Camp Lucy: one powerful day of outdoor fun and serious coping skills

Photo above by Hannah Busing via Unsplash.

What if your middle schooler could spend a whole day this spring learning tools for coping with stress and building emotional resilience, and they could learn all that amid trees and flowers and a whole lot of fresh air?

That’s exactly what’s planned for May 8, when Camp Lucy takes place in Sharpsburg.

This daylong workshop is the brainchild of Jordan Corcoran, founder of Listen, Lucy. Corcoran has been helping students learn about mental health for a decade.

Early in her career, she worked with the Pittsburgh organization Stand Together. She was impressed by their approach of working with small groups of students who would then bring Stand Together’s positive messages back to their own school districts.

Camp Lucy will take a similar approach: Schools throughout the region are invited to send a small group (perhaps five to 10 students), who can then go back to their school communities and share what they’ve learned.

“What we want with Camp Lucy is to impact as many schools as possible,” Corcoran says. “We can’t bring in tens of thousands of kids at once. So what I would love to do is have these kids spend time with us, create coping techniques, create impact and have memorable experiences, and then take it back to their districts. Because there’s something about peer-to-peer education — on this topic specifically —  that I think really does make an impact on the greater population.”

During the workshop, Corcoran will share the stage with:

• Julius Boatwright, founder and managing director of Steel Smiling
• Ta’lor Pinkston, creator of The Heart Advocate
• Julia Broglie, co-founder of BroglieBox
• Gab Bonesso, accomplished comedian and speaker on mental resilience 

These local experts will share their experiences and expertise around mental wellness, and they won’t simply be speaking: The day will be full of hands-on activities to keep the students engaged.

“There will be an activity with each session, from freepform yoga to bracelet making to writing song to free-flow dancing. We’re going to have these kids up and moving and participating,” Corcoran says. “So they’ll have tangible things that they can take home with them to help them speak about what they experienced.”

The group will be exploring serious subjects. But, she says, “we talk about important things in an informal, fun, light way, so that the kids feel comfortable.”

Camp Lucy will have room for 200 middle school students and there is no cost for participation. So far, about 100 free tickets have been claimed by local school districts. If you’d like your child to be involved, you can contact an administrator or teacher at your child’s school and tell them about Camp Lucy. Or e-mail Corcoran directly and ask her to reach out to your child’s school. She’s happy to answer any questions they might. have.

Get all the details about Camp Lucy, which will run from 7:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, right here.