Hometown Quest camp itinerary Camp description Hometown quest is a virtual week long summer camp for middle school students where campers discover their hometown, build technology skills and develop their leadership abilities. Through both digital and accompanying offline activities campers will build a deeper understanding of the community in which they live and consider what they can personally do to improve their community. What will campers learn? At the completion of this week campers will: be able to share with others what they are most proud of about the community that they live in. know how to artistically document the pride and needs of a community. have a better understanding of potential opportunities for serving the community. be acquainted with a few civically engaged careers. What will happen at camp This camp is broken up into 5 days. Each day campers will have a chance to: Connect the connect section will help campers to reflect on what they already know about the topic and ask campers to share what they want to know. Grow multimedia experiences are an essential component of the camp. The videos, demonstrations and simulations will provide background on a new topic each day. Explore each day has a Quest of the Day that asks campers to get out of the house and into the community, talk to people that they know and document their experience (map, photograph, draw, interview you name it!. Demonstrate Campers will be asked to share their Hometown Quest experiences with their fellow campers. Reflect At the end of each day campers will have a chance to reflect on what they learned on their own and from their fellow campers. They will also respond to a question that will prepare them for the next day s activities. The reflection will take place in camp blog.
Connect: social warm ups & games Research about building a learning community points to the value of ice breakers as important, relevant activities that get the group acquainted and help the individuals be ready to learn new ideas. At Hometown Quest campers will get to know camp staff through video introductions and they will get to know each other through daily ice breakers, discussions and activities. Daily Quest Every day campers will be encouraged to grow skills, explore their community and demonstrate new skills with a Daily Quest. Each daily Quest will begin with a presentation, video or animation intended to teach a skill that will be used in the Quest excursion. Campers will be asked to explore their community and report back to their fellow campers and staff. At the end of each day campers will reflect on the current day s quest and a respond to a question in the daily blog that helps them look ahead to the next day. Motivators: Experience Points and Badges for completing elements There is a growing body of evidence that points to virtual badges and competition as motivators for learners to want to excel. Hometown Quest uses the evidence based practices that demonstrate effectiveness for motivating youth. Badges are provided to campers who complete each of the day s activities. There is also a Leveling Up feature that assigns experience points to campers for their time spent engaged with activities. Campers will be able to see how they compare to their fellow campers on engagement and they will be able to move up through 10 levels of activity.
The table below showcases the focus of each day, the primary activities required for each day. Day Activity Badges awarded daily when all daily activities are complete Day 1: Town Reporter Getting to Know Camp Staff 1 Ice breaker 1 Hometown Quest 1 Gallery & Discussion 1 Looking Ahead Day 2: Town Conservationist 2 Ice breaker 2 Hometown Quest 2 Gallery & Discussion 2 Looking Ahead Day 3: Town Philanthropist
3 Ice breaker 3 Hometown Quest 3 Gallery & Discussion 3 Looking Ahead Day 4: Town Selectman 4 Ice breaker 4 Hometown Quest 4 Gallery & Discussion 4 Looking Ahead Day 5: Mayor 5 Ice breaker 5 Hometown Quest
5 Gallery & Discussion 5 Looking Ahead Final Day 5 activities + 4 complete badges = Mayor Badge Camper guidelines Communication with the camp counselors and staff. We will respond to direct email within 24 hours of receipt. If campers have a question that would be relevant to classmates, please post it to the q and a forum on the discussion board. If campers of families have specific questions that can only be answered by the instructors you can email Hometown Quest or you can contact us at 201 555 5555. Online etiquette. In the online environment, it is expected that campers communicate in a manner that is both academic and respectful of others. Use respectful language and tones when communicating with other campers and the instructor. Also, observe common rules of grammar and punctuation. Communicate in a clear and succinct manner maintaining the level of academic integrity expected in a face to face course. If you are not familiar with netiquette conduct please review the core rules of netiquette. Engagement with community and external tools. Camper enrollment in Hometown Quest assumes that parents are consenting to involvement with outside entities in the pursuit of educational interests and engagement. Outside interests may include and are not limited to taking video in town and posting it, interviewing others, reviewing websites, writing in blogs, and being a part of the Hometown Quest discussion group. Parents, teachers, or youth/club advisors may accompany youth on off site adventures and experience Hometown Quest with youth. Badging. Blog entries, discussions and assignments will be considered complete when submitted. Some items require the camper to self check a completion box. The expectation is that campers will fairly assess completion. Quests may be done daily or must be done by the end of the day on Friday to receive a badge.