Year one scheduled no recreation, and students noticed. Board games, cards, frisbees and basketball hoops were on site, but students did not know until a leader started handing them out.
What did work was mostly human.
A tribal education leader from the Department of Education welcomed students before the Thursday dinner, and students lined up afterward for hugs. The first responder therapy dog was on campus all week. Smokey Bear greeted students at check-in. On the last night, Chef Daffron had his culinary crew go around the room saying something positive about one another; it started with two or three students and ended with every hand up. By Wednesday night Stanislaw was telling a mixed group of students from different schools to stop playing cards and go to bed.
Kayla Thompson used a term from her profession. Responders who go through an incident together, she said, “trauma bond.” “You realize we’re in this together. This is a problem we’re going to solve together. And it really brings you closer.”
After-action report submissions made several important suggestions: designate a visible gathering spot, include an evening recreation block and create a few low-stakes challenges.
The planning team floated several in 2026: a hometown signpost with plywood arrows, village names and tent signs on butcher paper, a cornhole-board build, and a “redesign the camp for 1,000 people” mapping challenge.