Camp activities-teambuilding for students, parents and teachers

We have learnt in these two weeks at Kopparbo camp that is pretty common for students to be part of some extra school activities in places like our camp here by the end of their school year.

Nothing new so far, except that this camp program (that in most cases last for one or two days) is outside of the school program and is totally organized by parents and teachers. In Sweden, the educational process is absolutely free (of course, parents pay taxes-big ones), but as long as it cannot include this kind of activities in the regular school programmes, parents pay for them from their pocket.
Parents plan the trip long time ahead, book the activities, plan their own activities and join their children in this program. They do it almost every year, and parents take turns to accompany their children. It is kind of an important classroom but also family event, so everything is so well thought through: budget, program, and timing.

The camp provides the facilities, accommodation and food, activities required and the trainers/instructors to facilitate the activities, but it is the adults (vuxna) who are responsible for the children’ security, their program, what they do over the night and so on.
It is also really cool ‘cause groups cook their own food, establish want they want to do and clean the rooms when they leave. To be noted, they leave the rooms exactly how they found them, ready for the next groups, and I mean here washing dishes, mopping floors, everything. This is part of their program.

Parents (föräldrar) and teachers (lärare) consider it a “must” for the students and also for them, like a little teambuilding retreat. No wonder that relationships are so close, parents know very well their children needs according to their age, teachers are considered second parents. You will not hear a child calling his/her teacher Mr or Miss, only by their first names.
Children spent precious time together, tighten the classmate relationship, and become better friends, like a small community. It was really cool to watch this evening adults in one team and children in the other team, playing Bränball, a family game similar to baseball, but played only for fun.
I know our system, as a student I was part of it. Parents and teachers encourage it all the time: you should have the best grades in the classroom, be better than your desk mate, and mind your own paper work. Students here are taught to study in a teambuilding medium, learn from each other, discover and develop their own abilities and skills through the other colleagues. It looks so simple!
I still have in mind a lärarina (lady young teacher), named Camila, one of the first teachers we met at Kopparbo. She was so close to her students, so kind and encouraging. You can only be a great student having such a teacher.

Most of them, both teachers and parents remind me of the relationship that creates all the time at our IMPACT youth clubs between leaders and participants. Sometimes I can imagine that the way they study at school should look like an IMPACT meeting. And coming to Kopparbo camp seems to be the celebration after a service project.

Oh, I already miss IMPACT so much! …and everything around it.