top of page

Summer Camp

  • REGISTRATION OPENS MAR 1 at noon

  • Six weeks in July and August 2025 (full camp schedule below)

  • Mondays through Fridays from 9 am –3 pm.

  • Weekly themes

  • Camp is for youth entering first grade (this fall) and up

  • Teen Weeks are for youth ages 12 to 15

  • Weekly Beach day is on Wednesdays

Terms​

  • Online registration and payment must be completed prior to attending camp

  • Immunization records must be submitted via email or text

  • Only camp participants, staff, and volunteers are permitted on the property during the day.
     

Payment​

​

  • TUITION: Payment in full is required at the time of registration.

  • If you are unable to make any of the above payments and would like to set up a payment plan, please email us to set that up at sassafrasearthedu@icloud.com

  • FINANCIAL AID: Offers 50% tuition coverage, payment in full of the remaining 50% is due at registration

  • REPAIR FUND: Provides 100% tuition coverage for Wôpanâak/First Nations participants and BIPOC families/households who opt-in. Please consider making a donation of your choice to our Repair Fund.

  • NO REFUNDS / NO CHANGES: We do not offer any refunds or allow changes in registration.


Financial Aid and Repair Fund recipients have an attendance requirement.

​

Waitlist

​

  • If a camp reaches capacity, you can join our waitlist here, more spots may be added.

Asset 49.png

ABOUT OUR CAMP

Sassafras summer camp is a unique Indigenous-led program that holds respect for ourselves, others, and nature as its core value. During our summer our youth/teens learn traditional hands-on skills and a truthful understanding of Indigenous culture. Our teachings encourage leadership, responsibility, and compassion which cultivate powerful leaders for our future. 

 

We are an unplugged environment, and recognize the benefits of a screen-free space for holistic development. We place a strong emphasis on social justice and healthy ways to stand up for ourselves and others around us. In these times, it is important to create a safe space for youth/teens to express their truest selves and let their gifts shine. 

SEE website photos (6).png

DAILY ACTIVITIES

Our daily activities include earth-centered games and tasks such as exploring woods and streams, building campsites, making fires, listening for birds, carving and crafting, and identifying plants and wild edibles. On Wednesdays we walk to the beach. We start and end every day in circles that include land acknowledgments, gratitude, conversation, stories, and music.

SEE website photos (8).png

Camp 2025 Schedule

Staff Orientation & Training from July 1-4

At Sassafras we understand how important it is for our staff to take time together to bond, learn, and process all that is vital for the wellbeing of our campers. That is why we are adding a fourth day of training this year, while staff arrival is between June 29 and 30. If you are interested in working/living at Sassafras this summer, please fill out a staff application form and note that we have a strong preference in hiring Wôpanâak/ Indigenous/Black/Brown adults. We hope that many of our 2024 staff will return!

Summer Staff Application

Week 1: "Fire Week" from July 7-11 

This week’s focus is on fire-making, in addition to our basic curriculum. Fire is a favorite of kids of all ages, and it contains so many valuable life lessons such as focus, safety, and responsibility. We learn how to gather and harvest good firewood, set up a fire structure, how to tend to it in a safe way, and how to tend to fires with different purposes. Learn the history and the respect for indigenous inventions like making fire by friction and the many other uses of fire. Lighting your own fire is truly magical!

​

  • Dates: July 7–11, 2025

  • Times: 9am–3pm

  • Cost: $450

Registation Opens Mar 1 at noon

Week 1: "Teen Week" from July 7-11

Teen Week will be offered twice this summer for ages 12 and up. Teen Weeks are filled with fun adventures, challenging games, and outdoor experiences that help teens navigate today’s world. We practice outdoor skills, truth telling, talk about Indigenous wisdom, the climate crises, the hazards of social media, and things that interest you. We encourage you to dive into your passion for nature. 

​

Teens can opt to work on their leadership skills during Teen Week, to attend additional weeks of Summer Camp as a Teen Helper. Participation in Teen Week is required prior to being a Teen Helper. Please email sassafrasearthedu@icloud.com.

​

  • Dates: July 7–11, 2025

  • Times: 9 am–3 pm

  • Cost: $450

  • Teen helpers pay $250 for consecutive weeks

Registration Opens Mar 1 at noon

Week 2: "Cooking/Games" Week from July 14-18

Sassafras games and cooking are a favorite of many youths. Indigenous cultures value playing games, as much as coming together in a community around food. Games are an important part of developing skill sets for natural leaders. Cooking requires skills, such as fire building, harvesting, and patience through food preparation. Both games and food strengthen community and help youth to share in a natural way.

​

  • Dates: July 14–18, 2025

  • Times: 9 am–3 pm

  • Cost: $450

Registration Opens Mar 1 at noon

Week 3: "Crafts/Creative Week" from July 21-25

This week’s focus is on crafting and being creative. Nature gives us endless inspiration and this week we let our imagination flow. We let nature's beauty guide us, go out to find things on the land, and express ourselves with our hands, our voices, and our ideas. Carving, cordage, drawing, music, and making up games or skits, the sky's the limit!

​

Dates: July 21–25, 2025

Times: 9 am–3 pm

Cost: $450

Registration Opens Mar 1 at noon

Week 4: "Harvest Week" from July 28 - Aug 1

This week's focus is on harvesting from the wild. Learn about edible and medicinal plants, plant ID, and different harvesting methods. Respect and value Indigenous ways that have so much to teach us about living in balance with the earth. Communicate with plants, appreciate their gifts, and learn to give something in return. Some of our favorites are gathering herbs and wild edibles, picking berries, and making herbal teas and potions.

​

  • Dates: Jul 28–Aug 1, 2025

  • Times: 9 am–3 pm

  • Cost: $450

Registration Opens Mar 1 at noon

Week 5: "Teen Week" from Aug 4-8

Teen Week will be offered twice this summer for ages 12 and up. Teen Weeks are filled with fun adventures, challenging games, and outdoor experiences that help teens navigate today’s world. We practice outdoor skills, truth telling, talk about indigenous wisdom, the climate crises, the hazards of social media, and things that interest you. We encourage you to dive into your passion for nature. 

​

Teens can opt to work on their leadership skills during Teen Week, to attend additional weeks of Summer Camp as a Teen Helper. Participation in Teen Week is required prior to being a Teen Helper. Please email sassafrasearthedu@icloud.com.

​

  • Dates: Aug 4-8, 2025

  • Times: 9 am–3 pm

  • Cost: $450

Registration Opens Mar 1 at noon

Week 5: "Traditional Skills" from Aug 4-8

Our last week of Summer Camp focuses on traditional ancestral skills. Learn about the rich Indigenous practices that are needed to live and thrive in true balance with our mother the earth. Gathering edible and medicinal plants, shelter building, fire making, processing, cooking, crafting useful items, communicating with the land, and working together.

​

  • Dates: Aug 4-8, 2025

  • Times: 9 am–3 pm

  • Cost: $450

Registration Opens Mar 1 at noon
bottom of page