Intentional Development at Banner

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Here at Banner, we build our programming the intentional social and emotional development of each and every camper. Each child who attends camp comes with their own gifts and talents, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. At Banner, we have the unique opportunity to meet each child where they are and help them develop into positive, happy, and successful people. We work hard all summer long to help prepare Banner campers to make a positive difference in their families, schools, and communities.

We know that a summer at Banner is just one portion of a child’s year. We are intentional about providing significant opportunities for growth and are looking forward to a wonderful summer with your campers.

Empathy

Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Empathy is a vital characteristic to develop moral and prosocial behavior. It allows us to consider the perspectives of others and to care authentically for one another.

According to the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, empathy is important because it helps children “understand the perspectives, needs and intentions of others” and is a “building block of morality and a key ingredient of successful relationships in school and beyond.”

•  Children who are empathic are more likely to share, help and comfort others.
• Higher levels of empathy make children more kind to and inclusive of their classmates.
• Empathetic children are able to develop more positive relationships with their peers.
• Children with higher levels of empathy tend to be more cooperative in class, have better relationships with their teachers and are more engaged in school – this tends to lead to higher GPAs and greater success in college, and in life.
• Children who are empathic are happier.

The very nature of camp allows children to develop empathy. By spending each day with their group, campers are able to build friendships with others, work through conflict and support each other through their highs and lows. At Banner, activities like imaginative play, sports and adventure programs are purposely developed to give campers the opportunity to practice good listening skills, develop teamwork and provide encouragement to others.

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Mindfulness

When we are mindful, we are able to focus on our present moment without judgment. The practice of mindfulness allows us to acknowledge and accept our feelings, thoughts, and body in a calm manner.

With an onslaught of children experiencing anxiety and the multitude of digital distractions facing our children, it can be difficult to focus on what is important. Despite all this, the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley suggests that mindfulness can have a multitude of positive impacts on children (and adults).

• Being mindful can help children learn and experience higher levels of academic success from the elementary years through high school (and beyond!)
• Children who practice mindfulness see the world more positively and have more hope for the future. They also experience less stress and anger.
• Mindfulness can lead to elevated attention and executive functioning skills including working memory and emotional regulation.
• Mindfulness can lead to great self-awareness, a more positive idea of self and increased self-compassion.
• Children who practice mindfulness have an increased sense of social responsibility, more empathy and show more kindness.
• In short, people who are mindful are happier.

At Banner, we practice mindfulness in a variety of ways. Our daily Bannerama often provides opportunities for guided mindfulness practices. Weekly yoga and mindfulness periods help campers develop skills that they can use in their classroom and at home. Most significantly, Banner’s team of educators and camp professionals regularly use mindfulness as a way of help to guide campers through their natural emotions – happiness, sadness, anger and frustration. We know that we cannot ignore our emotions and that children (and staff) need to develop skills that allow them to manage their emotions appropriately.

Gratitude

Gratitude comes from recognizing something good that comes from outside ourselves. This can be anything from a gift to a compliment to the appreciation of the beauty of nature.

Even our youngest campers can experience gratitude and this continues to grow in tandem with empathy; the more a child can take on the perspective of another, the more gratitude they can experience.

The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley has done extensive research on gratitude and the impact that it has on people.

• Children who practice gratitude are generally happier, more positive and more satisfied with life. They experience less depression and envy.
• Children who are grateful feel healthier and may even develop more healthy physical habits as they reach teenage years.
• Grateful children are generally more content at school and get better grades.
• Being grateful can even lead to more community minded behavior; children show more generosity, feel more connected to their communities and are more likely to use their unique gifts to benefit others.
• Practicing gratitude can also lead to more prosocial behavior and positive relationships because children feel more supported (they recognize what others are doing for them).
• Gratitude is one of the best antidotes to anxiety and depression

Each morning, camp starts with a gratitude prompt that helps teach children to recognize the good around them – everything from music to people to nature. By helping campers to look for the good in a variety of situations, they learn to notice what they’ve been given and the positive things they are experiencing. Our STARFISH Goal of the Week program encourages kids to show appreciation. The outdoor, natural setting of camp allows campers to experience nature and awe (studies we’ve previously shared have shown a connection between nature and awe and gratitude.)

