By Penny Gilbert, Outdoor & Environmental Education Teacher
Our new Camp Mentor Program was designed to foster growth, leadership, and connection for our Class 7 and 8 students. They attend camps for younger classes to offer their knowledge, experience, and support to help navigate the challenges and joys of camp life. Whether children are seasoned campers or new to the experience of camping at CSSK, the mentors provide valuable motivation, guidance and friendship. This program aims to create a positive and encouraging environment for the Class sevens and eights where they can build multi-age friendships, gain confidence, and learn leadership skills.
Class seven and eight students applied for the program stating their inspiration for the role, the qualities they think they bring to the program and what they think they still might learn to fulfill the role. In all, we had seven camp mentors over four camps. Camp mentors worked with a class peer for support and friendship.
“Fun” was the first response I had from each camp mentor when asked what they thought about the role afterwards. When asked further, they said that going on an extra camp was important too. One said they as she had come to the school later, she was keen to experience the younger class camps firsthand to make up for missed experience and fun.
While the role was primarily a support role the Camp Mentors did have opportunities to ‘teach’ or tasks to do with the younger class. Sometimes this was challenging as they found they had to use different way to speak to the younger children to get them to listen. Putting up tarps, preparing lunches or dinners and running some activities were all tasks they Mentors took on. In this way the Mentors all had a sense of their own growth within their time at our school.
The thing which surprised them was the extra freedom they felt given by teachers – extra food privileges, sleeping times and a change of expectations – being able to do some things by themselves. There are perks given and that means the ‘work’ doesn’t seem so hard.
My favourite outcome is hearing that the Mentors all made closer relationships with the younger children, they learnt names, they shared stories, and they spent time together outside. Back at school this means all those smaller children have people who are just a bit older than them, who know them, care for them and are inspirations to them.
The Mentors stepped up to being leaders, they looked bigger, behaved maturely and were able to shine in parts of themselves we have only glimpsed previously at school.
