CAMP INFO
   

 

Camp Information

Introduction

Please read all of this information before registering for camp and if you are under 18, it is mandatory that your parents read it as well. If anything doesn't make sense or you still have questions, please contact us. After you have registered, with your receipt, you will receive a handbook with more specific travel information, what to bring to camp and other pertinent information.

This camp is relatively new to the Australian home education scene but is proving to be a successful addition to the annual home educating activities. Many teenage home educators give up their independence and go to school to find some peers they can bounce off. Or continue to home educate but often feel isolated or very different.

Camp with Wings is an attempt to redress this situation. It gives home educating teenagers a chance to establish friendships and connections they can continue long after camp is over, with letters, phone calls, email and even travelling to visit each other. Also the next year's camp will be something to anticipate as follow-up for these connections. This web site also allows campers to share their writings and adventures and ideas with the group to alleviate that sense of being isolated or too different.

At Camp with Wings we aim to provide community-building, and personal and inter-personal growth situations. Personal challenges are encouraged at whatever level you are ready for. It is an opportunity to measure yourself in a completely safe and supportive environment of home educated peers who will share many of your own goals, frustrations and life experiences.

The inspiration for this camp came from Grace Llewellyn's (author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook) Not Back to School (NBTS) Camps in Oregon, and now Vermont, which are now in their twelth year. The success and popularity of the camps are a tribute to Grace's efforts, caring energy and vision.

Introducing Janine

I am Janine Banks and I am organizing Camp With Wings here in Australia because I have seen the amazing benefits to the teenage home educators attending the NBTS camps in the USA during the 6 sessions I have been privileged to work there. My partner and I have unschooled 4 children for more than 14 years. They all attended a session of NBTS camp in 2000 and still consider it to be a major highlight and inspiration in their lives. They still have some friends from that camp and our eldest son, Alex,is now married to Aremy, whom we first met at that camp. Our 4 young people now range in age from 23 to 19 and the younger 3, as well as my husband,Richard, will be helping with the camp staffing. Our daughter, Josephine,worked at Not Back to School Camp in 2006 for a session as a junior staffer.

This is the fourth of the great Australian Camp with Wings annual adventures, and we need campers to help us evolve and develop our own Aussie version of this camp, so come and get involved, and contribute to this exciting new development on the home educating scene.We have doubled in numbers over the last 3 years, so let's see what will happen in 2008.

Who

Unschoolers/home educators/home schoolers between the ages of 13 and 18 from anywhere on the planet are welcome. This means that if you are now schooling part-time, using the distance education programme, or at TAFE, or even just thinking about home education, you are still welcome. At the first camp, we were joined by three sisters from Minnesota, one of whom worked with us on staff. Much to everyone's happiness, she returned for the second camp.(She also married our son this year!) At 2007 camp, 2 friends from Portland, Oregon, whom we had met at the 2000 NBTScamp joined us on staff. Having international visitors adds to the camp in many ways, and helps promote my vision of an international network of teenage home education camps promoting world peace.

Where

This next camp will be held at Lions Camp Duckadang which is situated 12km north west of Linville. Linville is 166 kms north west of Brisbane on the upper reaches of the Brisbane River. (We have moved from Camp Constable on Mt Glorious because it was too small for us.)

The accommodation is 2 dormitories with 5x 4 bed cubicles each, showers, toilets, common room with extra 4 beds. One building with 4 rooms of 4 beds plus 1 x 6 dormitory, showers, toilets and common room. Beds are all double bunk beds. A large recreation hall suitable for dancing, social games, and martial arts has a timber floor, AV equiment and indoor bowls. Underneath, a recreation area has 4 table tennis tables. Outdoor facilities include * 2 compact tennis courts, 1 compact basketball/netball court, and beach volleyball and grasscourts volleyball. * 4 metre deep reach of the Brisbane River suitable for swimming and canoeing. * Outdoor amphitheatre and outdoor fire pit. * Inground swimming pool with shade sail. * Observatory - 14"telescope to view the brilliant night sky. * 9 hole Put-Put golf course. (putters provided) * Variety of sport equiment including canoes, cricket gear, Boule Set, etc

What will we be doing?

