Another Wonderful Year of Camp Quest

By Deidre Conn

During the week of July 23–August 1, I had the chance to experience, for my third straight year, the wonders of Camp Quest, the first Secular Humanist summer camp for children in the United States. Camp Quest is held each summer by the Free Inquiry Group Inc. (FIG) of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and is endorsed by the Council for Secular Humanism. As a veteran of this unique concept, I didn’t think they could surprise me with what they had to offer. I was wrong.

For the past three years I have had the privilege to act as a cabin counselor for the camp, held for the second year at YMCA Camp Kern, near Lebanon, Ohio. This means that along with the other cabin counselors, I ended up being responsible for anywhere from six to eight kids; I have to say that I respect my fellow counselors, because you need lots of energy to keep up with such young children, and their enthusiasm and support helped me many a time when I was just plain worn out.

This year Camp Quest brought together 38 children, ages 8–15, from all over the United States and the island of Curacao in the Dutch Antilles, for ten days of fun, frolic, and freethought. It also brought together many of today’s young campus freethought leaders, including a member of the Campus Freethought Alliance (CFA) Executive Council, who mixed with young campers and got to see the future of the secular humanist movement in the United States and internationally.

Camp Quest, of course, provides campers with traditional activities such as swimming, archery, canoeing, and crafts such as tie-dyeing, paper-making, and needlepoint. Campers also experience such unconventional camp activities as rock-climbing, a fossil hunt, a ropes challenge course and rides in a hot-air balloon, which was a new and very exciting addition to the activities roster this year. The 14 and 15-year-old campers also participated in a Counselors-In-Training program (CIT), in which they aided counselors with younger campers, held their own meetings, and got to participate in special activities such as a special CIT campout. And of course, no camp is complete without plenty of s’mores and camp-fires (this year’s week-ending inferno nearly equaled the Woodstock ’99 effort from the previous week, thanks to Eric Kagin, who didn’t know the meaning of the words "too much lighter fluid.")

The highlight of the camp, however, is its emphasis on critical thinking skills: campers were exposed to the wonders of evolution and the scientific method, the complexities of code-breaking, the merits of creative thinking in a world where creativity is often stifled, the importance of diversity and acceptance of other’s differences through discussions, and the mind-building skills of debating the existence of invisible unicorns on the camp premises. Anyone who could prove that such creatures didn’t exist would receive a $100 bill without the words "In God We Trust" written on the back; the reward remains unclaimed to date, but not without the determined efforts of many of the campers, some of whom have been trying to win that money since the start of Camp Quest back in 1996. Unfortunately, they are blocked in their efforts by the "blind faith" of many who are mired in their unicorn dogma.

Jim Strayer, a retired community college biology instructor from Florida and a Camp Quest counselor, had this to say about the camp: "The lectures on critical thinking, evolution of the egg, humanism, Darwinism, the second chance wildlife, and the fossil hunt were what made the camp an educational experience. That’s not to say that swimming, the wall climb, ropes challenge, and the balloon ride were not important. They were, but it is the educational part that makes it a CAMP QUEST."

Campers also learned about famous freethinkers past and present, went on a field trip to the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and learned about rescued animals thanks to a presentation from a wild animal rescue group and a visit to the camp’s nature center. During the field trip to the Air Force Museum, campers and counselors enjoyed the wonders of an IMAX film about flight, and gazed in wonder at the huge military planes housed in the hangers built especially for the museum. I remember looking up with a couple of campers and a fellow counselor at the B-52 housed there and realizing that the hanger was the same width as its wingspan.

Edwin F. Kagin, a Union, Kentucky attorney, camp director, and all-around Camp Quest curmudgeon and guru, had this to say about the experience, "We were able to share a caring fellowship wherein adult and juvenile human beings mingled reasoning, creativity, learning, and adventure, bounded only by the limits of the natural world and our ever expanding imaginations."

Many of the counselors, who are return veterans like myself, also enjoyed this year and this camp in particular. Lyse Hurd, who is working toward her masters of social work at the University of Louisville, believes that "Camp Quest is an exciting endeavor, because the kids can go to this camp and talk about anything they want and learn about anything under the sun, including religion, without someone telling them it is wrong to learn about this and that."

