What Happened When One Camp Director Let the Girls Lead

My friend Kim Garrett, just got back from serving as girls camp director for her ward. I love girls camp as a concept, even though my own introduction to it at age 12 was a little traumatic. Let's just say there was an unhappy camper, some aerosol hairspray, and a very overwhelmed twelve year old me who did not want to go back for a while. Thankfully my aunt was a stake camp director in Connecticut and gave me a much better experience the next two years, and I eventually came around. Kim's camp experience though? Way better than mine from the start, and this conversation had me taking notes the whole way through.

✨Listen to the full episode or read for the breakdown.

Daughters of Light

Kim's theme this year was Daughters of Light, inspired by a song from the 2025 youth album. When her Young Women's president initially suggested "Stand in the Light," something about it didn't sit right with Kim. It felt prescriptive, like a checklist of where you should be standing and what you should be doing. She wanted something different. Something that told every girl, regardless of where her testimony was at, that she already was the light. Not that she needed to find it or earn it or stand in the right spot to access it. That she carried it with her. That became the heartbeat of the whole camp.

Giving the Girls the Wheel

What stood out most to me in this conversation was how intentionally Kim handed ownership of camp over to the girls. She established the theme and then stepped back. The YCLs, which stands for youth camp leaders, met at Kim's house multiple times before camp and were divided into committees covering activities, bonding, spiritual content, and food. They made the decisions. They followed through on the logistics. When Kim came back from helping one group and found that the spiritual committee had completely reimagined her daily theme idea into something better, finding the light, using the light, sharing the light, she just said yes. Because it was theirs. And when something is yours, you show up for it differently.

"I wanted any girl, no matter where she was at in her testimony journey, to go home feeling worthy, loved, and like she is light. That's just who she is."

The Wicked Moment That Set the Tone

"Christ asks us to let go of our status, our coolness, sometimes our comfort, to show up for somebody and accept them exactly as they are."

Before camp even started, Kim gathered her YCLs and showed them the scene from Wicked where Glinda chooses to let go of her social status and dance with Elphaba in front of everyone. She used it to talk about what Christ asks of us when it comes to the people around us. There are going to be girls at camp who are weird or quirky or not in your friend group, she told them. Christ asks us to let go of our coolness and show up for those people anyway. She said the room was in tears by the end of the conversation. And at camp, those girls held each other to it. When things started to veer toward drama, they called it out themselves. No mean girls. And they meant it.

A Sunset Hike and Lights in the Trees

One of my favorite details from this episode was Kim's Monday night activity. She took the girls on a sunset hike at 8:30 in the evening and let them share at the top of the mountain the ways they personally find the light in their lives. Then on the walk back, as it got darker, she had secretly strung lights in four trees along the path. At each one they stopped and talked about something the light offers us, peace, hope, goodness, and a fourth she laughed about blanking on during our conversation. Simple, intentional, and completely powerful. She said it best herself. Keep it simple. Camp does not need to be over the top to be meaningful.

"When something is theirs, they show up for it differently.

And they did."

What Girls Camp Is Really For

Kim said something near the end of our conversation that I keep thinking about. Camp is a perfect place to learn how to be with people who aren't your best friends. That is just real life. And she is so right. Some of the most valuable things we can give young people are opportunities to practice exactly that, showing up for someone outside your circle, choosing kindness when it would be easier not to, and discovering that you can love someone you would never have chosen on your own. Kim gave her girls that experience. And from the sound of it, they rose to every bit of it.

You're awesome.

🤟🏼 Brynne

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Hi, I’m Brynne. I share my journey of becoming through stories and reflection - guided by a higher power as I explore identity, faith, and everyday life, inviting you to grow alongside me.

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