Madam President Camp offers hands-on experience to participants

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)-- Missouri Western State University hosted the second day of the fourth annual Madam President Camp. 

The camp is designed for girls ages 11 to 13 and gives participants hands-on opportunities to build leadership skills, develop confidence and explore ways they can make a difference in their schools and communities. 

Katy Schwartz Drowns, one of the camp's facilitators, said MoWest has been home to the program since it began four years ago.  

“We want them to just step outside a little bit of their comfort zone and look at what means to be a leader and how can they be a leader in their schools or communities,” she said.  

Throughout the camp days, campers heard from women leaders from both MoWest and the St. Joseph community, who share their experiences and encourage the girls to pursue leadership roles of their own. 

The camp focuses on five key areas: communication, civic engagement, leadership, activism and self-discovery.  

The program focuses primarily on five main areas, communication, civic engagement, leadership, activism and self-discovery.  

“Self discovery kind of winds through everything and we talk a lot to them about how are they learning about themselves,” she added.  

For eighth grader Annabeth Lipincott, the experience has already made an impact.  

“They are teaching us about how we all have a voice and how we can protest our problems and teaching us about law and how to be confident with our opinion,” Lipincott added.  

She said she signed up because she wanted to become more confident in expressing her ideas. 

As part of the camp, participants are creating projects that identify a problem in their community and develop solutions while pitching their ideas as if they were running for office.  

“I focused on the problem how kindergarteners and seniors are being fed the exact same amount of food when seniors should be fed more than what they were in elementary schools,” she said.  

Another eighth grader, Valentina Juarec, said this is her first year attending the camp, and she's enjoyed learning about women who have inspired and empowered others. 

She said those stories motivate her and other girls to continue that legacy.  

“Just keep going even if you fail still keep going and just don’t give up,” Juarec said.  

She said meeting other girls with similar goals has been one of the best parts of the camp. 

Juarec said some of the stories about older women were harder to relate to, but she still hopes to learn from their experiences. 

Parents can sign up for next year's Madam President Camp, offered in St. Joseph and Kansas City, through the program's website. 

On the final day, July 15, Wednesday, families can see the campers' projects and what they've learned throughout the week.