We’ve long known that summer camp has the potential to be one of the best experiences of the Scouting year. Beyond the merit badges and outdoor skills, kids learn to be responsible and self-sufficient while dealing with adversity like heat, bugs and the occasional rain shower.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying to think of ways to make it better.
That was the philosophy behind two programs run by Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands Council this summer. Squatch Camp 2024 and Scouts @ Work have both completed successful concept stages and are now moving forward with even bigger and better programming for the future.
“It was the result of great vision, leadership and volunteer engagement,” says Scout Executive Todd McGregor. “We’d be crazy not do it again next year.”
What is Squatch Camp?
Traditional Scout summer camps give participants the ability to build a schedule of classes for merit badges and Scout advancement, along with free time at maybe the aquatics area or sports courts.
Squatch Camp instead offered five different “adventure tracks” based out of the J. Sephus Mack Sasquatch Research Center.
Camp Seph Mack is a real place, but the Sasquatch Research Center is the fictional brainchild of the program’s volunteer leaders. In case you haven’t guessed already, the adventure involved hunting down the elusive Sasquatch, aka bigfoot.
“Our vision was to take summer camp and envision it as an adventure camp,” says camp director Doug Schmitt. “We wanted them out doing things, exploring the camp, looking for Sasquatch.”
In the process, Scouts earned merit badges and participated in many traditional summer camp activities. The concept of structuring the program more like a weeklong outdoors adventure instead of a series of classes kept the Scouts more engaged and more involved — meaning, ultimately, they had more fun.
Participants who wanted to spend time on or near the water chose the Nautical Adventure. Scouts interested in target and range sports could choose the Outpost Adventure. Young Scouts interested in a traditional trail-to-First-Class program could choose the Brownsea Adventure.
And so on.
Whatever the Scouts were interested in, there was an adventure for that.
“It was a truly immersive learning experience,” says assistant Scout Executive Michele Brenneman.
What is Scouts @ Work?
America needs skilled trade workers, and Scouting America is in a unique position to help provide them. Scouts @ Work, held at Camp Potomac, was a camping experience that emphasized trades, jobs and careers.
“We developed the program to give kids hands-on experience,” says director Andrew Mackert. “These were deep immersions into fields taught by professionals from that field. The idea is to expose them to a trade, see if they like it, and maybe they want to do it as a career.”
Programming included the fields of aviation, automotive maintenance, law, railroading, carpentry, home repair and much, much more.
In order for the Scouts @ Work concept to, well, work, you couldn’t have classes taught by well-meaning Scouts or adults with little experience in these fields. You needed to bring in the big guns — the experts in the community, even if they didn’t have any Scouting experience — and that’s exactly what Mackert and his team did.
“We really got some major talent in here,” Mackert says.
In the aviation area, Scouts got to ride in an actual aircraft. For law, they got to visit a courthouse and see a trial in progress. For railroading, they met with an actual conductor (who just happened to be an Eagle Scout).
Mackert says when he and his team reached out to the experts in these fields, the response they got was overwhelmingly positive. These people need workers, and now they were being offered the chance to make their pitch in front of more than 100 young people just a few years away from entering the workforce.
In the welding area, a professional welder noticed a Scout who showed some exceptional natural welding skills. Before camp was over, he handed him a business card and told him he had a job waiting for him if he was interested.
“Some of the tradesmen were like, ‘If these kids have it, they’re getting a job.’” Mackert says.
Squatch Camp and Scouts @ Work are open to any registered member of a Scouts BSA troop, Venturing crew or Sea Scout ship. Click here for information on next year’s Squatch Camp. Bookmark this page for information on next year’s Scouts @ Work.
Photos courtesy of the Laurel Highlands Council
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