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booklet brief invited involved impacted guidance in the right direction camp compass academy s

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we bring educators mentors and business role models into our student s lives we model good character and teach integrity accountability compassion and respect prisons and drug and alcohol abuse are sometimes the result spells trouble for conservation and our communities the facts over 40 of all families are single parent divorce rates are over 50 challenging youth to become better adults children want to be good adults and everyday they are faced with choices they may have to live with for the rest of their lives do i try drugs should i tell the truth does anyone care why not steal this will a gang protect me should i have sex why go to school we create a better society our vision 85 of youths in prison grew up in a fatherless home fbi statistics show gang membership has increased from 50,000 in 1975 to 1,350,000 in 2009 and may be responsible for up to 80 of crime in the u.s today with more than 2.3 million people behind bars the u s now leads the world in both the number and percentage of incarcerates nationally 33.6 of adults reported that firearms were kept in or around their home firearm injury and its subsequent repercussions are preventable firearm injury disproportionately affects young people resulting in lives cut short or forever affected by violence is teachers parents mentors and business people who support encourage and help young adolescents become better adults by using the camp compass system and the great outdoors why there s a need adolescence is a critical time when young students are faced with choices that affect them for the rest of their lives youth naturally look towards adults to guide and help them become good adults the sad fact is too many youngsters do not have any or enough good adults to look up to they are left to figure out maturing alone increasing gang violence fatherless families overcrowded how might your life have been different if you had an adult who cared about you someone you could confide in and trust teachers who could help you make the right decisions we are more than just a mentoring program camp compass academy is a nonprofit 501c3 corporation created to guide youth 11-17 through their passage to young adulthood our mission is to help every urban child in the world become a better citizen when children grow up without parents mentors and positive role models it has a devastating impact on them their families and our society since 1960 the rate of american children without fathers in their lives has quadrupled and that our program gives youth the chance to develop into the kind of adult he/she wants to be we give support and guidance we help them become good mature citizens.

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our program has 5 components exposure exploration extension application example mentoring one weekend or week in the classroom woods or water just doesn t cut it we teach support mentor encourage constantly and consistently throughout the year some students have been with us for as long as 7 years therefore during the above levels we honor and use students desire for adventure and camaraderie give recognition at both the individual and group level for positive behavior teach organizational and self-management skills strengthen the family-studentteacher support triangle focus on effective intervention not just identification recognize and build on student strengths match resources to student needs drive down the number of students exhibiting off-track indicators and drive up the number of students exhibiting on-track indicators get the ratio of skilled adults to students in need right evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and rewards get started with the data currently available in their schools take measures to increase the number of students with very good attendance and decrease the number who are chronically absent the base exposure exploration extension our academy we get teacher buy-in and support for the mission of keeping students on the graduation path asking teachers not only to focus on getting students to succeed in their coursework but also to pay attention to their students longterm educational trajectory is a critical piece to our mission imagine outward bound the boy scouts big brothers and sisters and school all combined we provide a complete multiyear program with community mentoring and outdoor heritage adventure rewards that serve both young men and women as research experience and the work of many others have shown particularly in high-poverty environments a student s experience is critical to his or her life s chances it is during the middle and high school grades that students either launch toward achievement and attainment or slide off track and place be and be perceived as safe and engaging place.

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top of the pyramid application our students and mentors spend more time together during these events than a typical mentor program provides in eight weeks did we mention the 2 prior years the child needed to complete to even be considered for this stage each trip has a specific intention based upon the individual student s needs this experience is led by experienced and trained staff and provides in most cases a 2:1 of adults to youth during the events our youth are challenged and supported through a series of carefully facilitated activities designed to bring out their thoughts and feelings in a safe way this creates a powerful experience that helps our teenagers cope with the ordeals they will face during adolescence they get to show responsibility and integrity they make decisions they learn about mission planning success and failure these rewards are life-changing experiences our girls and boys never forget example mentoring the worth camp compass has our example mentoring helps integrate the graduates experiences into the lives of our current lower level students this cyclic community strengthens relationships among all involved with camp compass academy example mentors make camp compass a powerful program that gives tangible proof that success can happen and will happen with effort it is a simple concept older students that have graduated spending time with our lower level participants having fun listening to and counting on their knowledge to make younger students in our system better people camp compass works program evaluation note from the beginning we saw incredible positive changes in the children as they went through the camp compass system we knew we made a major impact on our youth the schools they attended and society and wanted to identify and measure these changes in 2002 we created the individualized conservation and education plan icep as our standard instrument for measuring our program s effectiveness and students short and long term goals research strongly indicates that people that can set goals and work toward them tend to be more successful in life upon the entrance phase of our program our youth are given the icep and reporting binder it s a working document that reflects their progress and elements of key need over time the results shown are amazing the students scores on assessed key points increase in some cases dramatically to date we have evaluated over 300 students and continue to see proof that camp compass academy increases emotional and academic intelligence raises self esteem and empowers young men and women to make healthy choices another measure of our effectiveness is the commitment level of our volunteers last year alone our volunteers donated over 6,700 hours to support the camp compass program it is simple camp compass works getting adult buy-in and support for the mission of keeping students on the graduation path is a hard thing to do asking adults not only to focus on getting students to succeed in their coursework but also to pay attention to their longterm educational trajectory is our goal camp compass volunteers donated over 6,700 classroom training and field hours of support last year all mentors must pass a nationwide background check the mentors guide support and reinforce healthy behaviors mentors are taught how to listen accept and admire the youngsters they will mentor this training not only helps solve the problem of recruiting and keeping volunteers it also helps the adult grow and become a better server growth in seventeen years we have grown from a local pennsylvania program to a nationally recognized and honored not for profit thousands of children have participated in the various levels of our program we attribute our remarkable growth and success to our unique approach and courage camp compass has built a upon graduation from our application stage our students may want to do more they have now begun their journey to adulthood and have seen

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network of inspired passionate supporters our web site moves people to visit often and participate in our mission people are eager to follow the camp compass format the need is great our program works we ve met with representatives from schools foster care providers pastors and probation departments they all want to bring the camp compass lifestyle concept to their youth can you imagine a world where we give all children the support they need to become good adults we can when we can t be with our students our website and communication system sets the standard for e-mentoring helping us with just two parttime employees and hundreds of passionate volunteers while we have achieved great success our vision is greater we are beginning a capital campaign to fund the organizational infrastructure we need to achieve our mission to help every child in the united states become a better adult our plans for tomorrow a successful camp compass program in their community we are changing the world and it s a guarantee that our graduates are helping get it done we have witnessed many teenagers overcome incredible odds to become good adults we have grieved the tragedy of good adolescents lost to gang violence suicide and drug abuse we know we make a difference in young lives by giving them the support they need and are crying out for during this crucial period in their development we are committed to helping youth become the best adults they can be join us on our optimistic journey optimism we have experienced remarkable growth over the last 17 years we ve had the privilege of mentoring thousands of remarkable middle and high school students on their journey to adulthood we have heard youth share their moving stories of courage and hope we have seen the devastating impact that divorce and absent fathers and mothers have on children s spirits with the help of several advisors we have developed a plan that allows us to continue delivering safe effective programs and create a foundation for our ambitious expansion plans the major action items of our plan are complete comprehensive business plan done raise $250,000 to establish and maintain our national hq begin a campaign to raise $5,000,000 over ten years update our new community start-up materials operations manuals fund-raising strategies and leadership training programs strategic growth strengths and challenges where we are today we have created a model program that can be replicated on a community level to help youngsters throughout the country we have built a nationwide network of adults our goal is to attract and inspire good adults and give them the tools they need to create

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