Kindness and Compassion

Kindness is described as compassion in action. Our natural tendency is to be compassionate. To do so, we must have sensitivity, empathy and be motivated to care for others. When we put these things into action, kindness emerges. We see even our youngest campers worried when another child is hurt or sad; they want to help alleviate that distress early on. It is important to strengthen and reinforce our natural tendency of compassion can be lost in certain settings like competition.

The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley supports these beliefs and suggests that we are all benefit from being kind.

• Kindness benefits the receiver and the giver by making people overall more happy (think about how you feel both when you’ve received kindness and when you’ve been kind.)
• Being compassionate can help children become more resilient as they are able to better handle strong emotions.
• Our physical health – blood pressure, heart disease, stress and our immune system – benefits from being kind and compassionate.
• Being kind and compassionate leads to more positive friendships and more altruistic behavior.
• Children who demonstrate prosocial behaviors like kindness and experience their schools as kind places experience higher academic achievement and are more motivated to learn.
• Children who display kindness and compassion are happier.

As adults, it is our responsibility to provide situations where our children can show and develop their innate tendencies of kindness. Banner provides opportunities each day – even when competition is provided – to practice putting compassion into action. We’ve long known the importance of kindness in a community. Banner participates in Camp Kindness Week and regularly offers tangible opportunities to practice being kind. The daily interaction with peers allows them to feel compassion towards others and we regularly see them reaching out and helping to alleviate upsets, sadness and disappointments of others. Through teaching sportsmanship and giving children opportunities to win and lose, they experience how to navigate competitive environments while staying true to themselves and being kind to others.

Force For Good

At Banner, we have a belief that whenever we enter a situation, we can either make it better or we can make it worse, but it won’t stay the same.

Our focus, in everything we do at camp, is to prepare Banner campers to be a force for good wherever they go.

We envision a world where kindness and compassion supersede conflict and division. We reflect on the message from the starfish story throughout the summer – that each person can make a difference in the world – even a small child. We take steps to create a community that practices patience, gives the benefit of the doubt, validates feelings and demonstrates empathy. We model conflict resolution and collaboration. We teach children to name and accept emotions without letting them take control. We practice gratitude and reward kindness. We show empathy and care for one another.

We know that Banner campers are destined to do great things now, and in the future. They are change makers and will help to usher in a future that is positive and bright. Just look at their smiles and hopeful eyes, watch them comfort a friend or include a new camper, see them practice resilience and perseverance in pursuing their goals and you will see, as clearly as we do, that positivity and hope reign over the tension and negativity that we face in our world every day.

Banner campers are indeed a force for good and we can’t wait to cheer them on at camp, during the school year and well into the future.

Perseverance

The lyrics of a favorite Bannerama song say, “I believe in myself, there’s nothing I can’t do, follow my dreams, I’ll make them come true.”

If resilience is the mindset to overcome challenges, perseverance is the action that keeps us going until we get to where we want to be. This steadfastness to keep moving forward, keep making progress through easy times and over hurdles is a vital component of helping us achieve our dreams. Perseverance is defined as the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition. At Banner, we intentionally work with campers to develop this quality so that nothing will stand in the way of their hopes and dreams.

Practice

If practice makes perfect, practice also helps us persevere. At Banner, campers are faced with new challenges. Whether it be learning to back float, climb the wall or build a rocket, chances are we aren’t going to do it the first time. With the encouragement of staff, and fellow teammates, campers begin to internalize that challenge isn’t to be avoided but to be met head on, with practice and perseverance, to learn new skills.

Small Steps

Curriculums and instruction at Banner are designed using small steps. We know that campers need to learn basics before they can swim across the pool without assistance or before they can hit a home run. These small steps are integral in success and provide opportunities for campers to accomplish their goals.

Problem Solving

Sometimes, we are required to adjust before we keep moving forward. If something isn’t working, it doesn’t make sense to keep doing the same thing. Programs at Banner are designed to help campers problem solve with the support of their peers, counselors and specialty staff.

Patience

Learning and mastering new skills takes time. Our staff encourage campers to be kind and compassionate to others and to themselves. By taking away the pressure and competition to succeed quickly, campers can focus on the product and not the outcome. This patience is an important quality that helps campers stick with it and keep moving forward towards their goals and being successful in life.