The kids learned how to work as a team, how to accept one another’s differences, and how to embrace their own thoughts and ideas. These are indeed important lessons for these young freethinkers to learn, as many of their experiences show. One pair of campers, Kevin and Samuel Katz, 14 and 11 respectively, from New Mexico, had previously been threatened in their local schools as a result of their vocal secular humanist beliefs. A pair of twins from Cleveland, OH, Joshua and Spencer Trumm, 8, had never been to a camp before; the parents of both sets of siblings sent Kagin highly positive emails about the wonderful effects Camp Quest had on their children.

Nickie Chambers, a 14-year-old CIT from Cincinnati, loved the CIT program this year, and her favorite part of the regular camp was "going canoeing". Aimee Johnson, a 13-year-old camper from Parthenon AR, had this to say about her experience, "Even though I get lonely sometimes, I love to come here and see my friends and talk to others who think the same as I do, and even those who think differently. The counselors rule, and we have so much fun. I love it."

So much of what this camp is trying to let the children of secular humanists today know is that they are not alone, and Camp Quest gives them a place and time where they can feel part of a community. "If you’re a freethinker today, odds are you know how lonely growing up was," says August E. Brunsman IV from Columbus, Ohio, an Ohio State University senior psychology major, CFA Internet Resources Director, cabin counselor, and all-around cool dude. "Camp Quest goes a long way to let secular humanist kids know that they aren’t alone." How many people out there reading this wish that there had been a camp like this for them when they were a young secular humanist?

This fits in with Kagin’s and FIG’s beliefs about the relevance of secular humanism in our daily lives and the benefits of seeing it in action. "Talking about how to make the world better is all well and good," says Kagin, "but no philosophy can pretend to describe the sensations derived from the actual eating of campfire cooked s’mores, from a walk in real woods, or from learning in a real flowing stream that no one can swim twice in the same river."

One of the best aspects of Camp Quest is how not only the children who come to it are changed by the experience, but also it affects the counselors as well. For three years now, I have had the chance to interact with young people whose knowledge, intelligence, humor, and resilience amazes me, and I hope it will continue to do so in the future.

Says Brunsman, "Simply being exposed to that many kids who not only are secular humanists, but who can articulate their reasons for being so clearly was an incredibly positive experience. It gives me hope for the future of the secular humanist movement."

Kaye Marshall, 18, a ’99 cabin counselor and a recent high school graduate from Cincinnati, Ohio, who is currently enrolling in college, was very affected by her experience. "The best part of CQ for me was watching the children have something I never had growing up; a large group of people their own age who share their beliefs about atheism and humanism and who are willing to rely on their brain power instead of blind faith." She also felt that the best part of camp was "probably working with the children, especially helping them feel comfortable with camp or working through a personal issue with them and knowing that I helped someone feel better, that I made a positive effect in their life. I hope the children enjoyed the camp half as much as I did."

In Kagin’s mind, the young freethinkers who acted as counselors to the campers made the most impact upon the camp. "They were vital to the success of Camp Quest," stated Kagin. "Anyone a moment older than they would have had no chance whatsoever of keeping up with our healthy, spirited campers." As one of those young counselors, I have to say that sometimes, despite my enthusiasm, the young campers’ energy was more than a match for me, and even some of the younger counselors. This need to stay motivated and energized helped us work together; all cabins had pairs helped watch larger groups who went swimming or played outside. Altogether, it’s one of the most exhausting experiences of my life, but in ways I can never truly measure, it is also one of the most rewarding. It also can bring about some great changes in the lives of the campers as well; several of the teen campers came away from Camp Quest excited at the prospects of starting freethought groups at their high schools, and Roy Crawford, a forensic engineer, codebreaker, and CQ counselor, is excited at the thought of sponsoring a young freethinkers group in the high school of his hometown, Whitesburg, Kentucky.

As a member of the growing Campus Freethought Alliance, Brunsman is optimistic about the future of secular humanism. "Hopefully Camp Quest will fuel high school and campus groups with leaders that have tremendous backgrounds in freethought and a deep attachment to the movement. It also seems likely that people that have been through Camp Quest will be more likely to realize the importance of freethought groups and will be that much more likely to join and contribute to them, even if they don’t lead them."

Camp Quest is an ongoing effort. There are so many children out there who still feel alone in their unbelief, in their secular humanism, but hopefully we make a difference. According to Kagin, we do, and we can continue to make a difference. "Help shape the future of secular humanism and of the world—forty campers at a time—by becoming involved with Camp Quest."