FAQs for Parents

• Conference Director, David Ledgerwood, answers parent questions.

  Popular pages for planning: Packing List

  

  Who are the instructors?

  The Managing Ourselves conference wasn’t just designed by PhD’s, it’s taught by one. You will not find a more advanced university-style learning experience anywhere. Dr. John Miller has over 30 years of teaching experience at Bucknell and Yale. He and his team will lead the entire week, spending one-on-one time with each student team. This kind of access is unheard of at a summer camp, let alone a private camp with a guaranteed student to faculty ratio of no more than 6:1. Learn more about the instructors and staff mentors.

  What curriculum do you use?

  The Managing Ourselves curriculum is based on Dr. John Miller’s 30-year experiential Management course, Management 101 at Bucknell University. Tens of thousands of Bucknell students have raved about the course and dozens of schools across the country have emulated it. Conference Director David Ledgerwood has been designing and running nationally recognized youth leadership conference for Rotary International for 15 years. This conference uses a week-long format David and his colleagues perfected during that time and fills it with Dr. Miller’s brilliant curriculum.

  How do I know my son or daughter will fit in?

  The camp is designed specifically for the type of high-achieving 16- and 17-year olds who want to attend top universities. In fact, we consulted with college admissions counselors across the country to find out exactly what distinguishes successful applicants from a sea of other students “who all have perfect scores on the ACT and perfect GPAs.” The answers came back with a resounding “leadership, leadership, leadership.” For 15 years David Ledgerwood has been designing youth leadership camps. More than 75% of the thousands of camp alumni have written their college essays about the experience. Dr. John Miller and David Ledgerwood felt they could not ignore the opportunity to put their work together.

  Does my son or daughter need a computer?

  Yes. While we’ll do our best to have extra laptops on hand, the reality of the program pretty much demands that students bring their own laptop. Tablet computers like the iPad might suffice, but generally the type of work we do is best suited for a laptop computer (Mac or PC doesn’t matter). Students who don’t bring one will find there are many meaningful learning opportunities that are diminished. If this creates a financial hardship for you please drop us a note and we’ll try to help.

  What’s a typical day like?

  See the schedule page.

  We’ll rise at 7AM and prepare for an 8AM casual breakfast. At 9AM we’ll head to our open format meeting space and Dr. Miller (sometimes joined by guest speakers) will lead a kick-off interactive learning session based upon the previous day’s activities, and the activities to come. Late morning and early afternoon will be reserved for group work on team assignments, which will culminate in an end of week high-stakes group presentation. Expert staff will facilitate all activities to make sure every student gets a quality learning experience in whatever role they fill.

  Another interactive session with Dr. Miller will cap the afternoon before active teambuilding and leadership training activities finish the day. Students will eat dinner with their teams and practice group storytelling and debrief techniques to get to know each other on a higher level and refine their experiential learning abilities.We’ll rise at 7AM and prepare for an 8AM casual breakfast. At 9AM we’ll head to our open format meeting space and Dr. Miller (sometimes joined by guest speakers) will lead a kick-off interactive learning session based upon the previous day’s activities, and the activities to come. Late morning and early afternoon will be reserved for group work on team assignments, which will culminate in an end of week high-stakes group presentation. Expert staff will facilitate all activities to make sure every student gets a quality learning experience in whatever role they fill.

  Some evenings we’ll feature a guest speaker while others we’ll buckle down on presentation preparation and project work. Evenings finish with a review session in front of The Board (staff members and guests acting as third-party constituents). Final team meetings and discussion time we’ll cap the night.

  Will there be adult supervision?

  Yes. Our professional adult staff will be staying on campus in the same dorms as our students. We will rotate on-call duty during the night and will ensure a safe environment. Students are required to be in their own rooms and quiet by 11PM. An emergency cell phone number will be provided to parents and will be monitored 24/7.

  What is the cost?

  Please visit the Fee Schedule page for details about costs and payments.

  I don’t see my question.

  Contact us and we’ll post an answer right away.