C.A.M.P. Osprey:
A partnership between K-12 schools throughout the region and aspiring UNF student leaders
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CAMP
Professor
Matt Ohlson is passionate about teaching leadership skills—both to college
students and kids. Our local NPR
station, WJCT is honoring Dr. Ohlson as one of five of its 2017 American
Graduate Champions (see video below). Since 2015 over 200 of UNF students have participated in the
Camp, learning how to be a great mentor to middle and high school students in
our region. CAMP might bring to mind
campfires and water sports, but this CAMP stands for the Collegiate Achievement
Mentoring Program. UNF students learn
leadership skills and then have the chance to apply them to children in 9
schools in the region. This Program has received awards and
recognition from the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida and
SunTrust Bank as well as the PBS “American Graduate Program.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN A
KID’S LIFE 
CAMP
Osprey is truly a mutually beneficial partnership where collegiate students
from the University of North Florida serve as mentors to elementary and middle
school students. As you will see from the video, both the mentors and the
mentees enjoy one another while they learn to be leaders. It is a rare opportunity for these kids to
have a college student pay attention to them, to make a commitment to help them
become leaders. A school Principal the CAMP partners with put it this way,
“Having support and guidance from someone that is outside of the teacher,
parent, principal (role) who you think genuinely cares about you – that’s vital
to the success of our students.” The video gives you a sense of the soft skills
the mentees learn—including a proper handshake, public speaking, and working well
with others.
TECHNOLOGY: CONNECTING
UNF TO NEW COMMUNITIES
To
overcome some of the real challenges—Jacksonville’s vast geography as well as financial
barriers faced by our high-poverty, urban, and rural partners—CAMP Osprey also uses
of video conferencing to conduct weekly virtual leadership mentoring sessions. The
success of the program depends upon Dr. Olson’s leadership, the commitment of
his UNF students, the core leadership curriculum and an intentional adaptation
of the mentoring sessions to the new platform, so that all the students are
engaged. Technology offers all kinds of
wonderful enhancements. Students use their cell phones to let their mentee experience
the life of a college student: a college classroom lecture, a science lab, sports,
and art events. Over the course of the term, college becomes an appealing
possibility to kids who had not dreamed it was for them. In either a
traditional setting or a virtual one, mentors and mentees work together to
solve problems; they have the opportunity to practice effective time management
and focus the kids on fostering college- and career-readiness skills.
Camp
Osprey is based on the previous initiative at the University of Florida (CAMP
Gator), where mentors conducted virtual leadership mentoring sessions with more
than 500 students in three states. Participants in both programs
experienced increased academic achievement, increased attendance, decreased
school suspensions and an increased awareness of diverse communities and
cultures. The CAMP has the ability to
respond to sudden crises in the community: the Action News story shows UNF students working with Putnam County students who missed school because of Hurricane Irma.
For more information on C.A.M.P. Osprey, please visit: https://www.unf.edu/coehs/lscsm/Camp_Osprey.aspx
