5 Reasons Your Kids Will Love Vacation Station Over Spring Break!

During the week of March 25-29, children in grades K – 5 are invited to join us at Camp Fire for a week filled with learning, playing, growing, and just plain old fun! There are a ton of reasons to bring your kid to join in all of the fun, but just to name a few:

1. THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP – During Spring Break, your kid will travel around the world! (Well, not actually, but through the power of IMAGINATION) They will experience a taste of 5 different destinations including:

2. CULTURE – During their travels, kids will learn about diverse and interesting customs and cultures. They will have their horizons expanded by discovering whole new worlds around the globe.

3. JUST PUSH PLAY – Plenty of play time is incorporated during the week for your kid to have fun and burn off that extra energy. There will be opportunities for both structured and free play time! (You’re welcome parents)

4. CRAFTY – Each travel destination will include a craft project that they can take home to you! They will have so much fun explaining how they made it and what it teaches us about each given country.

5. FULL OF FRIENDS – The best cure for Spring Break bordem is to hang out and play with friends! Your kid will have a classroom full of new and old friends to connect with! Whether they are Camp Fire regulars, or joining in for the first time, they are sure to make lots of friends!

We’ve lowered the price for Spring 2019 to just $25/day. If they pay for all 5 days of Spring Break Vacation Station it’s $115! Our program hours are 9 AM – 5 PM, and this offer is available for students in grades K-5! Space is filling up quickly, so get your child signed up today!

Summer Programming 2019

Summer will be here before you know it! Camp Fire is gearing up for our best summer ever with programs designed to engage your young person’s head, heart, and hands! Whether you have a rising kindergartener or a high school senior, Camp Fire has something for everyone:

Camp Light-A-Spark is a summer camp for children who are rising-Kindergarten through 5th graders. Activities, led by trained, adult staff, are designed to help prevent summer backslide in school. Math, science, reading and writing activities follow weekly themes and are shared in fun, creative ways. Curriculum and hands-on activities follow Florida Standards and are grade-level appropriate. Camp includes weekly field trips, center time, and daily outdoor play.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

For more than a century, Camp Fire has helped young people learn to take care of themselves, their environment, and the people around them. Our teen programs work to provide fun, impactful community service opportunities and leadership programs that will help teens gain valuable experiences, develop important life skills, and provide unique educational opportunities. This Summer, we will continue to offer SUMMER CHALLENGE, NATURE QUEST, CF66, and BUCKINGHAM TERROR WORKSHOPS!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

Winn Dixie Community Bag Program Supports Camp Fire

During the entire month of March, when you purchase a reusable Community Bag at the Winn Dixie located at 2900 Lakeland Highlands Rd, Camp Fire will receive a $1 donation! We strongly encourage you to share this news with family and friends as well!

The Community Bags are located on displays around the store and at the checkout. For more information about the program, please visit seg.bags4mycause.com.

You can find the two colorful reusable Community Bags with the Giving Tag on the reusable bag rack at the store. The key is to look for the bags with a tag that features a blue heart with $1 in it. We encourage you to share this news with family and friends as well!

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day – March 21

HOLIDAY MARCH 21

Every year, on the third Thursday of March, thousands of adults send notes, emails, letters, texts, videos (you choose!) to encourage and inspire young people across the country.

2019 AIKD is March 21.

Participating in AIKD is a simple, meaningful way to let youth know how much they are appreciated. Words are powerful – young lives are changed by this day and simple act of your encouragement, love, and kindness.

Take the pledge to to tell at least one kid they are INCREDIBLE on March 21.

Spring Break at Camp Fire is ON!!!

Spring Break is right around the corner & Camp Fire has your back with programs designed to help young people use their head, hearts, and hands while having the best time possible! We have something for everyone, K-12.

Kids in grades K-5 will continue their global journey at Vacation Station! Students in 6-12 grade will leave on our ASB trip to serve people affected by the Hurricane Michael.

Space is limited, so check out what we’ve got going on by clicking the links below, and get on-board today!

Camp Fire Teens Step Up to Serve

Camp Fire students Kallan, Xander, Isaiah, Aedyn, and Aryan.

Camp Fire believes in the power of young people to be a force for good in the world. We work to create opportunities for youth to service the community around them as often as possible. Recently our teens spent their days off of school working together to serve others. Here’s a snapshot of the good work they accomplished.

