Camp Firewheel Helps Students Build Healthy Connections

by Victoria Stephens for South Metro Standard

Moore Public Schools’ Camp Firewheel goes beyond the classroom to provide students with mental health support during the summer. The camp just wrapped up its fourth year, serving MPS students of all backgrounds who can benefit from mental health support.

MPS employs a team of therapists to promote the importance of mental health throughout the school year, and Camp Firewheel provides additional support for students with mental health needs. The camps are for elementary and middle school students and are based on trust-based relationship intervention (TBRI), based on the research of the late Karyn Purvis, PhD at Texas Christian University’s Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development.

“Camp Firewheel is a wonderful program that reinforces the personal skills and techniques during the summer that our mental health team works on with identified students throughout the year,” Moore School Superintendent Robert Romines, Ph.D. said. “I’ll always support the work that our mental health team does for MPS, as they work with our students and MPS employees. We know this type of support is needed and necessary, and I’m proud of MPS for making mental health a priority.”

Every year, MPS therapists attend a training in the TBRI method at TCU. Karyn Purvis, PhD and her mentor, David Cross, PhD began The Hope Connection, a summer camp for adopted children who experienced early orphanage care, and it was such a success that a foundation was formed for TBRI, a model for children from “hard places.” The central theme of camp is connection.

One connection students make is with their camp buddies, who are high school students who graduated from Camp Firewheel. The buddies do all the same activities that the camp participants do to help encourage participation.

“It’s beneficial for our students as it helps to promote emotional regulation, building new and healthy relationships and connections, increases self-awareness, increases coping mechanisms, and learning how to get their needs met in a positive way,” Counselor Davene Findlay-Williams said.

During camp, students are divided into groups for a rotation of activities. The themes for the rotations are movement, mindfulness, regulation, nurture, nature and art. Throughout the camp, they also work on what it looks like to give and receive care through activities and discussion including putting Band-Aids on one another with permission.

“Sometimes it’s hard for kids from hard places or who experienced trauma to receive care or ask for help.” - Davene Findlay-Williams

One central activity during the camp is a nature-related field trip where students participate in outdoor activities together to further the central theme of connection. This summer, they traveled to the UCO Boathouse for kayaking and paddleboarding.