Mission-Driven Day Camps
The benefits of providing an all-encompassing program
By Colleen Park
Girl Scouts in the Heart of PA (GSHPA) relies on day-camp and school-based programming to meet the needs of girls, families, and the community at large. By utilizing the Girl Scout Leadership Experience model that emphasizes a sense of self, challenge seeking, healthy relationships, and community problem solving, day camps become girl-led, fun summer experiences. From focused STEAM activities to deliberate options for free playtime, the daily schedule is carefully designed to positively contribute to the Girl Scout mission.
Photo: © Can Stock Photo / daisydaisy
As a mission-focused day camp, the partners are strategically aligned to support community priorities and generate funding. GSHPA has thoughtfully worked with the United Way of Lebanon County, Bayer Health, and the Lebanon County Commission for Women. These organizations are committed to the region, education, and filling the workforce pipeline with skilled, diverse, and confident future employees. By developing long-standing relationships, Lebanon Day Camp has been able to successfully evolve.
Improving this program has been no small feat! Going from one room on a community-college campus in 2017 to expanding to a middle school in 2019 and then transitioning to an online platform in 2020, GSHPA has proven how important day-camp programming is to girls and their families.
Creating A Mission-Driven Day-Camp Program
Staff members focus on developing curriculum and a daily schedule that nurtures a girl-led environment. Regardless of the reasons why a girl attends day camp, there are certain outcomes GSHPA strives to achieve for all participants:
1. Engaging curriculum. A new STEAM curriculum topic was facilitated each week to allow girls to explore different facets of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Dedicating each week to one letter in STEAM gave girls the opportunity to engage in multiple projects, explore interests, and expand what they already knew about the topic.
2. Consistency. Implementing a consistent daily schedule allowed for independent exploration and structured, progressive experiences. This schedule fostered a reliable and stable environment. Consistency also ensured staff members were well-equipped to prepare and facilitate throughout the day.
3. Mindfulness and independent exploration. Incorporating mindfulness resulted in improved attention and reduction of stress and anxiety. Independent-exploration time enabled the girls to build relationships with one another outside their assigned camp groups, which resulted in a greater sense of community.
4. Application of curriculum to daily life and career exploration. STEAM professionals from Bayer Health visited the day camp and introduced girls to career possibilities in their own backyards. Introducing girls to the idea that they can pursue a future career in STEAM at an early age aligns with the vision and mission of Girl Scouts as future leaders.
Photo: © Can Stock Photo / altanaka
Transitioning To A Virtual Day Camp
Moving a day camp to an online platform can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Just like the in-person program, a successful virtual program needs the support from community organizations. For GSHPA, the Lebanon County United Way supported staff plans in providing a virtual day-camp experience in August 2020. This year, the staff had four goals in mind:
1. Continue to provide STEAM education. Staff members decided on a five-day camp, with each day focusing on a different letter of STEAM. Curriculum was facilitated online during live-video sessions and included a packet with activities that could be done independently.
2. Continue a partnership that provides girls with free supplies. Support from the United Way of Lebanon County allowed program staff to purchase supplies, snacks, and postage, and create a curriculum packet free of charge to girls who registered.
3. Engage new girls in Girl Scouting. Support from community organizations like the local libraries and school district helped advertise the day camp, which aided in recruitment efforts.
4. Expose girls to STEAM careers. To supplement the lack of STEAM professionals from businesses, career and real-life application information was included in the activities and live-video sessions.
As circumstances continue to dictate how day camps are delivered, effective programming can be sustained by keeping the mission and partners a top priority.
Colleen Park is the Program Coordinator for the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania. Reach her at cpark@gshpa.org.