Although this international youth services program offers "adventure" to the children of military staff in summer programs, Northern Iowa student participants claim just as much adventure and diversity is added to their lives as counselors and managers of Camp Adventure®.
Camp Adventure® arrived at the University of Northern Iowa in 1992 from the University of Oregon via Dr. Christopher Edginton when he joined the University as director of the School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services in the College of Education.
Camp Adventure® International Youth Services was established 10 years ago and has successfully served four branches of the U.S. military - U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marines. In 1994, 10-week day camps for children of military personnel were conducted in nine countries and two U.S. territories (Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Belgium, Panama, Guam, and the United States) at 76 locations. Over 7,000 children a day were served. Student participants receive undergraduate and graduate credit and have all expenses paid.
Headquartered in a gray house on 22nd Street near the UNI campus, some 42 Northern Iowa students actually run the Camp Adventure® program. They're taught skills in management related to personnel, staff development, contracting, program development, and marketing. Student staff are from all majors at the University.
Julianne Gassman, a graduate student from Dubuque in youth and human services administration, volunteered in the Camp Adventure® office for two years as an undergraduate in human resources. She's now a paid staff person as human resources coordinator for one division. "I've grown from being a shy person who volunteered to order uniforms the first year I worked here, to managing a human resources staff of seven who recruit, interview, conduct background checks, and hire Camp Adventure® counselors," Gassman tells.
She's also developed management skills during her summer work starting as a counselor in Japan, becoming a camp site director her second year, and last summer supervising six camp sites in Europe.
Not only does Camp Adventure® provide a diversity of experiences for student participants, it's working to promote greater cultural diversity. In 1993 Camp Adventure® established a collaboration with Fort Valley State College (Georgia), a historically and predominantly black college. Susan Edginton, Camp Adventure® Program Development Coordinator, explains this partnership helps present a diverse and balanced staff that reflects the cultural diversity of the children it serves.
"We recently sent 25 UNI students to Fort Valley State College to interview and evaluate student applicants for Camp Adventure®. Some UNI student participants will also go to Fort Valley for a one-week training session and some of the Georgia students will come to UNI for training. Camp Adventure® has a liaison faculty person at Fort Valley, Dr. Curtis Martin, who donates his time to help recruit students and conduct training sessions."
Camp Adventure® staff are extensively trained so they possess excellent technical skills and the ability to lead children and youth.
Camille Korschgen, a UNI masters degree student in leisure services, hopes to work in Germany this summer at a Camp Adventure® site after working the past two summers at programs in Yokohama, Japan, and Okinawa, Japan. "My first summer we had 40 children ages 5-12 from all four branches of the services. Three-fourths of them were bi-racial and most of them spoke at least two languages. I learned that my heart is really with children and that I definitely want to work with children from a diversity of cultures and abilities," Korschgen illustrates.
This student-managed program aims to "create environments for children of magic and delight, joy and laughter, wonder and discovery, fellowship and friendship, learning and sharing, and pride and achievement." With a motto like that, the diversity of experiences and learning for the military children and the University students alike reaches an all-time high when they share summertime Camp Adventure® youth programs.
