Presented By: Carolyn Copenheaver, Virginia Tech
Co-Authors: Nicholas Fuhrman, University of Georgia
John Peterson, Virginia Tech

In June 2023, a forestry camp intended to provide campers with job skills and increase their knowledge about forests was held for campers with special needs. What made the camp especially unique was that counselors also had special needs. The objective of this study was to examine the experiences of the camp directors and camp counselors. The camp was preceded by eight months of planning by the camp directors and a four-day training for the camp counselors to prepare them to help teach campers about forestry. The five-day forestry camp included tree identification, meeting and learning about different animals, working with plants and freshwater macroinvertebrates, visits with practicing forestry professionals, and field trips to a greenhouse, deer research facility, horticultural research facility, and Christmas tree farm. Camp counselors participated in a post-campus focus group and the camp directors reflected on the experience by journaling in response to several question prompts. The camp counselors reported that they gained confidence in their ability to be flexible with last-minute changes in the planned agenda and highly valued the experience of working as a member of a team to accomplish a large, complex task. The camp directors reported a high level of personal satisfaction with working on a team with individuals with special needs and found that the counselors were skilled at gently guiding the campers towards a successful camp experience, e.g., “She [the camp counselor] was far braver than I was at directly confronting and correcting poor behavior.” Considering the age levels of campers with special needs was found to be important when providing outdoor learning experiences with maximum impact. Overall, the forestry camp was an outstanding opportunity for a diverse team to create a successful educational experience for campers and counselors with special needs.