Singing, dancing, talking, eating juicy, sweet watermelon, walking, playing hackeysack or volleyball, journaling, swimming or canoeing, teaching and learning new skills, sharing ideas with our fellow campers and staffers, eating and talking, drumming, having talent shows,taking photos, unicycling, practising yoga, sleeping, playing a game of Boules, playing a new game, seeing the world through different eyes, drawing, giving or receiving back rubs, playing music, gazing through the telescope at the stars, learning to deeply relax or any other of the myriad things you might dream up to do all by yourself, with your new friend, or with a whole bunch of enthusiastic buddies.

We aim to have fun and grow and become aware of some of the infinite possibilities for ourselves. If we can see and understand our real selves in the context of others and how we all fit on this planet, we will see the big picture and our place in it. Then we will be more centered and grounded and can fly out from this strength and security.

Daily Schedule

Although there will be a daily routine, each day will be new and different.

If everyone rises as early as they did last year, there will be a variety of early morning activities such as bushwalking, yoga and ultimate frisbee.

After breakfast, there will be brief group meetings where announcements will be made, songs will be sung, and campers and staff can share and discuss any camp issues.This will be followed by small group meetings, a time of supportive sharing, as well as playing games and having fun.

The rest of the morning will be scheduled workshops where campers and staff will each lead at least one workshop over the week, sharing their passion of the moment or some particular skill at which they have become proficient.

After lunch there will be a quiet hour for catching up on sleep or your journal, maybe having a shower, or being led in a deep relaxation technique. This hour is for everyone's wellbeing as camp can become very intense and a quiet time to promote being centered and healthy becomes a necessity.

The afternoons will be given over to sports, social games or dancing. You may join a bushwalking group, a chess tournament or help organize a game of volleyball. Or you and a few others may want to prepare for the evening's talent show. Alternatively, you may prefer to lie in the shade of a tree daydreaming, making new friends, or continuing a discussion from the morning's workshop. It's up to you.

The evenings begin with another brief meeting, followed by a talent show, followed by whatever activity we organize for ourselves. This may include music and singing around a small fire, a dance, identifying the brilliant constellations in the country night sky, social games or whatever we come up with. Please share your ideas with us.

At the first camp, a local caller was available for a bush dance, but had left the district during the year. Undaunted by the lack of caller with his taped music, some enthusiastic campers organized our own bush dance, complete with caller and a hastily thrown together five piece band. The band sounded very professional, the bush dance was lots of fun and we proved that at Camp with Wings we can do anything. Last camp, one of the "old-time" campers had recently learnt to call some bush dances and had the music, so again we had another bush dance.

Although there will almost always be something on the agenda for you to do, there will be no obligation to attend any or every event. The camp is about growing and tuning into your needs. If you need a rest, some time to chill out on your own, do it. If you need a jam session, there's a pulse in your head or your fingers, ask around. There may be some others keen to join in. Camp with Wings is about encouraging creativity and spontaneity.

Workshops

These are an important part of the growing and sharing of the camp. I encourage everyone to be brave and offer to teach us or lead us in whatever activity or subject you're really interested in or some special skill you may be practising regularly or just learnt recently. We are all learning all of the time, no matter how old we are or how much experience we have. Someone presenting a workshop on an activity we may consider ourselves expert in can still open our eyes to many more possibilities, and stretch our expertise laterally. We are all unique individuals with our own unique way of learning, teaching and understanding. Everyone has lots to offer.

Depending on the numbers of campers, there may be 6 or 8 workshops presented each morning, over 2 sessions of approx an hour each. This means there will be choice for the participants and the presenters will not be facing the whole camp en masse.

Here is a small list of workshops that have been presented at the Not Back to School camps in the USA in the past: breakdancing, solar cooking, kung fu, orienteering, yoga, cob-oven building, web-page designing, surrealist games, co-counseling, VW engine fixing, drama, poetry, getting published and self-publishing, community living, origami, art booklets, swing dancing, salsa dancing, youth rights, tree identification, beading, volleyball coaching, knitting berets, photography, reiki, conflict resolution, journaling, overseas travel, song-writing, basic astronomy and tarot reading.

