American Camp Association National Conference
Albuquerque, New Mexico
February 21-24, 2017
Ellen Will [email protected] & Matt Marsden [email protected]
Outdoor School, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, Penn State University, www.shaverscreek.org
Communicating Camp Values to Non-Camp People
Camp is for the C.A.M.P.E.R.S, right?! Use your program’s core values to create an acronym-based delivery
system to teach and instill those values in your staff and partners by reinforcing this important message in a
fun and dynamic way!
The Outdoor School (ODS) Core Values:
Community
Aha! Learning
Magic*
Positive Outdoor Experience
Engagement
Respect
Safety*
*Our values didn’t originally include magic or safety, but when we noticed the acronym was so close to spelling
‘campers’ we realized all we needed was a little ‘magic’ to make it complete. We recently added safety
because, after all, we have more than one camper at a time!
Our values could just as easily be:
Communication
Attitude
Mentoring
Patience
Enthusiasm
Responsibility
Stewardship
Either way, camp is all about the C.A.M.P.E.R.S!
What are your camp’s core values? Use the Elevator Speech Challenge on the back page to help you identify
your values.
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8.
What’s that spell?!?
The Elevator Speech Challenge
Adapted from GoCampPro Blog “That Parent Question You Bungle Every Time” by Travis Allison posted November 1, 2015
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Describe [your camp] in one paragraph:
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Describe [your camp] in one sentence:
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Describe [your camp] in five words:
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Describe [your camp] in one word:
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What 10 – 15 adjectives best describe the [your camp] experience:
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What feeling do you get at [your camp] that you don't get anywhere else?
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What have you learned at [your camp] that you couldn't learn anywhere else?
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How have you changed because of [your camp]?
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What sentence or phrase do you think best suits [your camp] experience?
Now, look for key words that are repeated in multiple responses: those are your values! Transfer those
words to the front page and start scrambling until you come up with a viable acronym.