This year, we tenaciously tackled a really tough problem: Spitfire's traditional summer model just. didn't. work.
For five summers, we'd show up once a week, bringing a 60-minute supercharged version of Spitfire to kiddos at summer camps, libraries, and neighborhood centers. This was fun, but summer is an inherently transient time, and summertime childcare is a national crisis to which Spitfire isn't immune.
Each week, we'd see a different roster of girls as children cycled through camps, watched TV and TikTok at home while caregivers worked, went to stay with other family members, babysat siblings and cousins, and went on vacation. There's no way around it: An hour a week + a different group of children each week does not meet our goals of nurturing each girl's love of reading, love of self, or love of girls across all communities.
Enter... Summer Camp! What started as a pipe dream became this summer's biggest experiment. And we were blown away by the results!
With leadership from our staff of two (yes, there are only two of us!) and help from one paid intern, 16 adult volunteers (including three of our board members!), and seven teen counselors, 33 Spitfires joined us for five full days of Spitfire fun at the learning center of Trinity United Methodist Church.
To tackle barriers to participation, we provided transportation + breakfast, lunch, and snack to all campers. Our curriculum was built around Spitfire's values of curiosity, resilience, empathy, authenticity, and tenacity; it mixed active play, good natured competition, quiet and creative time, and vulnerable sharing opportunities as the girls did things like play carnival games, have water balloon fights, decorate t-shirts/binoculars/bracelets/"yearbooks," traverse the woods of Monticello Park, explore Planet Word museum, and bravely participate in talent and fashion shows. Small group themes included: how do we take care of ourselves when experiencing adversity? How do we navigate friendships and social situations in middle school? How can we recover when we make a mistake?
We were particularly proud of the friendships forged across schools, ages, languages, and friend groups during the week! Campers began the week more timid, sticking to their school and friend groups (but still having a good time). By Friday dismissal, the groups had blended so much that it was tricky to gather children by their drop-off locations!
Other wins included:
CITs and counselors formed friendships as well!
There were no serious injuries, illnesses, or incidents to report!
We had very few no-shows - all but two of our registrants (who had both moved away over the summer) made it to camp!
Our rising 6th graders shared that they were excited and ready for 6th grade and they were happy to have new friends from other schools before school started ("See you at GW!!!" was a common farewell on the last day)
100% of campers shared that they think Spitfire Camp should happen every summer, and most expressed that camp should last longer (more weeks offered)
Rising 6th graders stepped up to volunteer with meals and other tasks at the end of the week, saying that they wanted to "show how responsible we are" so that they could come back and be teen counselors in future years
We had our fair share of scraped elbows, interpersonal squabbles, and inclement weather that impacted plans, but overall, Spitfire Camp was tremendous success. We look forward to sharing what the future of Spitfire Summer Camp might be... after our team has had some time to rest and recover!
Spitfire Camp would not have been possible without the support of the following:
Gold Sponsor: The Jen Walker Team, who supports Spitfire so consistently, we should probably say "The Spitfire Club: Made Possible by The Jen Walker Team"
Silver Sponsor: A big thank you to Dominion Energy Virginia!
Community Sponsors: Mere weeks before our camp, The Spitfire Club secured major gifts from Nancy Prosser and Tres Lorton and Alexandria Women for Good to underwrite the remaining costs of Spitfire Summer camp. A huge thank you to the individuals who nominated and supported us, and to the organizers of Alexandria Women for Good, who made this possible!
Meal Sponsors: Spitfire Camp's delicious meals were generously provided by Benny Diforza's, Los Tios Grill Del Ray, Holy Cow, Just Fine Donuts, Junction Bakery and Bistro, and Costco Wholesale Pentagon City
A HUGE THANK YOU to the 23 volunteers who dedicated so much of their time, energy, and care to support our girls and our mission! Thank you also to everyone who donated, purchased from our Amazon Wish List, or loaned us materials for camp!
Lastly, a thank you to our hosts at Trinity United Methodist Church, who bravely leased their space to us!
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