Our Mission

It's no secret that…

Camp provides a unique environment where youth are cherished for who they are while expanding and enriching their passions. Camp fosters socio-emotional growth, encourages play, and cultivates essential interpersonal skills. Beneath the surface, campers are learning invaluable lessons, many of which can, and should, be applied to instructional frameworks in schools. 

Our team…

Aims to establish the rationale behind why school should be more like camp, as well as detail practical steps that can be taken in order to make this happen. We plan to do this by analyzing both settings under the popularized educational model for youth empowerment—the Circle of Courage. Although not always explicitly apparent, these four quadrants of the Circle of Courage are pillars of camp life and programming. Because of this, enriching educational experiences in schools are only steps away from being fully realized. 

We are…

A young, ambitious, and experienced team built with the belief that camp changes the lives of youth, and, in turn, provides a valuable lesson to the foundation of our educational framework. However, our summers spent at camp and years spent in the classroom pale in comparison to many. 

We plan to…

Integrate ourselves into different summer camps throughout the nation to analyze what works so well for their camper outcomes. Beyond this, we will collaborate with and interview passionate educators who intentionally, or unintentionally, incorporate the values of the Circle of Courage into their classrooms. After this project, a book aimed at educators, administrators, and camp directors alike will be written that analyzes the impactful experiences and learning occurring at camp, the Circle of Courage-infused classrooms, and tangible actions our teachers may take to make their classrooms more like camp. 

Many of us have…

Experienced the wonder of camp—even if it was just a day camp. Reminiscing, we can feel the breeze, the friendship, and the lasting socioemotional growth we felt in that programming. There is no reason that our nation's youth only feel this during summer break. This project provides a step in the right direction to inspire educators and schools to value a student’s sense of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity through the power of camp. Just imagine an educational landscape where children are just as excited to go to school as they are to go to summer camp. This is a world we believe is possible.