For 90 years, the Louis August Jonas Foundation has been committed to helping young people grow intellectually, ethically, and globally through Camp Rising Sun, our full-scholarship, summer leadership program for teenagers from around the world. In the upcoming weeks, we will take a deeper look at our curriculum that has inspired, in so many young people worldwide, a commitment to compassionate and responsible leadership for the betterment of their communities and the world.
In this issue, we will explain how our instructional programs expand intellectual and artistic horizons while providing practical experience in giving and receiving feedback.
The daily instructions are posted on the bulletin board. Which session will you choose to attend?
Lyrical Structure; Road Tennis; Topology; Language of Wakanda; Playwriting; Trial Law; Intersectional Feminism; History of Folk Music & Activism; Bioethic; Chinese Calligraphy; Manipulation in Media; Global Police Reform; Sustainable Development; Intro to Guitar.
Each day at Camp Rising Sun, youth are presented with a selection of instructions like those listed above and can sign up to attend an organized activity of their choice. Instructions offer participants an opportunity to learn a new skill or develop new knowledge on a variety of interesting topics.
Instructions are typically 90-minutes in length and can be led by campers or counselors. On occasion, guest speakers and alumni visit the campus to give expert lectures or keynote presentations. As the season progresses, more and more sessions are facilitated by campers with staff members providing support and feedback as active session participants.
Campers are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and try new activities that they would not typically participate in, or have access to, at home. The success of an instruction is not based on the quality of the final product, but on the engagement of participants in the learning process.
Campers and staff members can propose an instruction on any topic of interest that they would like to share with others. Dedicated counselors work with campers to refine their ideas and create an activity plan that accommodates different learning styles and aligns with one of the four program goals. Counselors follow up with presenters afterwards to provide feedback on how things went.
In the spirit of adult mentorship and coaching, counselors also encourage campers to give instructions as a way to engage individuals more fully in the program. For example, a counselor might encourage a camper who is homesick to share an instruction about their favorite hobbies from home. Alternatively, a counselor might encourage a Spanish-speaking camper who struggles speaking comfortably in English to partner with other Spanish-speaking campers to teach an instruction on the Spanish language and its various dialects.
Allowing campers to create sessions based on their personal interests and background knowledge promotes camper ownership of the program while affirming the diverse identities and cultural knowledge that individuals bring to the program based on their unique lived experiences.
Facilitating an instruction provides campers with direct experience in public speaking, time management, and group facilitation. Our staff also foster an environment where participants who have experienced teaching an instruction can continue their learning by serving as a sounding board to their peers as they plan their own.
Challenging Perspectives and Inspiring Action
While instructions provide opportunities to explore intellectual and artistic topics in small group settings, evening programs unite the community in dedicated exploration of one or more of the four program goals in a large-group setting.
Dedicated staff members work with campers and counselors to develop in-depth programs that are interesting, thought-provoking and engaging to a variety of learning styles. Whereas the topics of instructions change daily, there are some evening programs that are consistent from week to week.
Each week includes at least one of the following evening programs:
Weekly artistic production - a variety show highlighting the unique artistic talents of camp community members
Hot topic discussion - provides critical perspectives and discourse on global or regional issues on current or historical events, such as: independence movements, disability discrimination, racism and white supremacy, global hunger, or refugee crises
Weekly campfire - an all-group activity to build community and inspire critical reflection on the lessons of the program
Camper-led evening program - topic selected and designed by youth leaders of the week
Staff-led evening program - topic selected and designed by counselors
Instructions and evening programs are both designed to expand intellectual horizons and heighten artistic sensibilities among campers. Evening programs particularly challenge campers to engage in higher-level thinking and reasoning by engaging in meaningful dialogue that inspires new perspectives on complex topics.
Evening programs and instructions can also be a catalyst for leadership and social action. After sharing collective experiences or participating in a deep exploration of a hot topic issue, some campers feel inspired to take action on global issues in their local communities.
Kaitlin, a 2019 alumna, hoped to inspire her fellow campers to take action against discrimination after participating in an evening program on speaking up and speaking out. Alongside a group of fellow youth leaders, Kaitlin organized an evening program to observe campers’ responses to aggressive situations and share their personal experiences with discrimination. The activity was framed around the theme of speaking up and making your voice heard.
According to Kaitlin, “[the program facilitators] wanted to help each of the campers recognize their own worth, and that they are worthy of respect from others… I think a lot of the girls are motivated after it, and inspired to speak up for one another in situations that are necessary.”
Constructive Feedback for Elevated Learning
As mentioned in our blog on adult and peer mentorship, feedback is a critical tool in guiding campers to reflect, learn, and adjust behavior after an experience. Instructions and evening programs provide a unique space in the daily program for individuals to receive feedback from a group of peers.
A few minutes at the end of every instruction and evening program are set aside for the facilitators to solicit direct feedback from participants on the effectiveness of their presentation, content, and program design. Even staff-led instructions and evening programs have time set aside for feedback from campers in order to model how to effectively receive feedback and demonstrate that feedback is meaningful for lifelong learners at any age.
Few adolescents enter the camp program with the skills to provide quality, constructive feedback to peers. Staff and second year campers work together to model the feedback process and create an evening program on how to give feedback that is timely, specific, balanced, and meaningful to peers.
Setting aside structured time to give and receive feedback is so important to the experiential learning process. Constructive feedback sparks reflection and helps campers identify strengths and areas to improve upon for their next instruction, evening program, or future leadership project after the program ends.
Excerpts of this article were derived from the Camp Rising Sun Curriculum Guide. For a full copy of our curriculum, please email contact@lajf.org