News

Teens Lead Cabin Conversations

   

In 2008, more than 14,000 children attended 4-H camp in Virginia. To evaluate their camping experience, the campers participate in a written evaluation, which is usually conducted the morning of their departure. The surveys generate a large volume of data, and the results show general outcomes and impacts.

To supplement this process, the Extension agents in the Buckingham, Charlotte, and Prince Edward camping cluster implemented a new camp evaluation method. Their teen leaders and counselors-in-training (CITs) were trained to lead small focus-group sessions with their campers.

The camp counselors developed a set of questions during the leadership-training retreat prior to camp. Questions focused on four areas: respect and acceptance of others, self-responsibility, social empathy, and camper/leader interaction. During camp, teen leaders used the questions to lead discussions each evening, while the CITs recorded the campers’ responses in a journal.

“These before-bedtime cabin conversations helped to improve relationships between the counselors and campers, as well as helped to wind the kids down for the evening,” says Jennifer Bowen, 4-H agent in Prince Edward County. “Looking at the responses, you can see how the campers became more comfortable with sharing their experiences.”

In addition to gaining valuable supporting information about the campers’ experiences, the new activity also helped to further engage the teen leaders and CITs in the full camp experience.

“The teen leaders got to help write the questions, and as a result we got better data,” Bowen says. “The focus groups gave them an increased sense of ownership in the evaluation process.”