Camp Tiger, a summer camp for New Orleans area kids with disabilities, celebrates 40 years

His eyes wide with wonder, Kenneth followed the path of the Gulf sturgeon, tracing his hand along its tank as his two counselors hovered nearby. A few seconds later, his interest was piqued by a glass enclosure of crawfish, and Kenneth made his way to try to spot one before zipping into the blue-hued room with stingray tanks to catch a glimpse of the sharks.

“He told me not to worry because the sharks are in the tanks,” said Carolanne Van Zandt, a Covington native and first-year medical student at LSU who was one of Kenneth’s counselors.

Kenneth was one of about 75 participants in Camp Tiger, a summer camp for New Orleans-area children aged 6 to 15 with a range of mental and physical disabilities. 

Founded 40 years ago by two LSU medical students, Camp Tiger is entirely run by incoming first-year or rising second-year medical students under the supervision of a handful of faculty physicians. For decades, Camp Tiger has offered children with disabilities in the greater New Orleans area a week of classic summer camp experiences, from trips to the zoo and the arcade to making new friends.

“Allowing a child to be a child, to go out into the city and go to the zoo gives them a sense of normalcy, a break from their daily routine,” said Dr. Kyle Fulton, faculty adviser and medical director of the camp. “Our job is to make it the most fun week for them.”

A sense of normalcy

This year’s camp, which took place the third week of May, included a trip to the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium. At least two counselors accompanied each camper around the aquarium, some mesmerized by the sharks, others braving the shallow pool to pet the stingrays.

A few campers — exhausted from the day’s earlier excursion to the arcade — took breaks on benches throughout the aquarium, including Walker, a camper with Down syndrome, who sat on his counselor’s lap and alternated between snatching his baseball cap off his head and hugging his counselor tightly.

“This camp gives kids with different abilities the opportunity to attend a day camp when they otherwise might not be able to,” Fulton said.

Sometimes it can be difficult for families to find camps willing to accommodate their child’s needs, he said. 

On the flip side, counselors get firsthand experience with the first patients of their medical careers. Fulton said he helps students understand the meaning of the campers’ diagnoses, which can range from autism to cerebral palsy to kidney and heart disease. Fulton is on standby to take care of any medical issues that might arise, from a skinned knee or nausea from the Tilt-a-Whirl.

“Just being able to see the work we can do in the community, it’s really inspiring,” said Patrick Schwing, a second-year medical student who was one of Walker’s counselors.

Over the course of a week, counselors form close bonds with their campers and practice clinical skills, as well as patience.

Charlie McKenzie, a rising second-year medical student who served as this year’s camp director, said preparations for camp begin around September with planning for the auction, the main fundraiser for the camp. This year, the group raised $145,000, enough to cover the costs of attendance for each camper.

“It puts a face to the diagnosis,” McKenzie said, describing the smile and laughter of one camper — who uses a wheelchair — as she rode the Ferris wheel. “They’re still just kids being kids.”

A storied history

Camp Tiger was the brainchild of Dr. Kevin Conrad, who co-founded the camp his first year of medical school with his now-wife Dr. Marianne Maumus. Conrad said the camp had humble beginnings its first year, when about 20 medical students and 40 campers participated. 

The camp was born from conversations with fellow medical students about how they would spend their time after finishing up their first year. They wanted to put their medical knowledge to use in the community, and “it just grew from there.” 

Since then, though the budget has grown, the format of the camp has remained the same with daily excursions to local attractions. The camp has been handed down year-to-year to first-year medical students who run the logistics for the week and put on a fundraiser to ensure the experience can stay free for kids and families.

“We thought it would go on for a year or so and had no idea it would go on many decades later,” Conrad said.

Conrad added that for medical students, exposure to what the families and caregivers of children with disabilities go through on a daily basis can foster instrumental lessons for future doctors. 

“You get a lesson in patience,” Conrad said, “and you learn about the simple pleasures of being a child.”