Perhaps the Banner motto says it best: “It may be hard, it may take time, but stick with it, and you’ll be fine. YOU CAN DO IT!” Banner campers are preparing to change the world in the most positive ways and we know that with resilience and perseverance, they really can do it.

 

Resilience

Resilience is the ability to cope with and recover from setbacks.

Each of us, child and adult alike, have encountered times that require a capacity to adjust after disappointment, change or sometimes even in response to our preferences being unmet. While resilience is talked about in practically every academic setting, a summer at Banner provides the perfect environment to develop and practice the skills required to truly become resilient.

Community

Banner provides a loving and nurturing community that promotes safe risks. Because campers feel the support of their peers and counselors, they are willing to try new and difficult things. Without the unconditional encouragement of the Banner community, it is all too easy to give up when facing a roadblock. Being able to ask for help and seek the support of others is an important aspect of building resilience.

Purpose & Accomplishment

It is impossible to find resilience without the opposite feeling of accomplishment. To be resilient requires using our past experiences and strengths to move forward. Banner gives plenty of opportunities for campers to feel accomplishments. From learning new skills in sports, to passing swim levels and earning STARFISH Awards, accomplishments build a positive, authentic self-esteem to give children the confidence to keep going after setbacks. At Banner, we intentionally focus on helping campers feel accomplished and build confidence.

Experiences

Occasionally, struggles come with new experiences. Pushing through these challenges and working through fears with the support of others teaches campers that they can overcome hurdles – even if it doesn’t happen the first time, or even if it’s challenging. Each time a camper practices resilience through these experiences helps to build their knowledge and skill for the future.

Gratitude & Hope

Banner has been called the “Disneyland of Camps” for good reason. Beyond the wealth of activities, fun and spirit that campers experience each day, there is a palatable feeling of positivity walking around the grounds. Campers and staff practice and share gratitude each morning and celebrate positive behaviors and experiences all day long. This helps campers focus on the good and the present instead of on the bad and the past. By looking forward, there is always hope of what is to come.

Healthy Habits

The physical activity, time spent outdoors and positive relationships help campers learn to take care of themselves. It is difficult to remain resilient if you aren’t caring for your body and being. These healthy habits begin to take hold and continue throughout the school year.

Being Proactive

At Banner, our staff and Leadership are trained to look for ways to help campers develop skills. We don’t ignore challenges – we help campers learn to work through them. We acknowledge and name emotions and then practice moving forward. As an extra step, we communicate what we are seeing with parents so that we can partner together to help each camper grow to their fullest potential.

A summer at Banner is more than just fun – it is about learning and growing and helping campers become the best versions of themselves. Building resilience is key to our overall emotional competency. When we are able to recognize and validate our feelings without letting them take over, we are able to bounce back from adversity – often even stronger than before. Campers leave a Banner summer more confident and ready to make a difference at school, at home and in their communities.

Inclusion

Our daily focus on teamwork and friendship are just the tip of the iceberg; the true heart of our Banner community revolves around empathy, curiosity and belonging.

With all that is going on in our local towns, our country and the world, we recognize our responsibility as caretakers of our campers and staff to create an environment of inclusion and love that continues to permeate far beyond our campgrounds.

At Banner, we are committed to creating and being the strong and healthy community that leads to lasting change.

• We intentionally help campers build relationships with each other and the staff members.
• We develop empathy by helping children identify and accept emotions within themselves and others.
• We value each person for who they are and their distinctiveness.
• We help campers cultivate curiosity by spending time in nature with new friends who may come from other schools or neighborhoods but with whom we share so many similarities and can celebrate our uniqueness.
• We encourage campers and staff to step out of their comfort zones and learn or try something new. The humility that develops from needing and asking for help and the experience of not knowing how to do something builds resilience and understanding for others.
• Instead of avoiding it, we work through conflict in a respectful way through listening and taking responsibility for our own role in the upset.
• We practice mindfulness and gratitude to help us see the good and share our thanks with those around us.
• We partner with parents in order to provide the most meaningful and growthful camp experience possible.

