Part-time, I teach for the National Outdoor Leadership School. At faculty meetings, we are often reminded that being an educator requires curiosity and humility.

Falling into false mastery is a trap that educators need to avoid. False mastery is resting on your laurels. It is complacency.

The opposite is reflective mastery. Educators who are lifelong learners. Who ask questions. Who know their stuff and seek out even better ways.

This struggle between false and reflective mastery is relevant to Camp Chippewa.

We have 91 years of history and tradition. We have heaps of institutional knowledge.

Will, Jake, and Ryan have spent over 60 seasons at summer camp. Our summer staff has an average of 8 years of experience. I have spent over 300 days of my life on canoe trips.

We also have Phil Sanders. This summer will be his 51st at Camp Chippewa.

That’s one heck of a résume.

That means we don’t have to guess how to structure a day at camp. Or where the best fishing holes on the English River are. Or how to challenge a boy and give him lasting resilience.

We are rich in knowledge, rich in tradition.

So while it is certainly my job to preserve that knowledge and uphold those traditions, it is equally important to reflect. To avoid complacency.

Because the world changes. The needs of youth change. The climate changes.

Last summer, we experienced a windstorm unlike anything Camp Chippewa has seen in 91 years.

Our work is clear. Keep learning. Keep questioning. Keep improving.

This year, we are starting a committee of professionals to assess risk at camp. Reshaping how we track events and near-misses during the summer. Reviewing procedures for our accreditation with the American Camp Association. Evolving our disaster preparedness at an institutional level.

Kids need camp. And Cap Endres’s recipe is still just as apt. Just as important.

Curiosity and humility help keep that recipe just right.

Onward,

Sam

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