Assessing the Magic of Camp

I started the summer with some thoughts on leadership for our directing teams as they prepared for the summer season, with every intention to write more as the summer started. But as is often the case, and as fellow camp professionals will attest to, the summer has a way of derailing best paid plans. So here we are, with half of the summer behind us. Before we know it, we will be saying goodbye to our last summer campers, and, in our case, shift into our non-summer season.

This summer has been interesting for me, having spent 15 years at one program, thinking about and improving its delivery model, and now learning about, and assessing, a new program, while beginning to map out a new future. Frost Valley is a well-established program, one of the best according to many, and belief in Frost Valley Magic runs deep and wide, as it generally does in campers of any camp. And so I have asked staff and campers that very question: what makes the magic? I have received as many answers as I have asked the question, also not a surprise, knowing that camp experience means many things to as many people - it is one of my enduring beliefs about camps; they are above all learning environments ?where learning happens often in spite of us. As I heard someone else put it recently, camp is a kaleidoscope.

But as I am trying to map what makes the program as good as it is - and capture the how behind the magic - I started to think through how to help directors view parts of their program in a more neutral and detached fashion, to help them reach beyond the magic. In reality, what makes a program great or high quality can be highly subjective, and relies heavily on what you expect or aim it to do. And because camp programs can do so many things, they can be really superb in some ways, and lacking in others. To do that, I began to develop a number of assessment screens to view programming through: a quality screen, a values screen, a facility screen, a DEI screen, each with a different focus to highlight a different aspect or angle at which to view the program, the experience or the camp. These are not designed as, or meant to be formal assessment tools, but more so internal mirrors to create a snapshot of an activity and a structure to highlight areas for improvement. I find this one of the most valuable things - for many staff it can be hard to see a program as generally great but needing further development in some regards. Those can be two difficult truths to hold in one hand.?

For example, here are the 5 questions for the ‘general quality screen’:

IS IT FUN - All kids are having a great time and feel activity appropriate (happy, challenged etc.)

IS IT INTENTIONAL - the experience is intentionally designed with clear takeaways and structure

IS IT CHILD CENTERED - the experience is child centered and age appropriate including in instruction and style

DOES IT CENTER YOUTH LEADERSHIP - the experience centers positive youth leadership from the campers staff

DOES IT BUILD CONNECTION - the experience includes observable displays of and opportunities to build meaningful relationships

DOES IT PASS THE OBSERVER TEST - someone observing from afar or close without background knowledge feels compelled and impressed

This screen is not designed to be exhaustive but a simple and practical tool to assess the general quality of an activity and to address this simple notion: often it is less about what the activity or experience is but more about how the activity is delivered, and the screens can highlight,strengthen or focus the intentionality behind a design, and deepen its intended impact. I believe this to be true of camp in general - camps, after all, are often very similar in what they do, but the how is what makes a camp deliver the magic.

To all the camp professionals out there, have a great second half or final part of summer, and to all delivering some daily magic for young people, keep on!