Charron Mason

Andy LaRussa

Ryan Wilkins

Service Learning Project

April 25, 2002

Title of Project: Oakcrest L.D.S. Girl’s Camp Website

Background: Oakcrest L.D.S. Girl’s camp is located in the Uintah Mountains just south east of Kamas, Utah. It began in 1958 and has grown much larger since then. When it first began it was called Woodland Camp and was for the Stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to use with their Young Women. Now it is a counselor-type camp that serves over 3000 girls a summer.

During the first years there were no cabins. Over time it has expanded to fourteen cabins, a building for staff quarters, a cottage for the caretakers, a lodge complete with kitchen, stage, dressing rooms, a workshop, trading post, eating area, a restroom, and storage area, a garage, craft house, an extra storage room, first aid room, equipment room, a large bathroom, and a small bathroom. Also in the acreage at Oakcrest are a zip line, eight archery targets, an outdoor basketball court, two volleyball courts, a large softball field, a small field, and around twenty cook out sites.

Camp Oakcrest has also grown in attendance over the years. An addition was made in 1998 and more cabins were built to accommodate for more girls. Last year, 2001, there was an average of 350 girls per week and approximately 3500 girls over the whole summer. Beginning as early as October, interviews are held to hire for the staff the next summer. There is one director, two assistant directors, thirty-three counselors, two craft specialists, one first aid specialists, a caretaker couple, one head cook, two assistant head cooks, and eight kitchen debs. Behind the scenes of Oakcrest is the Women’s committee who handles everything about the camp, including the hiring, and the Priesthood Executive Committee who oversees the Women’s committee.

The girls who come to camp are from 80 various stakes around the South end of the Salt Lake Valley. They come in the summers after seventh grade and depending on the stake sometimes eighth grade. This ranges the girls ages from 12-14. Each stake has a scheduled week and the girls stay for that week only. The meet the buses early on Monday morning, complete with their tons of luggage.

When the girls come to camp they are divided into units and each counselor is over one unit. When the girls are at camp they call their counselors by a “fake” name. Counselors choose a nickname before the summer begins. From that moment on and for the rest of their lives they are known as the name they have chosen. Charron’s nickname was Maverick. Others were Warrior, Timber, Juniper, Tachikara, Skeeter, Kodak, Zinny, and a variety of others. Each member of the staff is known by a nickname, including the directors and kitchen staff etc. If someone works at Oakcrest for more than one summer it is tradition to keep the same name, however exceptions can be made (in very rare circumstances). Charron worked there for three summers, and she kept them same name, why would she ever want anything but the coolest name of Maverick?

There are roughly 10-12 girls per counselor. They stay in the cabins and sleep in bunk beds. Their counselor is in charge of them throughout the week and plans different activities for them to do. There are a number of different activities that are described later in the paper. At least two meals a day are eaten in the lodge; other meals are cooked outside in the fire pits. After every meal in the lodge the girls and counselors participate in singing camp songs.

The girls arrive on Monday morning around eight o’clock and leave Friday afternoon about two thirty. The majority of the girls who come to Oakcrest love the atmosphere and the fun and most especially their counselor. The main objectives of Oakcrest are: to light and strengthen the testimony of each girl, provide an atmosphere where the spirit of the Gospel is present, to teach good values and lasting morals, to provide each girl with a good role-model, if they don’t already have one, to create long lasting friendships, and to help each girl feel the love that the Lord has for them.

One night a week the girls are taken either on an all day hike, or on an overnighter. When the girls register to come to camp earlier in the spring, they can indicate on their form which activity they would like to do. Just less than one percent of the girls decide to go on the hike, the rest decide on the overnighter. On a given week there will be two units out of thirty that will go on the hike instead of the overnighter. The only difference between the two activities is that on the overnighter you sleep under tarps or under the stars. On the hike you do everything else, but you sleep in the cabin.

The overnighters are generally the highlight of the week. There are three different sites: East, West, and South. Eight to ten units are on each sight. The counselors are paired into two’s and those units do everything together during that time. They pack everything up with them, sleeping bags, food, dutch ovens, cook utensils, clothes, first aid kits, shovels, tarps, and all the things necessary to rough it.

While at the sight many activities go on. Most often the first thing to do after camp is set up is certification. This is to pass off girls when they have completed certain tasks in their camp manuals that are published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Next the girls would have the opportunity to participate in “solo.” With their units girls read the story of the First Vision and Joseph Smith in Joseph Smith History, which is part of the Standard Works that is published by the LDS church. After this a brief discussion is held, led by the counselors. The girls are then given an hour to go out in the woods and read scriptures, pray, ponder, write in their journal, or anything they feel as long as they are by themselves. Some girls have said this is their favorite part of camp and this is when they felt the spirit and gained the start of a testimony. Others sleep or go far enough away from the counselors that they can sit and talk with their friends.

