St. Joseph's Youth Camp celebrates 75th season

ABIGAIL KESSLER, Sun Staff Reporter

Story, 11, draws her bow as she aims for a balloon on an archery target on the morning of Tuesday, June 25, at the St. Joseph’s Youth Camp at Mormon Lake. The camp is celebrating its 75th summer this year. Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

St. Joseph’s Youth Camp near Mormon Lake is currently in the middle of the 75th season of its summer programming.

The nondenominational nonprofit camp sits on 29 acres across the road from Mormon Lake.

The location started as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp before it became St. Joseph’s Youth Camp in 1949, named for Joe Schmidt, who was involved in its early development, according to the camp’s website.

So far, the camp has served more than 20,000 kids between the ages of 7 and 17. This summer, the season includes four weeklong programs, each with about 90 campers.

Campers at St. Joseph's Youth Camp at Mormon Lake play a game of gaga Ball Tuesday, June 25. Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

On Tuesday morning a week ago, campers were gathered in the main area, playing games or talking with their friends as they waited for the day's scheduled activities to start.

Hudson Kirkland, a sixth-grader from Mesa who attended his third year of camp last week, was part of a group playing gaga ball. He said St. Joseph's is "super fun" and that he hopes to one day become a counselor like his dad and a family friend were.

"It's hard to be homesick, because you're constantly doing stuff," Kirkland said, adding that his favorite camp activities were kayaking and horseback riding."It's a fun place. ... Usually the first two days is making friends or getting to know people, and the rest is hanging out and doing activities."

Camp director Sarah Amos said she had started coming to St. Joseph’s as a camper when she was 8 and served as a counselor and staffer over the years. She said this is an experience shared by many of the camp's current staff.

“It’s one of the biggest privileges of my life, being able to give back to not just the kids that are here, but also the community that I was raised in,” she said. “ ...Keeping those traditions alive is a big part of why I come back here year after year.”

“Not a lot has changed” in terms of the camp’s location and building since Amos was a camper there, she said. Its activities are now more educational, she said, however, and “we’re a much more compassionate and empathetic staff.”

Stella, 9, works on creating a stained glass rainbow panel made from tissue paper and glue during a craft activity at the St. Joseph's Youth Camp at Mormon Lake on Tuesday, June 25. Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

St. Joseph’s serves around 90 campers in each of its four weeklong sessions this summer. One week is dedicated to teens, while the other three are for kids aged 7 to 12. And, while the camp’s regular sessions do not include religion, it has added a Catholic studies week to its programming.

Campers arrive Sunday evening and leave Saturday morning.

Before the first session, the counselors -- who are former campers between the ages of 15 and 17 -- spend a week in training, earning first aid and CPR certifications, and learning more generally about critical thinking, child safety and communication to prepare for the first week of camp.

St. Joseph's offers a typical overnight summer camp experience to its campers, most of whom travel up from the Valley. Activities include hiking, kayaking and horseback riding, and, according to Amos, they’ve been singing the same campfire songs since before her first time at camp.

"There's volleyball, tetherball, tug of war, and we're constantly doing arts and crafts," Kirkland said."We have a campfire every night where we sing songs together. It's fun. Great way to make friends."

Jessica Kirkland, who has two children attending camp (including Hudson), was a registered nurse volunteering as the camp nurse last week. She said she first learned about St. Joseph's from her husband, who had attended the camp as a child.

"I love being at camp," she said, as she had been a counselor at different camps when she was a student.

An information board with the menu for the day, word of the day, camper facts and the weather forecast sits outside the dining hall at the St. Joseph's Youth Camp at Mormon Lake on Tuesday, June 25. Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

"It's so good for kids," she said. "I think my favorite part as both parent and staff is no electronics. ... It's so nice for them to have that mental vacation from TV, video games, phones."

She added: "My biggest hope is that they can be kids. I think we force our kids to grow up too fast, so just having no cares, being able to get dirty, play outside and then also to gain confidence in themselves, try new things."

Amos also said the camp’s values are a tradition, with its smaller size allowing staff to get to know each student and create positive experiences. She said she hoped kids would leave St. Joseph’s with “a sense of independence.”

Stella, 9, holds up a stained glass rainbow panel made from tissue paper and glue during a craft activity at the St. Joseph's Youth Camp. Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

“This is the first time for them to be away from home for any significant amount of time [for most campers], so there are a lot of jitters that first day, but they start building that perseverance and that independence throughout the week,” she said. “By the time they go home they’re like a brand-new kid. A lot of social skills happen here: friendship building, perseverance, independent skills. ... We encourage them to make new friends and to try things that are different.”

She says the camp is hoping to expand by adding additional campers and programs such as a day camp for kids in Flagstaff. As part of that, they are considering expanding the mess hall and adding cabins to accommodate such

growth. Amos encouraged families to send their kids to summer camp. “I think camp is one of the greatest experiences a child can have. I think you learn so much about yourself at camp, you learn so much about being in a community by coming to camp,” she said. “... Any camp can provide that, but I think we are unique because we are smaller and more cost-effective.”

More information about St. Joseph’s Youth Camp is at sjycaz.com.

Campers at the St. Joseph's Youth Camp at Mormon Lake wait outside the dining hall to be called for their first activity of the day on Tuesday, June 25. Jake Bacon, Arizona Daily Sun

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