The plan existed. So did the schedule, the task list, the emergency plan and the team workbooks. What did not exist, the leadership team concluded in July, was enough time to finish them before students arrived.
The effects showed up in small ways that added up. The daily schedule changed so often that the QR codes posted around camp pointed to a different version than the paper copies adults carried. Instructions to volunteers sometimes went out in the early morning hours before their shifts began. On Tuesday the kitchen ran about two hours late, and the whole day’s rotation slipped with it. By Wednesday leaders had made classroom sessions optional and started announcing every transition over the loudspeaker ten minutes ahead. Both changes helped.
These are the 2026 milestones, counted back from the first day of camp. Treat them as the latest workable dates, and move everything earlier you can.
Weeks before camp | Milestone (2026 date) |
24+ | Core team commits and maps the week on whiteboards (January) |
11 | Go/no-go decision; funding confirmed (early April) |
10 | Educator information sessions; educator spots confirmed (mid-April) |
8–6 | Four parent and student information sessions at different times of day (April 28 to May 11) |
6 | Site visit with the tent provider and village leads to map the camp (May 8–12) |
5–3 | Volunteer information sessions and background checks (May 18 to June 5) |
4 | Village team meetings: safety, communications, counselors, construction (late May) |
2 | Student Activity Guide pages due from village teams (June 8) |
2 | Facility use agreement signed; sponsor’s superintendent meets planning team (June 10) |
1.5 | Student registration closes; hiring recommendations and all planning documents on file (June 12) |
0 | All volunteer clearances and training records on file; camp opens (June 22) |
What leadership would change. Put load-in and load-out days on the master schedule from the start. Finish the Incident Action Plan before camp, not during it. Lock the daily schedule a week out, print it, and treat later changes as exceptions that go through the planning section.