders are also already planning some new ideas for next summer's Spy Camp for alumni spy trainees as well as newcomers. 

20 girls participate in the weeklong camp which ran 9 a.m.-1 p.m. everyday and cost $40 for each attendee. Seven girls are on the waiting list for next year.

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