Mission
Our mission is to promote personal and academic growth and success of struggling and at-risk
students through summertime non-formal educational opportunities.
We empower and encourage at-risk children to be strong readers, engaged students, and
responsible members of their communities.
By integrating confidence-building and interdisciplinary activities into the literacy learning process,
we address the needs of the whole child and take steps toward breaking the connection between
illiteracy and poverty.
What is Reading Camp?
Reading Camp is an intensive remedial literacy education program that serves 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
grade children who are struggling with learning to read. Camp programs are conducted by
specially trained volunteers.
What do the campers do at camp?
The formal literacy component of camp takes place each morning of camp in the Learning
Centers, where children receive over 15 hours of one-on-one or small group instruction in six
focus areas.
In the afternoons, the children enjoy traditional camp activities, including hiking, swimming,
horseback riding, spelunking, rappelling, arts and crafts, field trips, and more. Some Reading
Camps are day camp programs, while others are overnight camp programs and draw children and
volunteers from a wide geographic area. Overnight camp programs also include evening water
games, obstacle courses, night hikes, campfires, “polar” swims, storytelling, and more.
What makes Reading Camp unique?
Reading Camp is a unique program because we understand how confidence, self-esteem and
experiential learning are integral to the process of learning to read. We believe that when a child
develops a newfound sense of self-confidence and self-worth through camp activities like learning
to swim, hiking through a dark cave, or rappelling off a cliff, their approach to learning to read
transforms. Children leave Reading Camp with an enthusiasm for learning to read and reading to
learn.
What does it cost?
Each child accepted to Reading Camp receives a full scholarship to attend; Reading Camp is free
for campers. Many of our campers receive free or reduced lunches in their schools, and would be
unable to attend our program without a scholarship. Since we began in 2002, Reading Camp has
been a full scholarship program for every child.
As you might imagine, each week of Reading Camp bears a significant financial cost to the
organization. The Reading Camp organization fundraises year-round to cover the cost of the
programs. Volunteers who wish to serve at overnight camps are asked to make a $350 tax-
deductible donation to cover the cost of their room and board, training materials, etc. Reading
Camp volunteer work at overnight camps is deductible as charitable travel.
History
Reading Camp began in 2002 as an educational (non-religious) ministry of the Episcopal Diocese
of Lexington (eastern part of Kentucky), and continues to operate under the auspices of the
Diocese. The first camp program welcomed 32 campers and 38 volunteers from across eastern
Kentucky to a week-long residential camp hosted at the Cathedral Domain Camp and Conference
Center. The program was widely successful, and the enthusiasm for Reading Camp caught like
wildfire. Soon, a day camp model was created and a second residential camp was launched
at Pine Mountain Settlement School. Between 2002 and 2008, Reading Camps were held in
Danville, Lexington, Irvine, Versailles, Winchester, Covington, Harlan, and Hazard, Kentucky.
News of Reading Camp began to spread outside of Kentucky, as well, which eventually led to the
creation of the Reading Camp Network. The Reading Camp Network (RCN) was formally
established in the fall of 2011, when St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Bay City, Michigan joined
and began planning their first camp program. The RCN helps new sites start their camp program,
provides continuing education opportunities to leadership, and offers annual conferences for in-
person networking, brainstorming, and sharing of best practices. Today, members in the Reading
Camp Network are domestic Episcopal churches and dioceses and partners in the Anglican
Church in Africa. Reading Camp is definitively a secular literacy summer camp program which
provides a way for faith community partners to support the learning and academic success of
students in their communities. Reading Camp Cleveland began four years ago as an overnight
camp. Now, the Cleveland camp has expanded to both a day and overnight camp!