February 15:

Morning project- One More Child – Our students worked in a warehouse to help sort food and make meals to be delivered.
Afternoon project- SPCA – The teens spent the afternoon packing and organizing food and liter for SPCA’s Ani-Meals program.

February 18:

VISTE – We split in to two groups to serve three different VISTE clients to help them with yard work that they needed to have done. The youth worked hard and those clients were very grateful to have us!

Check out a few pics of our projects:

STEAM Takes Flight

Sean Myers assists STEAM students to prepare a rocket for launch.

STEAM students in 3-7th grade spent the last 4 weeks studying the history of powered flight. Different subjects covered included the mechanics of flight, the history of flight design, and the science of rocketry.

Students spent time choosing and creating their own paper plane design, to compete against each other in a flight contest. Students used their knowledge of lift, drag, and aerodynamics to choose their designs.

Their final project was to design, build, and launch their very own bottle rockets using a plastic 2-liter bottle, paper, baking soda, vinegar, and a cork. Our students worked in teams of 3-4 and had an incredibly fun time learning about flight, and a bit of chemistry. Teams decided to compete against one another comparing launch height, lateral distance traveled, durability, overall rocket design.

https://vimeo.com/318224161

Launching a Bottle Rocket

Buckingham Terror Spring Workshops

Choose from 1 or more of 8 unique workshops – all highlighting a different aspect of the Haunt Industry.

Have questions? Feel free to send them our way! austinb@campfire-sunshine.org

ASB 2019

This year, Camp Fire is going to head north to serve the areas of Tallahassee and Panama City in their continuing recovery from Hurricane Michael.

Every spring break, Camp Fire gives teens, 6-12th grade, the chance to make a difference in the world. ASB is full of fun, adventure, and tons of service.

ASB is a great way for teens to meet new people and be empowered to do amazing things to serve the world around them. Past trips have included building reef balls, removing invasive exotic plants, and hurricane recovery efforts.

Questions? Contact Lauren at laurenr@campfire-sunshine.org or call us at 863-688-5491.

Ready to REGISTER? Click on the button below!

What is Roundtable?

by Austin Brown

Youth empowerment, teen leadership, youth voice – three pillars of Camp Fire programing and three integral aspects of Roundtable, our council’s Youth Advisory Committee. Roundtable has been a part of our teen service and leadership programming for over 25 years, and though it has taken various forms, it has always served as an avenue for our teens to have a direct hand in a portion of the programs we offer.

Our current committee is comprised of 5 teens, selected from a batch of applicants in 8^th through 11^th grade. Conor, Quin, Madison, Abbi, and Aryan will spend the next five months assisting Camp Fire with insuring that all of our teen programs are relevant to today’s youth. Roundtable’s impact will be felt through their representation of the teens served across all programs, their assumption of a leadership role within the council, and by their championing the voice of the teens we serve.

Being a part of a Youth Advisory Committee like Roundtable is a unique opportunity for any teen, and one that will allow them to learn committee, event management, and leadership skills, while making a real impact both at Camp Fire and in the community. However, Roundtable is not unique to just our council – many Camp Fire councils across the country have their own versions, including the National Youth Advisory Cabinet (or YAC), which is comprised of teens from across the country, serving “as a strong voice for kids and teens nationwide—whether or not they’ve ever been a part of Camp Fire.”

This term, the Roundtable members have five main responsibilities:

They served as teen ambassadors during our council’s MLK Day of Service project, welcoming volunteers, working alongside families, and leading reflection activities.
They will attend a meeting of our council’s Board of Directors and attend a dinner afterwards with our current Board President, Cindy Green.
They will identify, plan, and implement a fundraiser of their very own, with the proceeds raised going directly into the teen programs at our council.
They will plan and host a “just for fun” teen event – because everyone deserves to let loose and have some FUN from time to time.
They will share and celebrate their accomplishments at a First Friday event at the end of their term.

For some of the Roundtable members, this is their first leadership role with Camp Fire, and we are excited that they are taking the next step in their journey. As we look to the months ahead, we are eager to see all the ways that Conor, Quin, Madison, Abbi, and Aryan will champion the voice of today’s teens and light the fire within us all.