ACTIVATE! Meet Camper Camila

“Our year-round ACTIVATE programs are all about introducing elementary school kids to the outdoors and to the Coombs community. We want to help them feel comfortable in their local environment and trying new things, whether that's making new friends, visiting a new park, learning to ski, or trying out rock climbing. Over the year that I've been working with them, it's been truly amazing to watch these kids grow. They're already more confident, self-aware, and empathetic little individuals - complaining less on hikes, appreciating bugs instead of screaming at them, being better listeners, and offering to share and help each other.”

- Molly Watters, ACTIVATE Program Manager

Our 2021 ACTIVATE Programs had:

  • 83 kids at summer camp

  • 26 kids in new fall after-school programs

  • 15 kids Nordic skiing after school

  • 206 kids learning to ski & snowboard at Snow King

Meet ACTIVATE Camper Camila!

If anyone saw Camila (9) zipping up a rock wall in Grand Teton National Park, it would come as a surprise that when she first started camp last summer, she said she hated being outside; she didn’t like the heat, the bugs, the dirt, or talking to new people, and she flat out refused to try rock climbing. But she kept showing up, through the fall, winter, and the next summer, and each season her excitement rose. When Activate campers went rock climbing with Exum, she was apprehensive. But she decided to give it a shot, and ended up climbing more than any other kid, getting faster each time she scrambled up the wall and encouraging other kids to keep at it.

“You know how I said I hated the outdoors? I think I’m starting to like it,” she said after a group hike to Taggart Lake. “And hiking isn't so bad. When are we going camping? I really want to go camping!”

Thanks, Camila for becoming a leader and inspiration for other campers!

Ryan Stolp