Stomping Ground's mission is to inspire the next generation of Radically Empathetic decision makers through, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, HUMBLE CURIOSITY, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, and UNBOUNDED CREATIVITY. Stomping Ground brings kids from different backgrounds, racial identities, and economic circumstances together to connect, share, learn and grow. Stomping Ground is committed to a trust-based sliding p
ayment scale and we have developed an extensive network of partnerships to make camp accessible to all families and communities. Before starting camp Stomping Ground, founders Jack Schott and Laura Kriegel canvassed the country learning about best practices from the best minds in the industry. They traveled to 47 states and visited over 200 different camps, schools, and kid centered communities. Based on this extensive research and needs assessment Stomping Ground was founded to address three social problems. First, we recognize that most children today grow up in siloed communities with homogeneous populations. According to the Urban Institute, while overall levels of segregation in American communities are declining, progress is too slow. Healthy stable communities can not grow while segregation, exclusion, and inequality persist. As kids we form so much of our world view from the people in our lives and the environments we are exposed to. If kids grow up with friends, neighbors, and peers who tend to all identify similarly it is harder to build empathy across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines. At Stomping Ground, we consciously break this
mold to build bridges across differences. When kids live and learn in a community that holds many world views and perspectives, they grow to become more inclusive and humbly curious. Second, we recognize that in our tightly scheduled world kids are given little time for free play. According to evolutionary psychologist Peter Gray, over the past half century children’s free play has declined sharply while anxiety and depression have increased. Unstructured, kid directed play is the primary way kids build confidence, develop communication skills, and practice critical thinking. At Stomping Ground we trust kids to make their own schedule, we trust them to make decisions about how they spend their time, we trust them to play. We trust kids so that they can begin to trust themselves. Lastly, we recognize that our society views conflict as negative and shameful. Our justice system is built on the idea that blame and punishment fix problems. This idea is embedded not only in the criminal justice system, but in schools, businesses, and families and other communities. At Stomping Ground we see conflict as an opportunity for connection and innovation. We have built extensive systems to support campers and staff to circle around harm that has been done and to collaboratively to problem solve, heal harm, and build community. After a week at Stomping Ground 79% of camper families report their child gained confidence, 65% report their child became more humbly curious and 78% say that they have seen their child be more radically empathetic or actively strive to understand and share the feelings of others.
