Camp Fire

Programs: Camp dakani: camp dakani located in oklahoma city is our primary summer day camp. With more than 1,500 campers and 22 staff throughout a seven week period, this program encompasses five weeks of day camp for young people grades k-5th, one week for our middle school and high school aged youth, and one week of camp c. A. N. O. E. (children with autism need outdoor experiences. ) camp dakani is more than synonymous with the camp fire brand in oklahoma city - it is almost more well known than camp fire. People may know "camp dakani" which has been in existence for 56 years, but may not know camp fire. More than 85% of the young people who attend camp dakani are not camp fire members. In 2012 we completed the american camp association accreditation process to become an accredited camp. Camp c. A. N. O. E. (children with autism need outdoor experience): camp c. A. N. O. E was born from our after school partnership with special care -a school for children of "all abilities. " special care has a population of students with 1/3 physical disabilities, 1/3 mental disabilities, and 1/3 no apparent disabilities. We opened our summer camp in 2011 to a very limited number of students with autism and downs syndrome to see how well the students, the other campers, the counselors, and the parents could adjust to our non-handicap friendly environment. The results were amazing with that small success we embarked on camp c. A. N. O. E. Again, starting off small, we had a specially trained staff with a camper/counselor ratio of almost 1:1 for a phenomenal week. The parent testimonials were far beyond anything we had hoped. This year we would like to double the number of children with autism attending the program. Many parents showed interest in joining a club that meets throughout the school year. A family club for these parents is currently under development. During 2017 we served 20 youth who were assisted by 22 staff.

traditional club programming: traditional clubs are run by parent volunteers and meet once a week. Clubs serve pre-k to high school boys and girls. Throughout the year, clubs work on projects that are designed to help youth develop leadership, promote personal and social responsibilities, and teach environmental awareness. To help support the council and earn money to attend summer camp, club members participate in an annual candy sale. Camp fire clubs serve youth in central oklahoma, perry and ardmore. Oklahoma city had 9 clubs, perry had 3, and ardmore had 7. There were a total of 200 kids participating in these clubs and 67 adults as leaders. Roc (rugged outdoor challenge): roc is for youth ages 11-17. This program allows youth to be involved in "rugged" outdoor activities like kayaking, rock climbing & repelling, and cave camping during the school year. Once a quarter, youth attend an excursion to a state parks in oklahoma. Youth are actively involved in the planning process and make decisions about where they would like to travel, and what types of activities they would like to do on their trips. Roc saw 29 campers this year.

g. O. T. C. H. A(great outdoor teaching classroom): gotcha takes place at camp dakani during the metro okc school holiday breaks. This program is design to continue the education process and help keep children active during the school break. Past gotcha themes include fall physics, camp dakani: csi and technology & nature. Youth participate in a combination of hands on learning and outdoor activities throughout the week. This program saw 105 youth participating and 15 staff members. Outdoor school: outdoor school is an environmental education program that serves elementary and middle school students from public, private, and homeschool groups in the oklahoma city metropolitan area. Students and their teachers come to camp dakani for hands on science, math, and teambuilding activities designed to supplement the classroom experience by helping teachers to meet education benchmarks, classroom objectives and the oklahoma academic standards set forth by the oklahoma department of education. Camp fire camp dakani has provided outdoor education for over 20 years. During the 2016-2017 school year, 39 schools (2,561 school children) visited the outdoor school program at camp fire camp dakani. These children were accompanied by 894 adults of which approximately 200 were teachers. Fine arts program: camp fire heart of oklahoma is overjoyed to provide quail creek elementary school with a fine arts program. Camp fire mixes a traditional in-school art program with the camp fire methodology of youth development. In camp fire fine arts students are given the opportunity to voice the type of art they would like to do throughout the year. With an emphasis on effort instead of ability and passion instead of mastery, student in camp fire fine arts get a chance to express their creative side in positive and supportive environment. This program saw 450 student participants. Afterschool programs: camp fire hosts a variety of afterschool programs throughout the oklahoma city area. At positive tomorrows, a school for homeless youth, camp fire runs a weekly afterschool program that focuses on stem education. Other programs were held at quail creek and kipp.