The Compass
Camptown Updates
Because of Camptown…
In the cool mornings and sunny afternoons of May, Camptown staff guided dozens of 8th graders into Tennessee wilderness, including two all-female treks. Battling doubt and anxiety at times, students dug deep to learn about their personal and collective strength. “We...
2022: A Year of Thoughtful Transformation
“I used to be difficult, and now I’m a leader.”
These words were uttered by a teenager who joined Camptown several summers in a row for wilderness adventures with Hamilton County Youth Assistance Programs. His words speak of significant life changes, made possible through intentional, purposeful adventures.
Are Some Vulnerable Youth “Indicator Species” for our Community?
We cast a vision for growth at Camptown in 2022. We’re thrilled to share that we’ve nearly doubled our staff size and our budget, which has allowed us to:
– Serve over 4,000 youth – surpassing our highest mark ever by over 20%
– Spend 25% more time, on average, with each participant
REACH for Nature
We have been a little busy at Camptown lately, and we’re eager to update you! By May, we had already served over 1000 youth in 2022 including 8 Wilderness Adventure Clubs, 3 backpacking expeditions to Tennessee with over 60 teens, our Youth Leaders program and much...
Play Time
Stories from Trey Clayton (Program Director) Two teachers and two Camptown staff found themselves oddly alone around the campfire after breakfast during an overnight trip with 6 boys from the Sheridan Youth Assistance Program. All having the same thought at the same...
Getting Out More
The National Park Service announced their 2020 park usage numbers in February and reported over 237 million visitors to the National Parks in 2020. While this number represents a 28% decrease from 2019, they attribute the drop due to temporary park closures and...
Backcountry Recipe
One of our staff favorites. You will find several versions of Goda Goda. It can be made in a pot or skillet, at a front country campsite or even at home. This version is our boil and bag backpacking recipe. A spicy peanut butter sauce makes this a light ramen...
Serving Under Represented Youth
Statistics from the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service show that although people of color make up nearly 40 percent of the total U.S. population, they make up less than 30% of the people visiting our national parks and national...
On Mission
As we began returning to work and running programs in June, like everyone, I had to ask, “What does this look like for Camptown?” Many of our program partners had cancelled their summer plans and others had reduced their numbers...