And here is the list of workshops presented at Camp with Wings so far: drama, TaeKwonDo, yo-yo tricks, pyjama making, Native American beading, poetry reciting, unicycling, belly dancing, soccer, basketball, teenagers earning money, learning guitar, calligraphy, stencil making and T-shirt printing, tap dancing and dancing with Jaz, henna, card games, unicycle wheel reconstruction, mask making, abstract art, tie-dying, tennis, ballroom dancing, chess, singing in harmony, impromtu speaking, camp craft, dungeons and dragons, wings making, jewellery, bollywood dancing, thinking outside the box, Gaia's Garden game, luminaries, friendship bracelets, card making, bush dancing, poi and firespinning, making stilts etc

So you see, just about anything goes. Whatever it is you have to share, there will be a number of people interested who will go home with new skills or knowledge they learnt from you. And you will go home with new skills or interests that you are excited about that your peers or staff have shared with you.

If you feel you need a little longer than an hour, let us know. Sometimes you might all agree to meet again later to finish a group project, continue a discussion, or practise a song for the talent show that night.

The only limitations are no workshops in the kitchen as it's a very busy place throughout the whole day, or workshops that may be limited by a need for very specific materials or tools. We can provide basic art supplies like crayons, paints or paper, scissors, a music machine and some sports equipment. Let us know what you may need and we'll see if it's possible to supply it.

Sports

Sporting possibilities include volleyball, basketball, half tennis, hiking, soccer, cricket, frisbee or any other games that need an open flat space. Because Camp Duckadang is on the Brisbane River, there will be swimming and canoeing if there has been enough rain to bring the river up again. If you have some 'variations on a theme', eg alternative soccer rules that encourages lots of players, or similar ideas, please share them. You may even use this idea as your workshop if sports are your thing. Someone did this last year and it worked out well.

Talent Shows

For those of you who have attended regular family home education camps, you will know how much fun the talent shows can be. Again, anything goes and you might sing, play a musical instrument, do some magic tricks, dance, read your poetry, juggle, tell us a story, or do a comedy routine. You might also get together with some friends to present a group performance showing off your new skills from the morning's workshop. Several of our talent show numbers evolve this way. I remember some brand-new guitarists, some very funny small group skits, a beautiful choir, stunning ballroom dancing?.. and the very small audience watching the bollywood-dance routine.

If this sounds scary, please remember lots of us will be feeling the same and sharing your feelings. Your fellow camper and staff audience will be absolutely and totally there for you and will want you to do and be your best. We will all be there to encourage and cheer each other on. So again, be courageous and let your talents shine. Camp with Wings is that safe place where you can share some or all of your dreams and everyone will be richer for it.

One of my favourite quotes from Henry Van Dyke goes "Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang the best."

And Grace Llewellyn, NBTS camp director often quotes from modern dance pioneer, Martha Graham, "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost, the world will not have it."

So let's have it. We encourage you to "strut your stuff' so we can celebrate your unique expression with you.

To reiterate, the original camp ideas are based on 12 years of very successful NBTS camps in Oregon, and more recently Vermont as well. Grace Llewellyn's camps are still an evolving process and I acknowledge we cannot transport another culture's camp to our more laid-back Australian scene. However our first three Camp with Wings have been pronounced a great success by campers and staff alike. We have some fine-tuning to do here and there, but that will be an on-going process. So please come and share your ideas on what does and doesn't work for you, and how we might make changes to make Camp with Wings reflect our unique Australian style and become our own.

Staff

Staff for the camp are variously aged so the campers have the benefits of meeting home educators who have moved on to the next stage in their life, as well as the varied life experiences of the more mature (older?) adults. Campers will find all the staff supportive, caring, multi-talented, inspirational and encouraging as they lead workshops and sporting activities, cook yummy food, facilitate discussions, and basically be available whenever they're needed.

To meet some of the staff who will be at the 2008 Camp with Wings, check out staff bios.

Campers will be divided into smaller groups of approx 8-10 with a staff person supporting each group. Your group will meet each morning with your staff person for an informal session of sharing, games, and support. You may discuss any camp or other issue that concerns you at this time, bring it to a morning or evening meeting, or to any staff member at any time. Your staff person will be keeping in touch throughout the day with everyone in your group.

