Camp Today
Creates a Better Workforce Tomorrow, Study Shows
Each summer more than 14.5 million children attend a summer camp – and while it might not seem like it, these millions of children will be joining our workforce sooner than you might realize, bringing with them the skills they’ve learned at camp, like those offered by Camp Fire First Texas. The American Camp Association (ACA) recently published Phase 2 of a longitudinal study on the lasting effects, or “stickiness,” of skills learned at camp. This data demonstrates youth who attend camp grow up to be young adults who are thriving in school and the workplace because of what they learned at camp. Top skills learned at camp retained into adulthood include: • Relationship building, • Teamwork, • Self-Confidence, • Emotional Regulation, • Organization and • Perseverance. “Employers are looking at their future workforce and there are skills that today’s youth are lacking. The World Economic Forum offers guidance on important skills for future generations of workers and, not so surprisingly, it will be people-centered skills. Skills like creativity, problem solving, people management, and
relationship cultivation top their list. Camps, like Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro and our numerous day camps across the area, provide youth the ability to cultivate these muchneeded skills,” explained Brian Miller, vice president of outdoor connection at Camp Fire First Texas. Today’s youth are flying past previous generations with their knowledge of
FUTURE generations of workers will need people-centered skills.
technology and the digital world. As this occurs there is an equal, but opposite reaction. “We have raised the physically safest but most emotionally high-risk adverse generation. In trying to protect them we have created a generation of children that are struggling with society’s demands. Technology and social media have further complicated these issues. Only 25% of today’s teens report that they will spend time with friends outside of school,” added Miller. Each summer, according to Camp Fire First Texas’ own market research, youth attend three to five camps.
This includes both day and overnight camps. While there are many camps to choose from, not all provide the environment for these skills to be cultivated. So, what factors need to be present to make a camp experience valuable in building these skills? The ACA study also offers a sense of what happens at camp to promote these outcomes. Camps that foster these skills provide:
71.3% 86.1%
of El Tesoro campers agree or strongly agree that they try to get along with others even if they are different.
• Opportunities for experiential learning and living • Meaningful interactions with camp staff, who are often people campers relate to • Meaningful interactions with peers, both in small group living and in collaborative activities • Camp activities that are fun and capture campers’ interests • Separation from the home environment, which was notable among people who attended overnight camp as children
The opportunity to better develop the future workforce is right in front of us. Everyone can be a part of the process by either sending your child (or grandchild) to a camp that provides these enriching experiences or if you don’t have a child, donating to a camp scholarship fund that provides all youth access to these experiences regardless of income differences. Camp Fire First Texas overnight and day camps pride themselves not only on embodying all of these factors to help youth
Camp Fire First Texas programs are for boys, girls and adults and include camping, after school programs, teen services, environmental education, early childhood education and school readiness. We change young lives for the better in our community. Inside and out. CampFireFW.org | 817.831.2111
of El Tesoro campers agree or strongly agree that after camp they think through decisions before acting on them.
develop valuable life-skills, but also making sure these experiences are available to youth of all income levels.
Learn more
about Camp El Tesoro and Camp Fire Day Camps and how to support children from all walks of life and income levels to gain these skills at CampFireFW.org.