Camp Snowball has ben a place for educators, youth, parents, business and community leaders to learn together
To thrive in our changing world, students need to think in systems and take action for a healthy future. Using systems thinking as a foundation through the week, Camp Snowball — a summer professional development program that brings together school and district-wide teams of educators, youth, parents, business and community leaders — increased everyone’s capacity for learning and leading.
At Camp Snowball, a program that ran until 2017, educators learned and practiced the skills to facilitate critical thinking and problem solving, administrators developed the capacity to create school cultures where teachers are trusted innovators, students developed critical thinking and communication skills so they could take action for a sustainable future, and community partners became contributors to the health of the larger system using the tools of systems thinking, Education for Sustainability, and organizational learning.
Imagine a community where for a whole week students, educators, administrators come together from different states, districts, and countries to collaboratively learn about how to shape learning spaces and experiences that are meaningful for life. Imagine a community where stereotypes and roles are reshaped, where tough conversations on racial equity can go as deep as a whole room in tears. Imagine a community where all are learners and where one’s job as an educator is valued for what it really is, the most important supporting role you can have while growing up, besides your family. There aren’t many places where this can happen, and Camp Snowball was one of them. It convened for the last time in Vernon, NJ July 10-15, 2017 in a partnership by the Academy and the Waters Foundation (now Water Center for Systems Thinking). After seven years of continual refinement to generate the “perfect” gathering, one that would balance fun, content, provocative discussions, and community building, all core designers decided to retire this program and continue to support the work of transformation in school systems and their communities through programs of the Center for Systems Awareness and the Waters Center for Systems Thinking
Marta Ceroni, Co-Director