Dinner is then made and all girls help to prepare the meal. Popular cookout dishes are: chicken and rice, chicken dumplings, shepherd’s pie, and mexi-salad. For desert there is always ashcakes, which are made with the hot ashes of the fire, and sometimes pudding pies, banana boats, or marshmallow’s to roast. After dinner a skit is performed by each unit and then a final one by the counselors. It is a fun filled time with laughing, screaming, and excitement. Directly after skits counselors take each of their girls to individual fire pits for a testimony meeting. Each girl has the opportunity to share what they feel and know about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they don’t have to say anything if they do not want too.

On Friday when the girls leave it is always very emotional, for counselors and girls. Although it is only a week there is always a special bond that is comes between counselor and girl. There is a closing ceremony and each girl is given a special necklace with a personal note from her counselor. The girls then get on the buses and cry and wave until they are out of sight.

Project: After given this extensive background the task or project was to create a website for this information to be available to anyone. As Oakcrest has grown over the years and technology has broadened the need has become necessary for information to be more accessible for those who seek it. The Women’s committee first made the desire at the beginning of the 2000 season. However, because of lack of resources and time it was not being completed. The current secretary of the Women’s committee, Michelle Davies, attempted to get a website on the Internet before the 2001 season. Again it was put on hold as then Michelle was hired to be the director and therefore was not able to complete the project. This provides us with the perfect service-learning project. We are able to provide service for Oakcrest and complete a project for History 2710. The great part that links these two items is that there is a history to Oakcrest that was included in the project.

Intended Audiences: The website was created to provide more information for a variety of people. First of all the site is there to provide anyone with information about Oakcrest and what it actually is. Second, the site caters to the girls who will be coming to camp, what they should expect, what they should bring, and the rules for them to follow. Third, previous staffs can access the site to see pictures of each staff and their signature sheets (more years will be included eventually, however camp does not open until the end of May and that is where the other pictures of all the previous staffs are). Last, the site provides information for potential employees where they can see what Oakcrest is all about and they can access an application to be mailed into the committee (the applications on the page are only temporary, they will be changed, there were some technical problems that we couldn’t figure out, but they will be fixed before they it goes on the internet).

Local contact persons or agency:

The workload was very different from what we first thought. There was a lot more work involved than any of us imagined, but when we finally finished the time was well spent. We divided the tasks into three categories and each of us took one category. Charron was in charge of the information, the links and any finishing touches. Ryan took charge of the checking the details of the history and of creating the text within the website. Andy was in charge of the pictures, in scanning them, and putting them on the page. With the three of us working the time went by faster and we were able to get a lot done. Overall we estimated the hours we worked on it to be about 35 total. Before beginning we estimated it taking much longer than this, but with three of us the time was cut in half. Then when we got going we thought the project would take us very little time, but it took longer.

Technology related resources or applications: Obviously being a web page there was much use of computer based technology. We used the program Netscape Composer. We also used a scanner for the pictures. Basically our project was based upon computer technology.

The first page has the name of Oakcrest and its motto. Next to a picture there are links to the other items on the sight. There is a copyright at the bottom of that page because if the Priesthood committee approves it will be submitted for approval from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints through an area president.

The next page is the history of Oakcrest. A member of the Oakcrest Women’s Committee had previously typed the history, but it is not exactly sure whom. Previous employees and members of the committee were talked to and interviewed in order to gather all the information and details of the camp’s history. Barbara Leary gave us much of the information that was used as she had worked at the camp for such a long period of time. Michelle Davies gave us the actual hard copy of the history so we had something to go off of. Few details were changed as we put the history onto the web page.

Next is What is Oakcrest? This is a page for those who know nothing about Oakcrest and would like to read a little more about what goes on at camp and why Oakcrest is in existence.

The next page is for the girls who are coming up to camp. This is available so they will know what to expect and perhaps they will not be nervous or as nervous to come. There is a link for the items the girls should bring to camp that they can use as a packing list. The last link on this page is the rules of camp. This way the girls will know what is expected of them and what they can or cannot do while at camp.

