“I have learned that being a leader does not mean being a boss. It means to respect any and every person, to make good decisions, and to stand up for what you believe in.”
Girls' Adventure & Leadership Weekend
December 2-3, 2023
Join other girls (ages 11-14) for a weekend of fun while building leadership skills at our beautiful 268-acre Blairstown Campus located near the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area in New Jersey. Learn to build your confidence, overcome your fears, take healthy risks, work cooperatively, and creatively solve problems as a team while you complete our challenge course elements, successfully navigate high ropes elements, or rappel down a 35-foot dam!
The weekend includes four professionally-prepared, healthy meals plus snacks, all programming costs, and lodging in rustic log cabins complete with bunk beds and gas or wood stoves. Nearby wash houses provide clean, modern facilities with hot water and showers. Depending on how many sign up, you may be sharing a cabin with other participants/chaperones (they sleep 12 bunkbed style). We are limiting enrollment to 24 participants (and must have a minimum of 10 to run the program). Depending on how many sign up, you may be sharing a cabin with other participants/adults.
The cost is $75.00 per participant and $50.00 per adult for the weekend. Participants must be supervised by an adult the entire weekend.
Sample schedule:
Saturday Arrival
9:00 a.m. arrival
9:30 a.m. Adventure Course
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Adventure Course
2:30 p.m. High Ropes
5:00 p.m. Move into Cabins - Free Time
6:00 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m. Campfire with s’mores
Sunday:
7:00 a.m. Rise and shine
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m. Environmental Education and Survival Skills, Property Hike, Orienteering
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Departure
For more information or to register for the Girls' Leadership Program, please contact Pat Karl at pkarl@princetonblairstown.org. Please include your contact information (name and phone number, along with how many participants with their ages). Full payment is due 14 days prior to the program - November 16th (check or money order made out to “Princeton-Blairstown Center”) and sent to my attention at 158 Millbrook Road, Blairstown, NJ 07825.
“It was evident all the planning and thought that went into making the weekend such a success. We are so glad we participated. Rainbow was a terrific facilitator and I know the girls really liked her—she had great rapport with them. My girls loved having their own cabin, too. They are all looking forward to coming back and doing more.”
Our Program
The Girls' Leadership Program was originally designed by 11 girls aged 10-14 from Montgomery, New Jersey, members of Girl Scout Troop 60518. The girls began the process with a focus on core leadership attributes – problem solving, communication, conflict resolution, self-reflection, goal setting, and more. They used these attributes to build exciting outdoor adventure programs that will build confidence for girls as they uncover their own strengths and break through perceived limits. During the program design process, the Girl Scouts did test runs of their curriculum at the Blairstown Campus, surprising themselves in the process as they did hiking, high-ropes challenges, outdoor cooking, gardening, and even rappelling down a 35 foot dam.
In September 2014, the Girl Scouts' leadership work was featured on the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl (IDG) Summit website. Members of the Girl Scout troop also attended the Girls Speak Out at the United Nations on Friday, October 10, 2015. The Girls Speak Out featured girls' stories of leadership and social change around the world.
