Pioneers<\/a> at Merrowvista, these programs are intentionally designed to introduce youth to living in community with their peers and to help them take their first steps toward identifying personal values.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
<\/p>\n
2022 Miniwanca Girls Camp Director Emily Knuth said the Darer and Pioneer programs give young children their first taste of independence and broaden their worldview.<\/p>\n
\u201cCamp gives them some time to be away from home and their parents and creature comforts,\u201d she said. \u201cThey get the chance to be their authentic selves. It also teaches them to live in community with five peers and experience getting to know different people from different places and start building some resiliency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shanti Eswaran\u2019s daughter Ranya, 9, attended Miniwanca for the first time this summer. The three-week stint was the longest she\u2019d ever been away from home. While Eswaran\u2019s other daughters, Kavni, 11, and Miraya, 14, are Miniwanca veterans and gave their sister a good idea about what to expect, Ranya still had some butterflies. They flew away, though, as soon as she arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I dropped her off, her cabin leader came right up and started talking to her,\u201d Eswaran said. \u201cI was going to say goodbye, and she was already walking across the field with her cabin leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once they take that initial step into the unknown, a whole new world opens up for the novice camper.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Darer and Pioneer days are filled with lots of outdoor time pursuing adventure, from arts and crafts to hiking, kayaking to climbing. There are also quieter moments of reflection and intentional discussion that sow those first seeds of introspection and self-discovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the new environment and the lack of electronic devices really forces the kids to not reflexively bounce things off their parents or their friends, but instead take some time to figure out how they feel about a situation before they react,\u201d Eswaran said. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance to let things rattle around in their head.\u201d<\/p>\n
For many Pioneers and Darers, their one to three weeks spent at camp are the longest they\u2019ve ever been away from friends and family. 2022 Miniwanca Director of Programs Michael Harter said homesickness is something nearly every camper experiences, and it\u2019s something both the full-time and seasonal staff are well equipped to handle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have one staff member for every four to six campers,\u201d Harter said. \u201cThis camper-centered ratio allows us to really listen and spend time with participants who may need a little extra help with homesickness. We work with them to name and understand the feeling, and then we distract with an awesome and engaging program focused on a variety of activities and a supportive community.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In spring 2022, the AYF program team completed Camp Mental Health Certification offered by Let\u2019s Empower, Advocate, and Do, a nonprofit that teaches youth development organizations how to provide proactive mental health support.<\/p>\n
Harter said training like LEAD\u2019s helps staff better respond to campers\u2019 emotional needs. \u201cWe want to support campers so they can participate and engage in our programs, while listening to them and allowing them to advocate for themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
2022 Pioneer Program Coordinator Laura Hardin was a Merrowvista camper for eight years before becoming a seasonal staff member and current Community and School Programs intern. Hardin remembers having a hard time with homesickness during her first year, but the friendships she made then and in subsequent summers brought her back again and again.<\/p>\n
She credits a lifetime of camp experiences \u2013 from overcoming homesickness to hiking more than 100 miles in three weeks during her Odyssey trip \u2013 that helped her become a successful adult. It\u2019s why she returned to camp to help instill that confidence in the next generation of campers.<\/p>\n
\u201cCamp taught me that anything you can put your mind to you can achieve,\u201d Hardin said. \u201cMerrowvista taught me perseverance.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Merrowvista parent and former camper Ben Grant watched his daughter, 9-year-old Lydia, take her first steps down that path this year as a Pioneer.<\/p>\n
\u201cCamp gives kids a sense of independence, and it definitely builds confidence when you can walk into a new environment, meet people, and make friends in a short time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Grant\u2019s other daughter, Emery, 13, returned to camp this year for the third time, and he\u2019s seen how she\u2019s blossomed since starting her Merrowvista journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk in our day-to-day lives about being your best self,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter a few years, she realized that camp is truly a place where she can be herself in a supportive community. It\u2019s a place of true comfort, and you don\u2019t have to put on a mask like you do in other parts of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Miniwanca parent Patricia Sanders said it was remarkable seeing her two first-time campers, 11-year-old Mary Ruth and 9-year-old Frank, respond to the same powerful programing she experienced as a camper and Leader in Training.<\/p>\n
\u201cMary Ruth said it was so amazing being around women and girls and having so much fun,\u201d Sanders said, adding that Frank felt empowered by his new level of independence at Boys Camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing they said when they stepped off the bus was could they go back next summer,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cI have yet to find another place that gives children the space to find and be themselves completely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For almost 100 years, American Youth Foundation campers have embarked on journeys measured in miles, challenges, and personal growth. Like any journey, camp begins with a single step, and for first-time participants, it can be a daunting one. Miniwanca and Merrowvista staff know how overwhelming the initial camp experience can be and work hard to make the transition into camp … <\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,102,67,62,58],"tags":[193,194,70,59,195,196],"class_list":["post-33886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boys-camp","category-founder-fire","category-girls-camp","category-merrowvista","category-miniwanca","tag-darers","tag-first-time-campers","tag-merrowvista","tag-miniwanca","tag-new-campers","tag-pioneers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFirst-year AYF campers take brave first steps toward independence - American Youth Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/first-year-ayf-campers-take-brave-first-steps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First-year AYF campers take brave first steps toward independence - American Youth Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For almost 100 years, American Youth Foundation campers have embarked on journeys measured in miles, challenges, and personal growth. Like any journey, camp begins with a single step, and for first-time participants, it can be a daunting one. Miniwanca and Merrowvista staff know how overwhelming the initial camp experience can be and work hard to make the transition into camp ... 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