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Satori Camp History
 Twenty-five
years ago, an experiment took place on the Eastern
Washington University (EWU) Campus in Cheney, WA, USA Founded
by Dr. Bruce Mitchell, a professor at EWU, a summer camp for academically
talented and gifted elementary school students was held at the Robert
Reid Laboratory School as a part of Eastern Washington’s Teacher
Education Program. In the third year of this experimental camp,
F. Michael Cantlon joined Dr. Mitchell and the camp was given the
name “Satori”. After a brief stop at the EWU Higher
Education Building in downtown Spokane, it was moved to its current
location at the historic
Met Theater – also located in downtown Spokane. Jr. Satori,
as it is now known, has become a staple day camp that addresses
the special learning needs of academically talented and gifted students.
The camp curriculum changes focus on a yearly basis to incorporate
such important issues as city history, the arts, natural resources,
the future, and cultural studies.
 Satori
Camp, or Senior Satori camp as it was first called (since it developed
as an off-shoot of the successful junior program), held it’s
first session in 1984. This camp was designed for academically talented
and gifted junior and senior high school students and set up as
a residential camp where campers as young as the seventh grade could
gain a University experience. Campers were given three class choices
where they could develop active inquiry into areas and fields that
they might not have access to in their junior high or senior high
school settings. Classes such as Anatomy and Physiology, where students
are able to work with cadavers, allow for a deeper and more thorough
level of learning. Since the camp was designed primarily as an enrichment
experience, no grades or evaluations are given on the student’s
work.
 The
first camp began with campers primarily from the Eastern Washington
area, and had twenty students. Since then campers have come from
all over the United States and the World. We have alumni from as
far away as North Carolina, Alaska, Canada, Japan, and Brazil to
name a few. The camp has grown to an enrolment of approx. 120 and
expanded to offer over twenty-eight different courses.
In response to the camp’s growing size, a
Student Advisory Council was established
in 1993 by campers to reach out to fellow campers and incorporate
them into the feeling of “Satori” as well as help them
learn their way around the campus, and their classes. This student
group has grown into a leadership workshop for campers attending
at least their third year of Satori camp. These students come to
camp a day early where they take part in specialized workshops,
and preparation for the week of camp.
 Another
recent development in response to camper input, is the Counsellor-In-Training
(CIT) positions that are available to campers who have graduated
from high school, but would like to continue their relationship
with Satori Camp. The CITs are campers who can return and work for
the camp for two years and then have the possibility of becoming
regular camp counsellors. In 2002, we had six recent alumni as CITs,
two working as full counsellors and four camp alumni who, having
become professionals in their field, now teach classes.
 Going
into the senior camp’s twenty-fifth year the possibilities
that Satori has to offer to academically talented students are greater
then ever. Strictly academic classes have grown into a diverse offering
aimed at developing a well-rounded individual. Both classes and
camp activities have been carefully developed to incorporate both
academic and character development in campers.
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