Camp Woodland Blog

When I look back on my teenage years, the last people I wanted advice from were my parents (sorry, Mom & Dad!). I can remember gravitating to a particular aunt and uncle throughout high school and college and having conversations that I struggled to have with two people I lived with. In fact, these non-parent mentors are actually a large part of the reason why I ended up at Camp Woodland several decades ago. When I decided I wanted to work at a camp for my summer job between my sophomore and junior years of college, I only reached out to programs in Wisconsin (via a typed letter in the pre-internet era!) because I knew the relatives who were instrumental in my life lived in the same state.

For the same reason finding a tutor for your child is usually a wise decision and brings peace to the entire family (instead of sitting at the kitchen table in a yelling match when your daughter/son is struggling in math or some other subject), having a non-parent mentor has its benefits as well. Please know that I am NOT suggesting that parents are incapable of being a mentor to their own children; however, there is value a mentor relationship outside of the immediate household can bring to the development of youth in a variety of positive ways.

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, shares research from a study used in her book, Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation, and in an article found in Psychology Today showing that adult mentoring during the teenage years:

• Models positive social skills and facilitates interpersonal connections beyond family.
• Helps young people interpret and manage life challenges, including relationships with peers and parents.
• Facilitates meaningful conversations that boost cognitive skills and provides perspective.
• Strengthens self-regulation, one’s ability to manage emotions and impulses—to think before acting.
• Promotes identity development, a key task of adolescence, through modeling core qualities that contribute to human thriving, like empathy, curiosity, resourcefulness, and resilience.
• Opens doors to new ways of thinking, resources, and opportunities.
• Fosters self-efficacy—a belief in oneself.

That is a pretty impressive list! We often think of mentors as teachers, coaches, grandparents, church leaders, and other adults in the lives of youth. Another obvious mentor (and possibly overlooked!) in the lives of teens are the counselors, staff and leaders who are instrumental to the growth and development of the entire camp community. This is yet another reason why the Woodland camp experience is a vital part of the overall growth and development for youth of all ages – especially for teens!

If we go back to the list from above, it isn’t hard to connect the dots to how this organically happens with the support of caring adults in the Woodland ecosystem. Adult mentoring in our camp community: 

Models positive social skills and facilitates interpersonal connections beyond family.

At Woodland, we practice how to engage with people never previously met and to apply the “be curious, not judgmental” mindset as we interact with those from different cultures and experiences. Many of the staff themselves are from a variety of geographic locations and backgrounds and help facilitate these connections.

Helps young people interpret and manage life challenges, including relationships with peers and parents.

Relationships can be challenging and messy at times. Woodland offers the opportunity to be open to and embrace the differences others bring to the community, navigate conflict that is normal with group living, and have empathy towards one another through the guidance of the staff.

Facilitates meaningful conversations that boost cognitive skills and provides perspective.

At Woodland we spend on average 16 hours a day having meaningful conversations (all the hours we are awake!). Meal times, especially, offer a unique opportunity for conversation because we spend them together with our cabin group. By the end of the full 6-week experience, approximately 126 hours around the table is spent with the same group of people sharing triumphs, growth opportunities, dreams, and ideas. This unequaled time anywhere else offers a unique opportunity to see the world through the eyes of others and to gain a perspective that might not be seen otherwise. The counselors in each cabin become masters at facilitating these meaningful conversations!

Strengthens self-regulation, one’s ability to manage emotions and impulses—to think before acting.

This is easier said than done! At Woodland we recognize the impact we have on others because we are sharing a living space with 8 or more people. While it would be tempting to yell at someone for borrowing something without asking, at camp (and with the support of the staff) being clear and kind with our requests is practiced should we want a different outcome next time.  

Promotes identity development, a key task of adolescence, through modeling core qualities that contribute to human thriving, like empathy, curiosity, resourcefulness, and resilience.

At Woodland we are pretty good at all of the above! Parents tell us that their campers return home in many ways better than they came because they have spent 6 weeks with unbelievable support and caring from the adult mentors in our community. I’ve already mentioned empathy and curiosity, and resourcefulness can be seen from coming up with new ways to use the limited items we brought with us to create a costume or prop for Lip Sync Contest or any number of special events. Resiliency is the outcome of learning to try again and not get defeated when something doesn’t quite go the way we would like it to. We celebrate the journey and not just the final result!

Opens doors to new ways of thinking, resources, and opportunities.

There is a reason our theme for the upcoming summer is “Open New Doors in ‘24”. Being immersed in the Woodland community and surrounded by amazing adult mentors naturally opens our minds to thinking differently, repurposing what we have to come up with out-of-the-box uses for a hairbrush, pair of sunglasses, or a colored t-shirt, and opportunities never imagined. Every holiday season we are flooded with photos from “impromptu” camp reunions in Mexico and elsewhere. The opportunity to travel internationally or long distances to see the awesome friends made at camp often becomes reality!

Fosters self-efficacy—a belief in oneself.

Unfortunately, we often see youth lacking a true sense of self, especially during their teen years. It often stems from the need to be a “fake” version of yourself so that others will like you or to fit in. At Woodland, we work really hard to create a sense of belonging for all campers. This often brings a sense of relief, especially to our teens, who may find themselves living in a brutal world of comparison at school or on social media. After 6 weeks of spending quality time with the adult mentors at Woodland, the older campers are feeling more like their “true selves” again. Don’t believe me?! Join us for the Co-Ed Show put on by the CIT’s during the Final Weekend of camp come August. Confidence from each individual and the group as a whole is in abundance and is pretty cool to see!

The BEST Opportunity for Adult Mentorship?!

So, while the often tumultuous relationship with parents/caregivers during the teen years comes with the territory, the good news is that there are really awesome mentors who are able to build relationships with this age group and impact them in so many positive ways. And, even better news is that you don’t have to look any further…these people are waiting for your (teen) daugther/s at Camp Woodland. We are SO excited to meet her/them!

ENROLL for SUMMER 2024

Now is a GREAT time to enroll your camper/s (especially TEENS!) for 2024 and reserve your spot/s so that your daughter/s have the opportunity to be supported by non-parent/caregiver mentors through the Camp Woodland experience! Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com