Happy Monday, Tall Timber family!

My name is Amanda Palmer, and I am a wife, mother of four children, doctoral student, researcher, and lifelong camper. Basically, I am pursuing a PhD in “camp!” I can’t imagine a more exciting topic to spend years engaging in and studying.

Though winter is not yet behind us, summer is already on my mind. Many of you – like myself – are former campers and may still remember the feeling of pride when your “T 4 ” (AKA Tall Timber Teva Tan) truly showed up. I can still sing several of my favorite campfire songs written by counselors who impacted my faith and the shaped the trajectory of my life. For me, the camp experience was made up of challenge, learning about my identity, engaging with practicing my faith, and gaining an appreciation for the natural beauty of the White River valley.

Because of my time at camp, I have dedicated my professional career towards bettering youth camp experiences. I am working with Tall Timber’s new executive director and other amazing leadership staff to prepare and plan for an impactful and positive summer. My current role in the process is to help the leadership team take Tall Timber’s organizational values and identify which key practices staff members will engage in, to lead to the best outcomes for campers.

As the months go on, I will have the opportunity to engage with summer staff in training sessions, further clarifying practices and behaviors which will create a high-quality experience for the youth attending camp. During camp, I will conduct observations to see how those expectations are put into practice. And finally, I will provide campers with an opportunity to share their experiences at camp, through brief surveys before they head back home.

Today’s campers come to camp from a different world than I did. I may have taken time away from television and phone calls, but I didn’t have a smartphone to immediately contact my support system, or any social media accounts. Today’s campers are also experiencing the mental health fallout from a global pandemic and its continual effects on our communities. Tall Timber wants to prepare their staff to meet campers where they are, support them in their individual identities, and promote their social, spiritual, and emotional growth each day at camp.

From my own research and my engagement with professional camp organizations, I have learned the importance of intentional program quality as the biggest contributor to positive camper outcomes. We can all remember times in our childhood when adults had a negative impact, and we never want camp to be a context for those experiences in our own children’s lives. Staff members are not perfect, and no training will ever address every possible situation that could happen at camp. Expect the unexpected is a pretty familiar theme of camp staff training! However, research and experience shows us that developing clear expectations for staff members provides a better structure for training and accountability when conflicts or challenges arise. As a researcher, I am helping camp leadership to facilitate that process of clarification, training, and accountability.

While Tall Timber values the continual improvement process, the pandemic years have stretched the budget thin, as camp staff and board members put guest safety as the highest priority. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Tall Timber Ranch relies primarily on generous donors to support projects at camp. Your donation to this project would demonstrate a commitment to providing children and youth with the highest quality experience, as well as providing staff members with an optimal working environment. Your financial support would open up further opportunities for program planning, staff training, observation, camper engagement, and post-camp feedback sessions. Ultimately, your support of assessment and evaluation will help ensure that Tall Timber Ranch can put significant effort into aligning their purpose and mission with their practices.

You can donate to this and the many other ministry projects Tall Timber is working on by visiting this page.