Mission

Taiga Adventure Camp (TAC) offers a fun, personalized, and supportive growth experience. It is the only summer camp in the NWT specifically for teenage girls. Our goal is for each camper to develop their confidence, leadership skills, and a respect for others.

The Taiga Adventure Camp has a partnership agreement with the YWCA, Canada's oldest women's organization. The YWCA remains the largest women's multi-service organization in Canada, providing essential programs and services to 1 million women, teen girls, and their families every year in 200 communities across Canada. Together we will work to make a difference in the lives of young women in the NWT.

Our Philosophy
Taiga Adventure Camp was founded with the belief that positive role modeling, educational experience and leadership based opportunity are pillar foundations which encourage young women to enhance their self esteem and pursue their fullest potential. The intent of TAC is empowerment, to bring realization to young women that they have options and choices well beyond the scope of their current experiences. That enlightenment takes place in Taiga Camps through new and exciting experiences, self reflection and relationships with others. This is done in a guided and planned approach integrating the pillar foundations in a format designed to inspire, motivate, and most importantly create tangible life skills and lasting impressions as young women transition from the teen years into adulthood.

Goals

• Inspire confidence in each camper by challenging self-imposed limitations
• Cultivate independence
• Develop leadership skills
• Instil healthy relationships and lifestyles
• Promote post secondary education

Target Participants

• Young Women, ages 11-17
• Future Leaders
• Aboriginal Youth
• Youth At Risk
• NWT Communities

Our Objectives

• To facilitate an environment that supports a positive identity
• To provide an experience where social competencies are developed
• To encourage leadership and behaviour that builds team cohesion
• To encourage leadership behaviours that build success

Board of Directors

The role of the TAC Advisory Board is to provide leadership and governance in fulfillment of TAC's mission statement and objectives. Board members represent TAC to the community and optimize the relationships between stakeholders. Click here for Board Bio.

TAC Core Values

TAC promotes the following values:

• Caring - Teach campers that it is important to help others.
• Integrity - Recognize the importance of standing up for your beliefs.
• Honesty - Understand the value of telling the truth.
• Responsibility - Campers will be responsible for the decisions they make.
• Healthy Lifestyle - TAC campers will practice healthy living, including a nutritious and balanced diet, participation in physical activities and increased awareness about the dangers of high risk behaviour.

TAC facilitates an environment that supports a positive identity:

• Self Esteem - Campers are encouraged to value their individual skills, talents and beliefs.
• Sense of Purpose - Campers will discuss goal setting and how they can achieve the goals they set out for themselves.

TAC provides an experience to develop social competencies:

• Interpersonal - Campers should consider each others feelings, enjoy making friends and when frustrated learn to calm themselves.
• Cultural - Campers are comfortable with her own cultural identity and with others that have a different racial, ethnic or cultural backgrounds.
• Resistance - Campers can stay away from people who are likely to get them in trouble or involve them in dangerous situations.

TAC will encourage leadership and behaviour that builds team cohesion:

• Win-win problem solving.
• Extend grace when others make mistakes.
• Ownership - Take responsibility for own mistakes.
• Forgivesness - Learn to apologize and forgive.
• Teambuilding - spend time to getting to know one another.
• Conflict resolution - resolve conflict in a non-violent manner.

TAC will encourage the following leadership behaviours that build success:

• Participate to the best of your ability in all group discussions.
• Building commitment and ownership of team goals.