How do we make our mission statement come to life?

Camp Sewataro provides children the opportunity to grow emotionally, physically and socially in a natural outdoor environment through activities that focus on the joy of play and the mysteries of nature while developing positive social skills, experiencing a sense of belonging , and making authentic friendships and memories that last a lifetime.

Our mission statement emphasizes the abstract qualities of community, friendship, joy, and memories. Look at any tribe schedule and you will see concrete listings of activities such as paintball, rock climbing, tennis, and swimming.

So, how do we take the concrete activities of camp and turn them into the abstract goals of the camp experience we want our campers to have each summer?

How do we turn archery into making friends? …fishing into learning responsibility?…swimming into trying something new?

First, we hire phenomenal people as Sewataro counselors. And then in training we set our expectations:

Every moment should positively impact a child’s camp experience.

We ask our counselors to constantly be on the lookout:
How can I be more proactive and intentional about creating opportunities for kids to experience more meaningful outcomes along with the activity?

We ask them to notice the small moments.

What about at tennis? Did you notice one camper letting the other go first (a key skill to making new friends)?

After changing from swimming, did you notice how the shy camper asked to start a game of Crocodilly (probably something pretty new for her)?

Or at arts and crafts, did you notice how everyone sat down together to make the friendship bracelets (evidence of building community)?

These small moments happen all the time. They happen at all activities. They all factor in to campers’ experiences. We ask our counselors to look for and recognize those small moments. Counselors prepare for camp by asking themselves:

What am I looking for?

If they know what they are looking for, then they are best prepared to deliver the camp experience we want our campers to have.

This is the core of our message to staff:

Be intentional.