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CanAdventure
Education is committed to utilizing wilderness adventure
to help struggling youth find a more positive path in
life. Our love of the wilderness and our conviction in
its power to teach people about themselves and about the
world around them are the cornerstones of our programming.
With youth at risk, we use the wilderness not only to
teach academic curriculum and outdoor skills, but also
to foster personal growth, self-esteem, and the development
of positive behaviour patterns.
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At
CanAdventure Education, we believe that struggling
teens are often individuals with vast untapped potential
-youth that are simply not making the most of their
abilities in their current school, social, or family
situations. By offering an opportunity to separate
from these environments, CanAdventure Education
provides young people with a new start, one in which
negative influences are no longer present and where
positive new perspectives on their own selves and
on the world around them can be developed. In the
wilderness, people learn that they must rely on
themselves and their peers to achieve goals and
indeed survive. Proactive engagement in camp activities
is a requirement not of an authority figure but
of the wilderness itself. Through necessity, people
find strength in themselves on long expeditions
that they might not have otherwise realized. This
increases self-esteem and confidence in one's abilities.
Campers
also learn that mutual support is essential to the
success and survival of any group or community,
thereby building communication and teamwork skills
among those that may previously have approached
challenging tasks alone.
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Campers
discover that requiring help from others in the wilderness
and offering support to others without hesitation are
positive experiences. Consequently, they learn to trust
themselves and others and to enjoy the challenge of pushing
their preconceived limitations.
Customized
Approach: Clearly, with struggling teens, each case
is unique and thus requires a customized approach. During
a five-week camp, there is sufficient time for groups
to gel and for each individual to find a positive role
that they can incorporate into their persona on a long-term
basis. We assign our best and most experienced camp instructors
to Struggling Teens camps. They guide individual campers
and the group as a whole through this process, enabling
everyone to achieve heights that would not have been dreamed
possible prior to the CanAdventure Education experience.
Campers, as a result, return home more confident, self-reliant,
and focused.
Throughout
the five-week program, campers maintain a constant focus
on personal growth and group cohesion, repeatedly reinforcing
lessons learned through wilderness activities. By prioritizing
personal and interpersonal issues, camp groups develop
the team environment required to tackle some of the most
challenging and inspiring destinations on Vancouver Island.
In preparation for these outings, campers receive basic
training in backpacking, navigation, flat-water paddling,
emergency response, and wilderness survival. Our experiential
learning curriculum then highlights unique natural and
historical features of the local area, and taps into the
rich cultural heritage of the land.
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Phase
1: Campers live mainly at our base camp in the
Comox Valley for the first week to ten days. Here,
they participate in instructional sessions in which
they learn basic backpacking, kayaking, and camping
skills. Activities that promote self-esteem, trust,
and acceptance of challenge are the focus of early
activities, followed by the development of teamwork
and mutual support to prepare the group for its
first out-trips into the wilderness. Experiential
learning games bring fun and challenge to this phase,
building an appreciation for the importance of self-reliance,
teamwork, and environmental stewardship.
Campers
are also fitted during this phase with the equipment
required for camp expeditions. Group meals are prepared
and served by camp staff, and accommodation is in
comfortable wall tents.
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Phase
2: Out-trips of increasing length and difficulty occur
in this phase. Campers' newfound skills are tested, challenges
are faced and surmounted, and group dynamics evolve naturally.
Experiential academic curriculum is gradually introduced
as out-trips allow for exploration of areas of educational
interest.
In
this phase, the wilderness also initiates campers to the
responsibility of preparing their own camp meals and tent
sites, as well as caring for their clothing and gear.
Instructors guide campers through this process to a point,
but do not interfere with appropriate experiential learning
opportunities.
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3: The final phase is spent almost entirely away
from base camp on a challenging expedition to one
of Vancouver Island's most inspiring destinations.
Here, campers face their toughest challenges and learn,
through determination and mutual support, that they
can succeed at most anything to which they set their
minds. Wrapped into this expedition is a focused educational
curriculum that teaches campers about the area through
which they are traveling. This curriculum features
experiential learning activities that bring new meaning
to subject material and generate a lifelong appreciation
for the surrounding natural environment. |
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Specific
'council fire' discussions are also conducted in this
phase to prepare campers for re-integration into their
school, social, and home environments where they may again
be exposed to influences that were previously causing
problems. The lessons learned in the wilderness -self-reliance,
discipline, leadership, respect, support for others- are
reviewed thoroughly and strategies for maintaining progress
in these areas are discussed. Upon return to base camp
on the last night of camp, a celebratory feast wraps up
the CanAdventure Education experience and highlights the
achievements of all campers.
Camper
Profile: CanAdventure Education camps are most appropriate
for youth who have struggled with negative behaviour patterns
but demonstrate a sincere desire to turn things around.
Struggling teens are enrolled on a voluntary basis
only. Previous camping experience is not required.
Appropriate ages range from 15-19 and all programs are
co-educational.
Candidates
may be exhibiting the following behaviours in their home
environment:
~Major changes in image and personality
~Gravitation to a negative peer group
~Defiance and opposition to authority
~Low self-esteem
~Rebelliousness
~Displays of anger/rage/frustration
~Unreasonableness
~Failing in school
~Lack of motivation/confidence
~Engaging in minor illegal activities
~Extreme selfishness
~Lying
~Experimentation with drugs or alcohol
~Promiscuity
~Body image issues
~Sexual identity issues
~Sudden decline in grades, attendance, or attitude
While
many teens may display these behaviours, the CanAdventure
Education screening process identifies candidates who
are appropriate for our Struggling Teens camps.
In
addition, some students appropriate for CanAdventure Education
camps may have been diagnosed with disorders such as:
~Oppositional Defiant Disorder
~Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder
~Depression
~Bipolar Disorder (if managed by medication)
~Narcissism
~Mild Eating Disorder
~Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
~Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (mild or managed by medication)
Family
issues may include :
~Adoption
~Divorce
~Death
~Abuse (physical, verbal, sexual)
~Extreme sibling rivalry
Academic
histories vary, but may include:
~Sudden decline in grades, attendance, or attitude
~Learning disabilities (mild to moderate with some compensatory
skills)
~History of disruptive behaviour in the classroom
~Poor organizational/study skills
~Lack of motivation
Exclusions:
Due to safety considerations and the absence of clinical
psychotherapy services, the following exclusions must
apply:
~Severe chronic depression
~Suicide risk
~Severe eating disorders
~Psychosis
~Antisocial personality disorder
~History of or potential for violence
~Extensive history of physical agression
~Intermittent explosive disorder
~Multiple personality disorder
~Dissociative disorder
~Severe self-mutilation
~Pyromania
~Drug
addictions (not including nicotine)
Due
to the program's highly physical nature, students with
substantial physical limitations or challenges would not
be served well by CanAdventure Education camps.
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STRUGGLING
TEENS RATES & DATES
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