Compass Program

The Compass Program is an integral part of the pre-camp process that helps ATS Campers prepare for camp. Attendance and participation is expected in order to retain the ATS Campership.

The Compass Program offers virtual group learning experiences to our campership recipients that foster meaningful relationships and guide them to navigate their lives with a sense of belonging and purpose. It further prepares the campership recipients for the camp experience through extension activities and discussions around camp-related themes.

Compass Program participants meet 6 times from March – May. A Thousand Summers facilitators will guide the participants in group activities and discussions around belonging and purpose. Each class will include welcome rituals, a group experience, personal exchanges, and then a closing ritual.

The younger participants will be guided through activities exploring topics around belonging. They will investigate what it means to understand, value and accept themselves, how to build meaningful relationships with others and how to proactively build belonging with the wider world.

The older participants will be guided to explore who they are and what matters to them so they can purposefully navigate their life ahead. They will uncover who they are and the gifts that they have. They will explore the world’s needs and how they can contribute. Ultimately, they will learn skills to navigate their lives with purpose.

2027 Compass Program Dates & Times

ATS Compass Program campers will participate in one-hour Zoom workshops on six (6) Sunday afternoons on the dates listed below. ATS staff will host the workshops.

Compass Workshop Dates & Times:

Compass 1: Sunday, March 7, 2027

Compass 2: Sunday, March 21, 2027

Compass 3: Sunday, April 4, 2027

Compass 4: Sunday, April 18, 2027

Compass 5: Sunday, May 2, 2027

Compass 6: Sunday, May 16, 2027 ** All campers meet together at 1pm MT

Camper cohorts will be divided by grade and meet at the time listed below:

3rd–5th Grade: 1:00–1:50pm MT (12–12:50pm PT, 2–2:50pm CT, 3–3:50pm ET)
6th Grade: 2:00–2:50pm MT (1–1:50pm PT, 3–3:50pm CT, 4–4:50pm ET)
7th Grade: 3:00–3:50pm MT (2–2:50pm PT, 4–4:50pm CT, 5–5:50pm ET)
8th Grade: 4:00–4:50pm MT (3–3:50pm PT, 5–5:50pm CT, 6–6:50pm ET)
9th Grade and Older: 5:00–5:50pm MT (4–4:50pm PT, 6–6:50pm CT, 7–7:50pm ET)

These workshops are for campers only. Parents/guardians are asked to provide a quiet place with a secure internet connection for the camper to login. Login information will be sent to enrolled families.

Compass Program Curriculum

The Compass curriculum was developed by ATS staff with experience in social-emotional learning, education, and summer camp as both campers and counselors. It is intentionally designed to be a fun and engaging blend of social-emotional learning and camp preparation activities. Compass is the only curriculum of its kind, created specifically for ATS campers to help them build the skills and confidence they need to thrive at camp.

“This program has been outstanding. Every week provided valuable information that is helping to shape our children into empowered and confident teens.” — Parent of ATS Camper

“I will definitely use the skills we learned in Compass at camp, home, and school.” — ATS Camper

“I wanted to tell you how impressed we were with the Zoom sessions leading up to camp. They were informative, engaging, and did a wonderful job preparing the campers.” — Parent of ATS Camper