We are thankful for each and every camper, staff member and family who make up our community. We’ve said it before and we will continue to shout it from the rooftops: Banner campers are change makers! The skills they practice within the safety and warmth of our camp community will help to create a world that is better, stronger and healthier for future generations.

Individuality

“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” – Brene Brown

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts that a summer at Banner can offer our campers and staff is the opportunity to develop independence and individuality. Too often, children and young people believe that the path to true belonging is through conformity; they take on the beliefs, fashion, and ways of being of the people with whom they want to connect. While each of these things may not be inherently wrong or bad, when they are adopted as way to fit in they can lead to feelings of insecurity and anxiety.

At the heart of everything we do at Banner is the belief that each person here is unique and has intrinsic value. We know that each person’s strengths and perspectives help to build our community. Our Leadership Team encourages each camper and staff member to be true to themselves and to accept who they are instead of changing in order to fit in.

More tangibly, Banner helps develop individuality and self-acceptance by:

• Taking the time to get to know each child as an individual. While we develop strong group comradery throughout the summer; we know and celebrate that the group identity is as unique as each individual camper. Campers sense a true belonging to their group because they are encouraged to be who they are, not who others want them to be.
• Offering choices whenever possible starting at the youngest ages. We do this by allowing campers to choose colors for an art project, make up the rules of a new game at the playground and make choices at lunch. As campers get older, they begin to pick activities through our campers’ choice, elective and Tween club programs. Offering choices also allows campers an opportunity to advocate for themselves as they ask questions, offer input and/or decided to change activities from their original choice.
• Helping campers accept mistakes versus striving for perfection. Learning from mistakes and practicing resilience is a vital component of growth and self-acceptance. It’s much too easy to become averse to and critical of failure stifling our willingness and ability to take risks and develop fully into ourselves.
• Focusing on the process over the product. Too often, adults praise the outcome – the good grade, the won game, the beautiful artwork – instead of celebrating the process. The process is what helps us learn about ourselves, about how we function, think and work through challenges. We allow campers to participate and create without interruption or guidance (unless needed to avoid significant struggle.) Research shows that interruption – even to offer positive feedback – can cause self-doubt, anxiety, and confusion.
• Encouraging expression. Campers need to learn how to share their feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. They need to know that they won’t be excluded for feeling or thinking about something differently than someone else. At Banner, we give children a safe space to practice this expression with the staff and their peers. Camp also, on the other hand, helps children understand how to respond to someone who feels and thinks differently. Both are vital to developing adults who can engage in healthy discourse.

When our children (and staff) are treated like individuals, they feel honored and appreciated for who they are – not who others say they should be. As a result, their sense of identity, confidence, pride and self-acceptance soars. Being true to ourselves is essential for happiness and belonging which in turn positively impacts our physical and mental health and helps us thrive in all areas of life.

Awe Inspires Community

We have all experienced moments of awe – times when the hairs on our arm stand up and we are frozen in absolute amazement in the presence of something vast and incomprehensible. Awe can be triggered by natural wonders like beautiful landscapes, wild animals or images of outer space. Awe can also be found in music, art and architecture. Often, we think of awe moments as rare moments that happen sparsely throughout our lives. Research has found that on average, two or three experiences of awe a week is much more common that we can imagine – we just have look for it.

Why is it important to seek out these awe moments? Feeling awe actually changes our brains and makes us better friends and teammates. As humans, we’re built to be in relationships with other people and awe draws us into community.

The Greater Good Science Center at the University of Berkley examines awe based experiments and reports the following:

• When we feel awe, our sense of self shrinks – in a good way – and we get better at connecting with others.
• Awe makes us more aware of the interconnectedness of all people and builds a desire for cooperation with others.
• Awe helps us see the worth in and value others.
• Awe can also make us more curious about people who are different.
• We become more tolerant and understanding of other people’s situations and have more appreciation for diversity and for diverse experience when we experience awe.

At Banner, we truly believe that tuning into our surroundings and giving our campers and staff opportunities to experience awe – through the beauty of our wooded grounds, the hatching of the baby ducks or the whole camp singing together at a spirit-filled Bannerama – we can help to build a better, more inclusive community here at camp and beyond. Training ourselves to revel in these moments of awe inspires our campers to be the change

makers who will value relationships over material items, seek equity for all, value the presence and options of others and lead the way to a better future.