6 minute read
Invincible Summer
INVINCIBLE INVINCIBLE SUMMER SUMMER
by Catherine Klene
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The American Youth Foundation grew in new and unexpected ways this year, adjusting its sails to adapt to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the first time in its nearly 100-year history, the AYF made the heartwrenching decision to cancel in-person summer programs at both Miniwanca and Merrowvista. Summer is usually the culmination of months of planning for an intentionally offline, in-person camp experience. Now, the AYF programming team had to pivot.
“We live to program,” said Merrowvista Camp Director Chris Wellens. “We live to connect as a community, and even though we are used to connecting in the summertime at camps, both in Michigan and New Hampshire, since that was not feasible this summer, we knew we had to find a way to continue our traditions and our legacy that took place at camp in a different way.”
Sam and Nate Bell explore nature during Invincible Summer
When COVID-19 first hit the United States in the spring, the AYF quickly began to offer online versions of camp fixtures like Evening Reflections, Interest Groups, and Night’s Doings, seeing how campers responded to this new digital format and engaging alumni in virtual gatherings open to the entire community.
Youth weren’t the only ones logging onto Zoom and Instagram Live during the first tumultuous months of the pandemic. Julie Austin of Naperville, Illinois and her two children, Franklin, 13, and Evie, 10, were early adopters of the virtual programming.
“Evie and I did Morning Stretch every day. It was a wonderful mix of Social and Physical, and even a little Mental and Religious,” Austin said. “We were at the heart of a global pandemic, so being able to connect with the staff members and the other participants and talk about what we value… It was very grounding to be connected to something so special to us.”
Miniwanca Girls Camp Director Hannah Patterson said staff were determined to continue the mission of the AYF despite the miles. As they conferred via email and Zoom, the programming team took inspiration from a line in The Stranger by Albert Camus:
“Invincible Summer was born out of the idea that what we do is important and just because the world has changed and we couldn’t do it how we normally would doesn’t mean we can’t do it,” Patterson explained.
More than 200 participants joined AYF staff from July 6 to 31 for free virtual programming. Wellens said Invincible Summer was not intended to replace the in-person experience, but to supplement the work of best self that campers do each summer.
“We know there is something special that can only happen at Merrowvista and Miniwanca, and we weren’t trying to find a replacement for that,” he said. “We were trying to find the areas that we can replicate in this virtual setting and look for opportunities we don’t have when meeting in camp and in person. We were really surprised to find so many activities and programs that we could run.”
Sam Bell builds a fairy house at home during Invincible Summer
Invincible Summer focused on offering a wide variety of a la carte online and offline activities.
Campers, parents, and alumni gathered on Zoom for larger community events like Opening Fire and Evening Reflection. Smaller group events united youth by age and program, then divided them into breakout rooms with their village and group mates so they could connect with familiar friends and staff.
Meetups like these quickly proved a valuable tool to connect with peers around aspects of life at home. “I loved some of the moments when campers were able to share experiences about their personal lives with each other,” Wellens said. “Simple things like seeing each other’s rooms and each other’s pets. Little moments of, ‘You always talked about that!’ but now they actually got to see that. I’m really excited to see what that will do for future summers.”
Sam Bell joins a virtual Interest Group
Each week, participants could also sign up for Interest Groups that met on Zoom twice weekly to create and play. Those 12 and older could also register for Inspired Best Selves, a four-week program during which campers focused on the deeper work of best self and bringing those values to their home communities.
Getting away from the screen and into nature was also a vital part of Invincible Summer. Members of the AYF community logged their physical activity (miles hiked or cycled, for example) via a program called My Virtual Mission to complete the distance equivalent of Four Trails treks.
The programming team also created downloadable worksheets that brought home camp traditions like making GORP or seed bursts. Campers could earn more than 25 digital badges for completing a combination of online and offline tasks in pursuit of their 2020 Founder Medal.
“There were so many ways to do activities like Polar Bear or Go Getters at home,” Wellens said. “We’re not going to jump in Dan Hole Pond or Stony Lake or Lake Michigan, but we can dump a cold bucket of water on ourselves or jump into a kiddie pool or all the other fun things folks came up with.”
Evie and Franklin Austin complete Polar Bear at home with buckets of water.
Austin said her children spent hours constructing forts in the living room, rigging a bucket of water to dump on their heads for Polar Bear, and camping out in the backyard to earn their Founder Medals.
“It’s funny, I asked the kids which of the Four Folds do you feel like you worked on through Invincible Summer? And Franklin said the P-Fold,” Austin said. “Ironically, having Invincible Summer online made him more physically active because there were so many options to do offline, and they really enjoyed that flexibility and the challenge of doing something offline.”
Austin said she was surprised at how well the AYF staff was able to build community in an online forum.
“That’s exactly what they do in-person at camp, but they did it online in a way that made sure everyone was welcome, making sure if someone had something to say, there was a moment for them to speak up to share what they were thinking about,” she said.
Patterson said Invincible Summer had another unexpected outcome: Merrowvista and Miniwanca campers got to know each other in a new and powerful way, culminating in an AYF-wide Closing Fire.
Miniwanca Girls Camp Director Hannah Patterson helped develop Invincible Summer.
“I am somebody who started at Merrowvista and now work at Miniwanca. I’ve known a handful of folks who’ve done that as well in both directions over the years,” Patterson said. “You see it happen less frequently on the campers’ side, so I think they are sometimes hesitant to interact with the other camp, but we really do have the same values.
“We have the same grounding, the same footing, and in many ways the same language. You get them together in a space and you introduce a song or game that everybody already knows, and it’s like, ‘Oh, you do this, too?’”
Wellens hopes the Invincible Summer experience inspires campers to continue to pursue the values of camp in their home communities until they can once again gather safely at Miniwanca and Merrowvista. “I loved seeing the moments when campers embraced best self and Four Fold living at home with such creativity,” Wellens said. “It was really heartwarming not just in the moment, but to really be able to see how the work we’re doing carries over outside of our time at camp. What we’re teaching is most impactful if it carries over into our lives.”
