What Makes Kessa's Kids So Special? `Kessa's Kids' are Kamp Kessa campers who need a chance. They are selected because they want to try even though the odds may not be in their favor. They are bright, capable, willing, fun kids who are looking to take risks, face challenges and grow through an experience based on support, safety and success.  Our Kessa Kids comes from agencies, schools and community based organizations within the tri-state area of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.  The campers attend camp through full scholarships. It is our gift to them. Their gift to us is their participation. To be eligible to attend Kamp Kessa through a full scholarship, Kessa's Kids campers have to: 1) demonstrate a lack of family or agency resources needed to pay tuition costs; 2) earn their way to camp by performing 72 Time Dollar* hours of pre-approved community service at Kamp Kessa or within their home communities for every week they attend; and, 3) actively participate in a formally constructed and community approved `mentor development plan'. Kessa's Kids are selected through partnerships with community based organizations and agencies.  Local youth centers, youth collaboratives and church based groups are examples of such organizations.  Their commitment to community through after-school programs, parental support and educational assistance, helps us in providing the consistency and ongoing support so necessary to the Kamp Kessa `Kessa's Kids' program. These organizations also provide our Kessa's Kids Campers: a carefully selected group of children who exhibit leadership potential, ability to work within a group and financial need. Kessa's Kids are often identified as being diamonds in the rough -- and the Kamp Kessa experience provides the MINER! Typically, we are working with first time camp families -- so we need to educate both camper and parent, neither of whom have had an opportunity to experience summer camp. A child's excitement about being selected as a Kessa's Kid can be undercut by parental fears of letting their child go. Our high caliber agencies work in concert with Kamp Kessa to help parents understand and support this rare opportunity. Kamp Kessa provides prospective families with constant information about who we are, what to expect and the opportunities that this experience can and does provide. Through the agreement of allowing their child to participate, the parents show the trust they have in us. This trust and the relationships we build with parents are vital to both the success of the child as well as the Kamp Kessa program. Through its uniqueness, Kamp Kessa is establishing itself as a leader in the not-for-profit camping world. In 2004 the Kamp Kessa program model was featured in publications by the American Camp Association, the National Association of Therapeutic Wilderness Camping, the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association and the Lexington Herald Leader. Outcome measures conducted in 2004 for Metro United Way indicate that Kamp Kessa campers are thriving in school and truly are the leaders that we envisioned!  The investment and commitment that parents, campers, staff, agencies, donors, volunteers and the Board of Directors have made to Kamp Kessa is one that is immeasurable. Kamp Kessa's mission of service is simple: "To assist children, youth and adults to act upon the best within them. To provide a challenging learning environment that teaches the purpose of life is to have a life of purpose". Kessa's Kids are truly special kids who personify Kamp Kessa's mission of service.  Just as the campers live out the Kamp Kessa dream and return to camp summer after summer, so is Kamp Kessa investing in the dreams of our campers and their future. Our Long-Term Commitment to Our Kessa's Kids Campers The 4x4 Program When Kamp Kessa Campers are referred and accepted into the Kessa's Kids program (referrals can be made by teachers, guidance counselors, social workers or after school program staff and parent(s), etc.), they are promised a four week camp experience for four consecutive years.  This program is designed for children entering the 5th grade and continues through their 8th grade year.  The 4x4 Program offers a traditional camp experience, monthly communications with the children who participate, and a monthly opportunity to return to Kamp Kessa.  This program has a strong educational component that is consistent in all aspects of the program. The Post Grad `Mentors in Training' Program The Post Grad Mentors in Training Program is for those campers who have graduated from the 4x4 program and are entering the 9th grade.  The Post Grad program is an additional five year commitment that partners the Post Grad Mentors in Training with Kamp Kessa through their high school graduation.  There is a strong life skills development theme and an intensified year-round component.  The summer portion of the Post Grad Mentors in Training Program varies in length (a minimum of 4 weeks) and includes both travel and specially designed Mentor in Training programs.   What Makes Our Program Unique? Kamp Kessa is a Year-Round Program using Horses and the Wilderness to facilitate Human Development Kessa's Kids keep close contact with camp throughout the year as they return to Kamp Kessa for monthly meetings.  During these gatherings fun activities lead the way to important discoveries and lessons about the importance of goals and the steps that are necessary to achieve them.  The campers also receive monthly newsletters, which send consistent and supportive messages about what was accomplished at the meetings, along with specific things to look forward to as they count down the days until camp starts. The trust and strong relationships that we form and maintain give us the ability to have active and productive communication lines with the children's parents, teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and after school programs. These open lines of communication help us to keep up and stay involved with important successes and challenges the children are experiencing.  The unique relationship that we have with the campers and their families continues to help the children reach for their goals. The Summer Program - Connecting to the Wellness of Nature The Kamp Kessa summer program focuses on a combination of recreational and educational areas as well as values and personal development. We work with campers and encourage activities that develop their skill in personal communication, team building, personal responsibility, time management, tolerance of differences, decision making, problem solving and negotiation. The question concerning children and youth is not whether we want to help them grow and flourish as human beingsk. Of course we do. The real question is how do we propose to accomplish that? At Kamp Kessa our answer to that question is relatively simple and straightforward; find ways to connect young people into the wellness of the natural world while simultaneously identifying and explicitly teaching the healthy values and life affirming principles that are to be readily found there. For instance, a meaningful relationship with a horse by the very nature of the relationship `naturally' teaches responsibility (through the need for meeting the basic needs of the horse), caring (through the love and caring that develops between horse and rider), respect (through the inevitable acknowledgment that the horse has a mind of his or her own) and honesty (since we can't long portray ourselves as better than we are in our abilities and skills before our personal safety becomes an issue). It is no accident that the values found and naturally acquired through a meaningful connection with a horse, also reflect the values mindfully and traditionally embraced by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, 4-H, and the YMCA/YWCA.  As traditions of Native American wisdom have long observed, the true nature of growth and healing can only be discovered and discerned by maintaining a meaningful connection with the natural world. All educational, therapeutic and vocational programs teach what is to be valued - whether or not they have adopted a specific program to that end. The rules (and who makes them), the programs, the culture, and climate - all send messages about what matters (even if they are sent in unintentional ways and received unconsciously). There is no such thing as a value-free system. At Kamp Kessa we believe that to support our youth in the healthiest sense means providing for them the opportunity to connect into the wellness of the natural world while focusing on teaching that clearly identifies and is explicitly designed to teach values related to personal, family, community and earthly wellness. As the natural world so vividly teaches us, none of these are separate issues. Some call what we are doing character education, some call it adventure education, some call it outdoor experiential education, we call it using horses and the wilderness to teach the power of big ideas and the truth of larger purposes. *In this Time Dollars exchange we trade an hour of our time for an hour of their time. The logic of this `time dollars' exchange states that in a camping week one staff member averages at least 72 hours on duty, youth have to make that much effort to earn their Kessa's Kids tuition scholarship (for a more complete explanation see Edgar S. Cahn's No More Throw-Away People; The Co-Production Imperative or www.timedollars.org). If you're willing to donate to a Kessa Kid, pleaseL Send your name, address, and t-shirt size (if applicable), and your donations to: Kessa's Kids c/o SRI 758 Beechridge Rd. Frankfort, KY 40601