When freshman Ivy Taylor balances on the wooden beam below her feet, her Pride Camp experience has just begun. AIM classmates help guide her to the other end, careful not to touch the cold, concrete just below. Her senior AIM leaders cheer her on as she safely makes it to the other end of the beam.
Over 20 years ago, MCHS started one of its most cherished traditions: Pride Camp at Camp Duncan. The school began this tradition because students were having a hard time feeling connected to each other and the school.
“We did not have a great culture,” says Freshman Campus principal Greg Eiserman, “kids didn’t feel connected to the building, they didn’t feel connected to each other … so the principal at the time [Barbara Small] brought this idea of like a freshman camp.”
Pride Camp is held at the beginning of the school year at Camp Duncan in Ingleside. The YMCA camp partners with MCHS to host activities and group work for students to do during their time at the camp.
Students leave school during AIM and return around 8th period. AIM classes attended camp Monday through Friday on the week of Sept. 23rd. About 7-8 AIM classes went to Camp Duncan each day.
Freshman students attend the camp with their classmates and their Senior Leaders from the Leadership in Action course at Upper Campus. Pride Camp is centered around helping students find community and connection both in their school, and with one another. Leaders hope to engage students, inspire them to become closer, and encourage them create friendships with one another.
Until recently, AIM teachers would attend as well, but a lack of substitute teachers has caused this part of the tradition to end. But LIA students still enjoy taking their kids to the camp and leading them through these activities.
“My favorite part of today,” says Senior Leader Kate Mynes, “is interacting with all the different people at different stations, and seeing how they [freshmen] communicate with each other.”
Students also enjoy having fun with their new friends outside of the school environment. Taylor says she enjoys getting to be loud and outgoing, along with being able to do things at camp that she could not do at school.
From the students who get to learn more about one another while having fun, to the senior leaders who lead their kids and watch them emerge out of their shadow, Pride Camp helps show freshmen what Warrior spirit really means.