Camp Shine

At CS Captains, we believe confidence isn’t built by sitting at a desk or listening to a lecture. It’s built by caring for animals, solving real problems, lending a hand, trying something new, using your body, making mistakes, and discovering that you’re capable of so much more than you imagined.

This is a place where middle and high school students step into meaningful responsibility. They’ll become mentors to younger campers, learn practical life skills, work together as a team, and experience the kind of challenges that help shape resilient, compassionate leaders.

Every week looks a little different because life on the farm is always changing, but that’s exactly what makes it such a wonderful classroom.

One day students may be building a shelter, learning safe tool use, or cooking over a campfire. Another day they might be caring for the horses, mentoring younger children, tackling an engineering challenge, or learning how to navigate with a map and compass. Through it all, they’re gaining confidence, learning to think critically, communicating with purpose, and becoming dependable members of their community.

What We Focus On

• Leadership through service
• Confidence built through real responsibility
• Teamwork and communication
• Problem-solving and critical thinking
• Respect and kindness for people, animals, and nature
• Outdoor survival skills, including shelter building, fire safety, navigation, first aid, and outdoor cooking
• Farm support and management working as a team to complete tasks
• Safe tool use and craftsmanship
• Hands-on science, engineering, and math
• Communication skills through mentoring and teaching younger campers
• Emotional intelligence by understanding how our actions affect others and learning to use our influence for good
• Opportunities to be of service to the Camp Shine community and the larger community at large. 

We want our students to learn how to do! The best kind of learning is the kind that is done with your hands as a true lived experience. This class is not about hypothetical but rather practical, hands-on and completely applicable to real life.