Beam Camp's program focuses on skill-building, collaborative challenge, responsibility, and mentorship while retaining a culture of community, exploration, and supported risk-taking.
PROGRAM AREAS
Project
The collaborative core of the Beam Camp program! Session weeks one and two are spent steadily learning the skills to construct the project through Fundamentals. During the third and fourth weeks of the session, peer-led teams of campers, called “Waves”, will be challenged to execute phases of the Project autonomously through Project Challenges. They will be supervised by the Project Staff, but it will be up to them to ask for specific guidance and support if they encounter roadblocks.
Domains
In the first and second weeks of camp, campers choose guest-led Domains, hands-on, discovery activities in the arts, performance, sciences, athletic or cultural fields.
Beam Guilds
In the first two weeks of the session, each camper will participate in workshops based in key areas of making: Woodworking, Metalworking, Electronics & Computing, and Craft & Materials.
Independent Work
A daily Independent Work period gives campers the opportunity to develop self-directed projects supported and guided by staff; older campers have the opportunity to develop personal portfolios.
Community Work
In Community Work, campers learn and practice skills that power the delight we share at camp: cooking, agriculture, facility maintenance and event planning.
Pulse
Each day, every camper has the opportunity to swim and take part in athletics and active play.
The program offered during session 2 is very similar to session 1. The most notable differences are the scale of both the communal project and the independent projects built in our time at camp.
Project
The communal project during session 2 is a smaller scale look into collaborative design and building. Campers and Beam staff work together during our introductory session to bring to life a big idea designed for a shorter time frame.
Independent Work
During our second session, independent work periods create opportunities for campers to learn new skills and connect them to other practices and personal needs. Our four shop specialists teach campers how to use a certain material and technique, and campers are invited to combine these techniques into a project of their own design.
Here is a sample of our daily schedule while at camp:
Thanks to David Golann, Emily Wilson and Danny Kahn for incredible photography.