Creating a Solar System Together : The Evolution of the Year-Round Camper Board
My current definition of our Camper Board:
The Stomping Ground year-round Camper Board is an opportunity to collaborate with campers to design, revise, and rearrange the sandbox of camp.
2022-2023 year recap
Our year-round Camper Board was created in January of 2023, it hasn’t even been a full year yet! Here’s a couple highlights of what we worked on and accomplished in the first year as we got things rolling.
Monthly meetings - We met on Zoom every month to connect and brainstorm together. Most of the year was spent just visioning and building relationships to create a strong and committed crew.
In-person retreat - We held the very first ever Camper Board retreat at camp in the winter! Not only that but it was the first time campers saw the finished Farmhouse, and they got to have a sleepover in it! We had the biggest snow storm of the year, ate and created a song around Craft mac & cheese, built a sense of cohesion and belonging on the board, and did some visioning on possibilities for the future of the Camper Board.
Restorative Justice training - Campers participated in an hour long RJ training. These campers goal was to be on the executive council during the summer and help lead circles for other campers. Some of the trained board members spoke in a youth panel at our Restorative Justice Conference in September!
Meeting with Stomping Grounds Board of Directors - The Camper Board met the Board of Directors! Questions and answers were exchanged both ways and it was magical.
Where are we now? We’re co-creating a solar system together.
As we wrapped up summer 2023 and I was thinking about starting up the Camper Board again I knew there were so many possibilities to create a structure that gives the campers even more agency and power. I was talking to a friend at the Restorative Justice conference (I guess all my good Camper Board ideas happen at conferences! That’s where the idea initially came to me) and she told me about the concept of Sociocracy.
Sociocracy is defined as a peer based governance system based on consent, just like democracy or corporate governance methods. It is best suited for organizations that want to self-govern based on the values of equality.
I was thinking about how to be effective while also maintaining some semblance of consensus. I did some quick research into Sociocracy and realized we could use a similar structure for the board. However, all of the videos I watched on the topic were extremely corporate and dare I say quite boring. So we had to make it more fun.
Enter the solar system!
We are co-creating a new structure that allows campers to get more hands on decision making in the areas of camp they’re most interested in. We’re imagining it as a solar system, we all live together on the core planet and often take rocket ships out to visit the other planets. Each planet meets monthly in addition to our core meetings to brainstorm, plan, and implement projects led by campers.
Campers can choose which topics they’re passionate about and spend their time working on projects that are dreamt up, designed, and implemented by campers. These planet meetings also create the opportunity for campers to see the real behind the scenes of what we do during the year, everything from designing staff applications, raising money for new facilities, planning next summer's night games, creating media campaigns, and so so much more. Kids are capable of understanding and impacting all of the aspects of camp, we trust them so they learn to trust themselves.
Almost a year later and we’re still experimenting! My favorite part of the Camper Board is that we are constantly evaluating what is working and what is not, we aren’t afraid to try new things and evolve.
What’s next?
We have had five new members join us, bringing us up to 17 total members!
We’re having the second annual in-person Camper Board retreat next month. As much as I love seeing this crew on Zoom and sharing ideas together, there is nothing quite like a giant slumber party with the goal of working to make camp better. Stay tuned for updates.
The sky isn’t even the limit any more! These campers inspire me and challenge me every single time we meet. They are truly capable of taking us to space and I couldn’t pick a better team of rocket ship captains charting the way. To infinity and beyond.
Maddy is a director at Camp Stomping Ground. They love helping kids be creative, being outdoors, and embracing chaos. This year they are helping with registration, staffing, and connecting with camper families.
