Program

The purpose of Camp Snowball is to provide opportunities for communities and schools to learn how to enable their students to think deeply and critically and to achieve academically in order to become responsible, thoughtful citizens of the interdependent world that they will inherit.

Camp Snowball Objectives

  • To develop educators’ capacity for teaching systems thinking and sustainability to their students.
  • To empower students to become leaders in their schools and communities by exposing them to these powerful ways of thinking and acting.
  • To develop local teams that are working to implement these tools and perspectives in their own school systems.
  • To build local community support for schools by engaging business and governmental leaders, educators, parents, students, and community members in jointly creating the conditions for ongoing innovation.
  • To foster relationships and create long-term connections for regional, national, and international learning communities to continue this work beyond the conference.
  • To learn from the schools in the Tucson area and elsewhere that are accomplishing demonstrable, measurable results.
  • To elevate awareness of the positive outcomes of systems thinking and sustainability education locally, nationally, and internationally .


Program/Agenda

Camp Snowball is being carefully designed with the needs of the different types of participants in mind. All campers will have access to all that Camp Snowball has to offer. This includes:

  • In-depth workshops and general sessions
  • Opportunities to share your work and learn from your peers
  • All materials, breaks, lunches, two dinners, speakers, field trip, and special events

Of course no camp experience would be complete without opportunities to “hang out” with your new and old friends, so there’s time for that as well.

Your “camp counselors” will be educators experienced in introducing systems thinking and education for sustainability to teachers and administrators, and we have designed our workshops to include instructional strategies that will help you address Common Core Standards.

New for this year—a special, hands-on Train-the-Trainer Program for those who will be providing coaching and training to their local teams and communities.

Also, participants will have a chance to share what they’ve learned with the group. Pecha Kucha is a way to present a lot of material quickly and concisely (and hopefully with a lot of fun and energy thrown in). Created in Japan (where pechakucha comes from the term for the sound of conversation or “chit chat”), presenters get a total of 20 images or slides and 20 seconds to speak to each. The slides are on automatic advance which keeps things moving at a rapid pace. It’s amazing how much can happen in 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
Click to read about the core workshops.

Community Showcase

Can’t come for the whole week? Then spend an evening at Camp! Come to the Community Showcase on Wednesday evening. This public event is being held on July 11 and includes a presentation by a special guest speaker and a chance to see some of the work that is happening in schools across the country. Register now!

Camp Sunshine

Finally—for those who are bringing their family and want to jump-start their kids in learning about systems and sustainability, there is Camp Sunshine! This highly-acclaimed day camp will run from 8:30-5:30 Tuesday-Friday and will give entering first to sixth graders a special experience of their own. Games, songs, crafts, nature, adventures, you’ll get them all here—with a twist. Registration for Camp Sunshine includes lunch and snacks each day.

Camp Snowball Schedule

Click on the schedule to see a larger version.