In their words
Another school year is in the books, and wow – what a year it was! As it turns out, 2023-24 wasn’t just a big year — it was our biggest year yet!
Program enrollment was up a record-breaking 73 percent over the 2022-23 school year. We are still working to understand the many reasons for this, but a few are very clear: Our director of programming, Paige Young, led a renewed effort to grow relationships throughout our 27 public school partners, holding recruitment events to grow awareness with students; getting to know school resource coordinators; and working even more closely with our school advisors, who serve as essential points of connection for students to join our entry-level program, Explorer.
But what do the teens have to say about why they wanted to come out with us on Saturdays? After all, coming out with us means waking up early on a day off, making their way to Fountain Square to get on a yellow bus bound for a new place, sometimes not knowing anyone else on the outing and often facing a new challenge for the first time.
Combing through student surveys from nine months of Saturdays in the Explorer program — the first in the Crew Pathways, our progressive framework of four program levels — we found some common themes. Here are the top responses as to what motivated our Crew teens to come adventuring with us:
7. It’s free.
6. Being outside (“I didn’t want to stay inside at home all day”).
5. Trying new things.
4. Everything! (We are particularly fond of this answer!)
3. The adventures (with kayaking, skiing, riding horses and roller skating making frequent appearances).
2. Fun!
And the top reason is …
1. The people. Students cited being with friends, making new friends, the staff, the community and kindness.
“I like how open and supportive everyone is, helping me when I have problems. Thank you so much! ”
And we thank YOU so much. We couldn’t do it without our own supportive community of donors, volunteers, partner schools and organizations, and families. You have helped propel us through this unprecedented growth and into our busiest summer yet. More than 70 teens — double the number from last year! — will participate in summer camps throughout June.
Curious about becoming part of our community? Please reach out to me anytime at libby@adventurecrew.org.