Hannah Howard Evaluations Manager, Camp Fire Hannah recently attended a Youth Voice initiative in Chicago focused on listening to young people about their ideas, wants, and needs for afterschool programs. She was incredibly moved by what they had to say and shared her reflections below: “Prepare us for the future we are forced to prepare […]
Like many of you, we have not only been responding to COVID-19 since March but have also been trying to understand ourselves in the current moment. “What is the current reality demanding of us as a leader?” Bianca J. Baldridge challenged our network with this question during our national virtual CEO Summit conference in […]
Written by Shirley Tang, a senior in high school in Houston, Tx., and member of Camp Fire’s National Youth Advisory Cabinet (YAC) I look left and right at my papers piling up on my desk. I look down at my to-do list. The homework kept coming in every day, steps 3 and 4 of my […]
Thank you Zoe Pride for sharing your beautiful story with us! “I was seven-years-old for my first year at Camp Toccoa with Camp Fire Georgia (one of six years and counting!), in the summer of 2011. I was too young to realize that I was going to spend a week away from my parents for […]
This month, we’ve talked about how reflection fits into Camp Fire’s Thrive{ology} framework and how we can help young people reflect on living a thriving life. But reflection isn’t just for kids! Let’s steal some reflection wisdom from the Camp Fire playbook for ourselves, shall we? You don’t have to wait for a landmark experience, challenge […]
Last week we started to dig into reflection, the Camp Fire way. We teach young people how to examine, interpret and learn from their experiences, because we want them to thrive. Not to get too meta on you, but we also want them to be able to reflect on thriving itself! Quick refresher: What’s thriving? […]
Reflection isn’t a one-and-done kind of thing. You don’t take a “how-to-reflect lesson” and call it good. Reflection is a skill that grows over time with regular practice until it becomes an unbreakable habit. This critical life skill can be life-changing (no matter your age). How often do we in today’s society take time to […]
One day does not make a life. Lives are shaped every day of the year. And when we find ourselves in the enviable—yet daunting—position of helping shape young lives, we have a responsibility to infuse them with support and encouragement. According to Carol W. Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, “We found […]
Youth voice at Camp Fire Living out your values is never easy. One of our core Camp Fire values is, “We honor the power of young people.” To us, honoring power means sharing power through significant youth participation and decision-making. But what does this look like in practice? We’re working hard to authentically integrate youth […]
The holidays: when both cheer and stress levels reach epic highs. Many young people are already struggling with mental health issues, and the season creates extra challenges. Gatherings can highlight family tensions, sleep and routines get disrupted, and normal sources of support (like school counselors and Camp Fire programming) aren’t as available. Child development experts […]
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