Heads Up! Hartford is a week-long overnight youth leadership and community service summer camp located on the beautiful Ethel Walker boarding school campus in Simsbury, CT. We believe in promoting youth leadership, diversity, and service to others. We know that encouraging community service at a young age fosters ongoing community engagement as an adult and enables thriving communities.
Campers come together from across Connecticut each summer to give back to the greater Hartford community.
- Each day, campers travel to a different nonprofit in the Hartford area to do good for their community.
- In the evenings, they return to camp for guest speakers and activities.
- Campers are provided with a record of all community service hours for their school administrators.
2023 camp dates are Sunday, June 18 - Saturday, June 24.
Campers must have completed 8th grade and can attend as campers up through the summer after their high school graduation.
What a Week is Like
After breakfast each day, the camp breaks into teams and heads to nonprofit destinations in and around the city of Hartford: CRT Day Care Centers, elderly and disabled housing centers, FoodShare, and The Village for Children and Families, among others. Upon returning to camp facilities, youth enjoy free time to unwind and get to know the other campers better. The campers then sit down together and enjoy dinner together. Each evening involves either an educational program related to social emotional learning or a leisure activity (talent show, basketball tournament, all-camp games). Time is made for each of the work teams to debrief their day and each day closes with a gathering of all campers, which includes stories of the day and slides of each of the teams’ work sites. On the weekend, campers fan out to grocery stores to conduct food drives for local food banks. They engage in team-building activities and games, and each team builds a picnic table or bench that is donated to a local charitable organization. The final day is an excursion to a local state park. That night, members of the community and families are invited to the closing ceremony.
Trained, Caring Staff
Each team of 8-10 campers is led by an adult and a college-aged counselor. In addition, there are numerous volunteers who assist with patrolling the grounds, distributing snacks, and keeping the camp running smoothly. Overnight, professional security staff are on-site. A nurse is at camp each day. Two camp directors are on site to coordinate the staff and all programs.
"Heads Up! Hartford was one of the single biggest positive influences of my young, and even adult, life. My wish for all kids is that they are able to participate in a program that enables character building, the celebration of diversity, the expanding of worldview, and the openness for honest and humbling conversations the way that Heads Up! Hartford does."
Camp scholarships are available-- reach out today!