The next page is for previous employees of Oakcrest. In the lodge at Oakcrest there is a picture of each staff since the early 60’s. However these will not be available until after the end of May because camp is not currently open. When access is granted to theses photos they will be pictured on the website as well. This page has each year, their picture, and their signature sheet. A signature sheet is something that each staff member signs with their camp name and usually a little design and their real name under that. The girls usually cherish these (as Charron did when she was a camper there many years ago). Sometimes it is fun for other staffs to see what others have chosen as their name and what they looked like so it was a necessity to have this page available.

The next page is for those who are seeking for employment at Oakcrest. As previously mentioned these are only temporary. There were a few technical problems that none of us could figure out. Charron talked to Michelle Davies and Michelle was going to take a look at it before she presented it to the Priesthood Committee. There will be applications available for every position at Oakcrest. The applicant is given instructions to print of each sheet and submit her own application and a letter to Donna Winget, Employment Committee member. Each applicant must also have a recommendation letter from their bishop and a personal reference letter. These are to be filled out and sent in by the bishop and personal reference.

Next is the best page on the whole website! This is the page that gives the details and pictures of the fun and activities that happen at Oakcrest. Some activities that are listed are first aid and crafts, games, meals, overnighters, and others. Here is a list of the games: archery, zip line, basketball, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, Football 500, croquet, softball, tie dye, hikes, compass course, scavenger hunts, pranks, mofia, fashion shows, human paper rock scissors, water kickball, soccer, water fights, concerts and much, much more! Like previously mentioned the overnighter is the highlight of the week, the girls love it and so do the counselors. This is the page that shows the fun and beautiful side of Oakcrest.

Maps and Extras is the title of the next page. This gives two different maps of Oakcrest. One was a direction map on how to get there from Salt Lake City. The other is a map or diagram of the cabins. The directors used this for many things: to assign roommates, girls to counselors, and other things. It also has a TNT list. TNT is an award given to girls who keep their cabin clean. Everyday cabins are checked by counselors who don’t have girls for that week, known as floaters. If the girls get TNT each day of the week, on Friday they are given a special reward. (Charron is proud to say that during her two years of being a counselor her girls never missed TNT once!) It can get to be a pretty big thing and highly competitive, but fun as well! The last item is for Flag Ceremony. This was more or less an FYI link than anything. There is a Flag ceremony morning and night, which the girls help to participate in. This helps them in their camp certification.

The last page is the Oakcrest Women’s Committee, addresses and phone numbers, and also the two members of the Priesthood committee. We were informed after the completion of the project that some of the committee members have been changed, so there is already a need for revision. Michelle Davies told us she would take care of that, so it is now different from the information we have. This is a link for any further questions or if stake leaders need to get in contact with the committee.

Conclusion: Overall, this project was to benefit Oakcrest L.D.S. Girl’s camp by taking some pressure of the committee members and by providing more information that will be available to more people. This is a project that has had much wanting over the past couple of years so it was really a neat thing we were able to help them out with this. The greatest part is that it can relate to history because Oakcrest has an extensive one.

What did we learn: “This was a great project for me. I have spent three summers at Oakcrest, two as a counselor, and one as an assistant director. When I was 13 and 14 I was able to go to Oakcrest as a camper. The experiences I had at Oakcrest were the best of my life and I would never give them back for anything. The experiences I had when I was influencing the lives of other girls are irreplaceable. Oakcrest has changed my life and I will never be the same. I know this project helped the committee as we freed them up to do other tasks. They thanked us numerous times for the work we put in. It is still a long process from here as we need to approval of different authorities, but hopefully if they don’t use our exact website this will at least get them one step closer. I am so glad I was able to do this project. If there is one thing I have learned from Oakcrest it is the spirit of service. Doing this service-learning project helped me to feel that same way as I did when I was serving the girls who came up. It has been hard for me to be away from Oakcrest because it was my life for three years, so this helped me to feel close to it again. I love doing service and this was great to be able to get school credit for something that actually benefited others so much. “ -Charron Mason

“Everything involved with this project was new for me so I learned many new things. Oakcrest and the activities involved there seem like a great idea. Talking with Charron about Oakcrest it seems like an amazing camp and I’m sure many other girls feel the same way. I learned a lot about how much work and effort goes into a camp like this. It was rewarding to be able to contribute to this camp and with this website.”

“I really enjoyed working on this assignment because I learned a lot about Oakcrest, technology, and it had a historical context. Oakcrest is a fascinating camp that looks like a lot of fun and is in a great environment for young girls. I enjoyed making a website because it was great learning how to use the technology. The historical context was important in learning the background of Oakcrest, but you also learn about new and other things that are out there.” - Andy LaRussa