If you have finished your formal home education years (I know we all keep learning forever, but I mean those years when our society says education is your job) and feel you would like to contribute and/or participate in Camp with Wings as a staff person, please contact me, Janine. Campers who may feel unsure about the steps to their future life goals can find ex-home educators who have moved on to the adult world both inspiring and helpful.

Food

There will be 3 yummy vegetarian meals a day (organic wherever possible) with special dietary needs such as wheat-free or vegan also available, as long as we are informed in advance. Very little, or no, sugar, chocolate or other stimulants will be served. Fruit and other nutritious snacks and herbal teas will be available throughout the day.

Cost

Camp fees are $330 with a $100 deposit due by the end of September, and the balance due by the end of November so we don't rock the Christmas budgets. This fee covers almost everything: the travel to and from Toowoomba (where the bus leaves from), the accommodation and hearty meals and most activities. A workshop may incur a small cost for materials. Campers may need a small amount of cash for food when travelling.

Rules or Agreements

Rules or agreements will be made at the beginning of the camp with everyone. There will not be many, but they will be designed to make the camp safe and enjoyable for everyone, without limiting freedom unnecessarily.

There will be no enforced bedtime, but there will be lights out/quiet in the cabins from 11pm. Campers may stay up later in the main hall, or outside at the fire but there will be a staff member acting as nightwatch person.

Camp Duckadang itself has some rules: None of these are too onerous and all have to do with the safety of everyone and the sensible care of the environment around Duckadang. They ask that the plentiful wildlife is respected, require care in certain areas like the canoeing and the pool, with using the sports equipment, a fire with permission, etc we will discuss these more thoroughly on the first evening.

Responsibilities

Camp with Wings aims to help everyone soar like eagles on the eddies of creativity and self-awareness and personal growth. However, flying high comes with a few responsibilities.

Over the week, everyone will have several rosters to complete to help keep the camp clean and tidy such as wiping hand basins, sweeping a floor or washing some dishes.

The other main responsibility is to be prepared to contribute and be involved as much as possible so you get the most out of your camp experience and you help others have a wonderful time as well. Don't be shy about introducing a new game or teaching us a new song. Make sure everyone gets at least one backrub or foot massage during the week. Think of new ways to help shy people feel included and empowered. Be brave and try something that you've been avoiding for a while. Use this camp as an opportunity to challenge yourself to be the most amazing and inspiring person you can imagine. Use this camp to really spread your wings and fly.

Travel arrangements

Most of us will meet at Queens Park in Toowoomba and travel by bus to the camp. Queens Park is near the bus station where the Greyhound buses arrive from Brisbane.There will be more precise travel information in the camper handbook that you will receive after you have paid your deposit. We suggest arriving at the park by about lunch time or 2pm at the latest. On the last day of camp, you'll be back in Toowoomba by lunchtime to begin your return journey.

If you can let us know your travel arrangements, we can put folks in touch with each other so you may be able to travel in company.

It is also possible for you to drive or be driven to camp. However, campers bringing cars to camp must turn their keys over to us as there will be no driving by campers for the duration of the camp.

Health and Safety

There will be at least one staff person trained in First Aid and CPR at camp. We also have our own first aid kit. In case of emergencies, we will call an ambulance to take the sick or injured to a Brisbane hospital. There will also be wholistic practices including reiki available.

However, you must be responsible for your own health. Bring any regular necessary medication with you. Bring your own named water bottle and perhaps some echinacea or Vitamin C. Camp can be a busy and exciting scene and you may forget to drink enough water or stress the body with not enough sleep. (Tip: Be as healthy as possible before you come and make sure you've had plenty of sleep.)

Insurance

As a not-for-profit home education event organizer, I have joined the Home Education Association Inc. which provides me with insurance cover. Please refer to the HEA website www.hea.asn.au for further details.

Communication with home during camp

Mobile phone reception is in a shadow and therefore unavailable. A public phone is available at camp. $10 Phone-away (1800 number prefix)may only be used. These may be purchased from the camp supervisor or bring your own card.

For parents needing to contact camp in an emergency, the phone number is 07 5424 8122.