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Youth Leadership Camp Summer 2012

Leadership development is a life-long pursuit. At White Stag, you learn and practice leadership and problem solving skills, how to make decisions, assess your individual strengths and weaknesses, goal-setting, planning, and self-advocacy.

We have openings for only 350 candidates in 2012. Save 10% off camp fees and apply now.

In the News

Summer camp 2011 was covered by a reporter from the Santa Cruz Sentinal. The reporter interviewed a number of campers, Rachel Tatley, 10, told the Sentinel, "We learn about how you can be a leader, what happens when something goes wrong and what needs to be done to fix it."Read the complete article.

Information for...

  • Youth
  • Parents
  • Leaders
  • Alumni
  • Media

White Stag summer camp is a fun week of hiking, backpacking, camping, campfires, outdoor games. yells, cheers, singing, and practicing the skills of leadership. During White Stag leadership camp, you get lots of chances to learn and practice leadership skills in small and large group settings.

Candidates crossing the Little Sur River
Candidates crossing the Little Sur River at Pico Blanco Scout Reservation in 1998.

White Stag offers youth 10½-18 a fun, challenging week-long leadership development experience. Ask any teen who has been to camp what they enjoyed most, and they will say, "It's fun." But don't expect to hang out by the pool and spend time at the snack bar. You won't have any free time to speak of. You'll be busy virtually every moment with a variety of challenging leadership activities. And of course there's camping, backpacking, and a lot of team-building activities.

Whether you know anyone in camp or not, you'll be mixed together with other teens and make friends fast. Challenged to work together to solve problems, you'll prepare food, pitch camp, and get hands-on experience learning leadership skills with other teens. Reserve your spot now.

Candidate Orientation Day

May 12, 2012. Camper and parent orientation. For information, see Candidate-Day at the Presidio of Monterey.

2012 Summer Camp

Session 1: Sunday, July 8 to Saturday, July 14, 2012 at Camp Lindblad.
Session 2: Sunday, July 22 to Saturday July 28, 2012 at Camp Lindblad.

Pre-registration now accepted.

We challenge youth to use their skills, teamwork, and strategy to overcome challenges. This builds trust, confidence and self-esteem. Youth gain skills in leadership including planning, communicating, personal interests and abilities, setting achievable goals, time management, negotiating and persuading. White Stag is much more than a camp. It's where future leaders are developed.

Candidates crossing the Little Sur River
As these candidates rope aross the Little Sur River during the 1998 summer camp, then gain self-confidence.

Our half-century of success has taught us that leadership development needs to begin early, when youth are more adaptable and teachable. White Stag is unique because it is a leadership development program designed for youth, but also created and led by youth. Watch the video.

We encourage participants to take their new leadership skills home and make a difference. Depending on your youth's age, maturity, and outdoors experience, you may choose from three phases:

Parent's Guide to White Stag

The White Stag program is only successful when your youth put the leadership skills they gained at camp to work at home, in their youth group, church, or at school. Read our suggested guidelines.

Learn Leadership, Help Your Youth

We train adults in leadership skills. If you would like to give back to a program that has positively affected your family, we are accepting applications for leadership positions. Get started now improving your leadership skills. Contact us for information and plan now to attend the Indaba and staff interviews.

What Makes White Stag Distinctive

We recognize that youth learn best when their whole body and mind is engaged. We provide a hands-on, outdoors, physically challenging experiential education focus. We create an environment where it's safe for youth to try out new behaviors, to be the best they can be. We teach that the opposite of success is not failure, but to quit.

Mirroring the real world, we offer a coeducational learning opportunity. Youth are fully supervised at all times. We take a holistic approach to learning, giving participants an experience that affects their hands via outdoor skills, head via leadership skills, and heart via our spirit and traditions.

Pre-registration now accepted.

White Stag Leadership Development has a long history of teaching youth leadership. We have taught more than 20,000 youth leadership since our founding in 1958.

Candidates crossing the Little Sur River
These candidates met the challenge and reached the top of Devil's Peak for lunch on the first day of the 1998 summer camp. Pico Blanco is opposite.

We believe the skills of leadership can be acquired through practice. Leadership is not inborn nor intuitive. We put participants through practiced exercises where leadership is required, encouraging and supporting youth in continual improvement. We use the outdoors because it's fun, physically challenging, and rewarding. We use a small-team approach where everyone gets the attention they need and the opportunity to engage and improve. We apply a systemic approach to leadership development, encouraging repeated exposure and practice over months and years. We believe in the infinity principle: that education never stops, and for that reason we continually evaluate, seeking ways to improve both as individuals and as an organization.

Leader's Guide to White Stag

The White Stag program is only successful when youth put the leadership skills they gained at camp to work at home, in their youth group, church, or at school. Read our suggested guidelines.

Leadership Skills

We believe in leadership development by design. We know that good leaders never stop learning. We constantly check to see how we are progressing. We continue to focus on the basics, teaching eleven leadership competencies.

Program Structure

White Stag is structured to meet the needs of youth age 10½-18. We offer three phases:

Pre-registration now accepted.

Anyone who has graduated from summer camp or has served on youth or adult staff at White Stag are automatically members of our Alumni Association! We are always eager to hear what you have been up to and how you are using the leadership skills in your personal and professional life.

Join the Venture Crew

Our Venture Crew meets almost every Thursday at 7pm in the Presidio of Monterey Scout Lodge. They go camping or backpacking almost every month. If you are 14-17 years old and in the Monterey Bay Area, join us!

Volunteer at Camp

Since we have added a second week of summer camp, we can almost always use an extra hand or two at camp. Volunteer and let us know when you are free. For dates, see our current camp dates. To volunteer, contact us!

Join us on Facebook

Connect with other White Stag alumni on Facebook.

The White Stag Leadership Development Academy is a federal 501(c)3 non-profit. Founded in 1958, it is a volunteer-led program. We provide year-round leadership education for up to 100 youth staff and two week-long summer camp programs each year for up to 500 youth campers.

Media Contacts

Tony LaMarque, Camp Director (800) 559-2188 Monterey, CA
Tom Weibert, Program Director (925) 580-1301 Walnut Creek, CA

White Stag at a Glance

Founded 1958
Area served Primarily California along with a number of other states. Internationally, participants have in the past five years traveled from China, Taiwan, France, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and Guam.
Youth served during 2010/11 403
Youth served since founding about 21,000
Current annual budget $97,000
Organization type 501(c)3 non-profit
Headquarters Paul F. Sujan Memorial Scout Lodge
Presidio of Monterey, Monterey, California
Camp Location Camp Lindblad, near Boulder Creek, California
Organizational structure Three phases based on youth's age, maturity, and outdoors experience:

For youth 10½-13, Patrol Member Development (Phase 1)
For youth 13-15, Patrol Leader Development (Phase 2)
For youth 15-18, Troop Leader Development (Phase 3)
Awards given Gold Stag, Silver Silver, and others
Community service Average 3,000+ hours annually per staff member
Time devoted to leadership development during 2010-11 Approximately 144,500 hours for all staff members, or
16.5 person-years

For more information, see Media Relations.