Buddies Intensive Camper Program
For adolescents with special needs, ages 12-15
$680/week
Important Notice! In an effort to keep the integrity and effectiveness of our special programs such as Special Needs Campers (40), Buddies Intensive (8), Junior Camp Counselors (12), and Yak Apprentice (12) there will be a cap for participants each week, noted in parentheses. Once the cap is reached, a wait list will be generated. Please don’t wait to register because these programs fill up fast!
Registration Opens April 17th at Noon
Buddies Intensive Camper Program
For adolescents with special needs, ages 12-15
$680/week
Important Notice! In an effort to keep the integrity and effectiveness of our special programs such as Special Needs Campers (40), Buddies Intensive (8), Junior Camp Counselors (12), and Yak Apprentice (12) there will be a cap for participants each week, noted in parentheses. Once the cap is reached, a wait list will be generated. Please don’t wait to register because these programs fill up fast!
Registration Opens April 17th at Noon
And now for our newest program...
YAK APPRENTICES!
Let's launch right in
First Day!
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This program was developed to give young adults the opportunity to develop "soft skills" necessary for success in a job as well as everyday life. We want to prepare our participants to be job-ready so we launched right into our work on day one.
To start the day off, we had our first Yak Apprentice Staff meeting where we developed group meeting rules. We also learned about the different roles for meeting participants like notetaker, meeting leader, and timekeeper. Additionally, we learned how to reflect on our day by completing our first daily reflection form. We reflect on our peak (best part of our day) and pit (hardest part of our day). We got to know each other better, discovered common interests and discussed goals we would like to work on during our time as Yak Apprentices
this summer!
Today was the Yak Apprentices' first day working in their job assignments. We met our supervisors, followed our work schedules and learned some of the tasks we will be helping out with to keep Camp Yakety Yak running smoothly for the campers and staff. We learned sometimes at work we have to complete tasks that are hard or boring but we can talk to our supervisors and problem-solve together.
Day 2!
Day 3!
For our second work day, some of the Yak Apprentices helped with clean up after lunchtime and assisted with running recess stations. During our afternoon meeting, we learned about ‘growth mindset.’ All the Yak Apprentices are working so hard that people are noticing, lots of positive feedback and Shout Outs have been coming our way!
Day 4!
The Yak Apprentices were very flexible today, from changes in schedules to helping out wherever they were needed. Flexibility is an important job skill we have talked about throughout this week. With so much excitement happening everyday at Camp Yakety Yak there have been a lot of opportunities to practice being flexible
Last day of
Week 1!
With one week down, our morning and afternoon staff meetings are running great and all the Yak Apprentices are participating. The Yak Apprentices are feeling more comfortable with their roles and are taking on more responsibilities. We are excited to start another week of learning while we work at Camp Yakety Yak!
Welcoming campers in the AM
Week 2, here we come!
We started off by going to OMSI!
Yak Apprentice in action!
Lots of learning
Lots of fun!
Daily meetings!
Always hard at work
We're getting along great with our supervisors!
It's time for week 3!
Today the Yak Apprentices returned to their normal responsibilities, involving our morning meeting, then reporting to their daily jobs, and helping other staff with other tasks throughout the camp. By the end of the day, we all met and filled out a small form consisting of writing about how our day went.
Every Monday, the Yak Apprentices participate in a field trip. But before leaving, we teach the Apprentices a valuable life skill. Today's was about body language and the difference between confidence and bragging. Shortly after, we were on our way to our field trip, a park named George Rogers. There, we ate lunch, then worked on team building activities, involving teaching each other how to make paper airplanes, followed by an airplane throwing contest, and a few other fun things. By the end of the day, we all met under an undercover eating area and shared a snack. What a great way to start week 3!
Time to test our materpieces
Cutting out Yak Backs is an essential task at camp.
Staff hand out Yak Backs to campers for examples of being safe, kind and trying their best
Today, Yak Apprentices cheered on our scootering campers during recess. We love purple-wearing cheerleaders!
Even Yak Apprentices can't resist an end of the day conga line
Helping with time keeping!
What an AWESOME/OUTSTANDING/AMAZING group!
It is officially week 4 of the Yak Apprentice Program
It is the last week of the Yak Apprentice Program for this summer. Oh, how time flies. We've been learning so much and building our professional skills so we're ready to hit the workforce. Thanks for everyone's hard work. Camp wouldn't be the same without the help of our amazing apprentices.
Our Yak Apprentice timekeepers are an essential piece in the success of scooters during recess
Irvin taught us some sweet basketball tricks this week!
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We were so incredibly lucky to have such amazing Yak Apprentices to start off this new program. They were a great test run and we couldn't ask for more amazing purple-shirted humans. They were such a help around camp and we loved teaching and learning from them. Not only that, but they were such good role models for our campers and brave too sharing their talents with us. Who knew they were all so gifted?! We had tech-savvy apprentices, musical apprentices, juggling, apprentices, and basketball stars to name a few.
What an amazing four weeks with these young adults. We can't wait to see what next summer holds for this program. Thanks for joining us in this learning experience!
