Maine Outdoor Exploration Camp: grades 6-8

Special Scholarship Opportunity for 6-8th graders! 

We are thrilled to announce a special full scholarship opportunity for Maine youth! Thanks to a grant from the Department of Education, we are opening up a new camp program with full scholarships with a clear purpose: to provide access to programs centered on building skills in the outdoors while discovering all that Maine’s natural world offers for teens whose families qualify. This aligns perfectly with our mission of inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring that transformative experiences are available to all.

About the program

What do outdoor recreation skills, music, visual arts, archery, ecology, and STEM have in common? They are all skills, careers, or interests that staff who work at summer camps have. Though very different, they are all connected to the outdoors, creatively! Spend days in engaging and hands-on learning experiences while you explore the woods and waterways of Tanglewood. Our goal is to provide a spark for campers to explore more.

For overnight camp, each day will feature exciting explorations around Tanglewood building knowledge, skills, and comfortability in the outdoors. We’ll hike in Camden Hills State Park, canoe, spend time on the archery range, meet with Maine Guides and climate scientists, explore the seashore, and so much more. Campers have free choice electives in the afternoon and recreation time each day. Evenings feature traditional overnight camp evening programs such as capture the flag, scavenger hunts, and campfires.

For the Appalachian Trail trip, our group will spend 4 days along the Appalachian Trail learning all about Leave No Trace and lightweight backpacking. The week is packed with personal and group challenges, great views, and lots of fun. Participants experience what it means to carry all you need on your back and have the opportunity to meet through-hikers on their way to Katahdin or Georgia!  This is a journey you will never forget!

Sessions

Space is limited to 22 participants in total. Programming takes place during the following sessions:

July 21-26, 2024 (overnight camp only)

July 28-August 2, 2024 (overnight camp and Appalachian Trial trip)

Scholarship Application

The application process is crucial in determining eligibility as we strive to support those with genuine financial needs. We understand that questions about financial eligibility may arise. Rest assured that these inquiries are standard practice and necessary for fair assessment based upon the requirements of the grant from the DOE. Please click the link below to apply.

Please note, given the limited availability of these scholarships, we kindly request that families fully commit to attending the program should they be selected for funding. In addition to a full scholarship to camp, families will be reimbursed for mileage from their hometown to camp and back upon program completion.

Thank you for your time and interest in attending 4-H Camps. A camp representative will contact you once your application has been reviewed.

Application Form

Funding Notice:  The American Rescue Plan Act GEER, Reverted EANS Funding received from the USDOE supports the implementation of this project. The project has an award totaling $6.6 million dollars of which 100% is federally funded and directly attributed to project implementation. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by the USDOE or the U.S. Government.