Gallery • 5 Photos

Kenzie Pavone

All Hands on Deck - While her team brings their design to life, junior Carly Malice from Angeline Academy of Innovation aids in painting flowers on her team's fairy themed t-shirt. Malice and her peers planned a spirited fairy design after discovering that someone on her team had fairy wings, to make this vision come to life they painted vibrant flowers and incorporated blue and green lights to represent their school colors. This design ended up as a favorite amongst their group, “I really like the flowers that she’s making over there with the blue and white. They kind of look like firework art. We chose to do them because we thought that fairies go very well with flowers, so we’re just experimenting with the designs.” Malice said.

     Amidst the chaos, Rheya Howe raced against the clock to complete the orange and blue lettering on their t-shirt for her school, William R. Boone High School. Boone, like the other schools competing, had just under an hour to design a spirited outfit for one peer to model in Camp Orlando’s fashion show runway Monday night. 

      ”We’re trying to showcase how Boone bleeds orange and white, and we’re trying to show the ferocity that is,” Howe said.

     Under bright lights, campers from various schools lined the stage in an array of unique outfits. 

     At Angeline Academy of Innovation, staffers used a fairy design featuring junior Carly Malice, who gave some insider context on their school’s design, including vibrant blue and white flowers, fairy wings, and a light up tutu. 

     While designing their shirt they knew exactly who could show their pride, Tessa Sevelius, an upcoming sophomore. “She’s very outgoing and friendly, and we thought she would be perfect because she is also a dancer, so she can master the walk,” Malice said.

     Camp Orlando is a four day experience for aspiring journalists attending middle and high schools across the country. Whose 2025 theme was ‘here for it,’ started the annual t-shirt contest in 2023. 

     After using the black ‘Good Vibes Only’ camp shirts the same year, they switched to white tees to give campers more creative freedom to represent their school, when Tracy De La Feuilliez realized the black shirts restricted campers creativity, “I always hope someone’s going to throw out a suggestion that we’re going to love that we can either add or replace,” De La Feuilliez said. “I really don’t know how it will evolve but there will always be something fun and creative to do first.”

     The community built during the week is a positive space, capable of nurturing the  journalistic passions that flow through camp.

     Campers aren’t the only people who feel this positivity, 2025 graduate Audrey Koczanski returned as a black shirt – a camp helper – as she reminisced on her past experiences during the T-shirt decoration competitions she took part in. 

     “In the past, it was really fun because we cut up the shirt and got really creative,” Koczanski said. “I didn’t think we were gonna do a shirt but it was really fun because it allowed us to be campers for a minute.”

     The fashion show is one of many opportunities campers have to display their creativity and expand their designing capabilities; an experience that nurtures the art of teamwork.

     Camp Orlando is all about making their journalists better than how they came, not just in journalism but as people too. In just a few days their expert teachers, helpful staff, and uniting activities teach information and lessons that stay with campers.  It’s clear that they are here for it, here for all of it.