This August, FEEST Student Organizers came together for one of our most powerful summer camps yet. For five days, youth gathered at El Centro de la Raza to dig into the roots of oppression, deepen their organizing skills, and practice radical joy. Our theme was Inner/Outer Accountability and students lived it every step of the way. What made this camp especially powerful was the balance of political education, skill-building, healing justice, and joyful community building. Students not only gained knowledge, they also created memories and relationships that will carry them into the school year as stronger, bolder organizers. 🌱✨

Day 1: Who is FEEST & Why Organizing Matters 📚📝🌟

We opened camp with introductions, grounding activities, and a deep dive into FEEST’s history of food justice and student-led campaigns. Students explored why organizing matters and began to envision their role in building collective power. Facilitated by FEEST staff, the day set the tone: youth power is the heartbeat of change. Returning Student Organizers shared stories about what it’s like to be at FEEST, and new students began connecting their own lived experiences to larger movements for justice. 

Youth also began Shared Meal Planning! During every lunch break for the week, students were tasked with organizing each other to plan and host a shared meal with youth and staff for Friday. The day ended with community agreements and reflections on how everyone would support one another throughout the week. 

Day 2: Base Building & Creative Improv 🎭🌈✨

Led by Hannah, our Food Access Manager, along with community partners, students learned that organizing starts with authentic relationships. Through food stories and a lively round of Food Story Bingo, students connected personal experiences to broader movements for food sovereignty, abolition, and community care. They also thought critically about how food connects to identity, culture, and politics.

In the afternoon, our friends at Red Eagle Soaring brought an improv workshop that invited students to practice adaptability, collaboration, and storytelling. Laughter filled the room as students stepped into roles, invented skits, and discovered how humor and creativity can strengthen movements and our relationships with each other. These activities reminded us that movement work is also about imagination, connection, and joy.

Day 3: Accountability in Action🌹🛠️💡

With our friend Robert from API Chaya, students examined what accountability looks like in organizing spaces and in their personal lives. They practiced transformative accountability, reflecting on how harm can be addressed and healed without punishment. Students explored accountability on both interpersonal and systemic levels, recognizing that true change requires honesty, care, and the courage to face hard truths.

The workshop encouraged students to reflect on their own roles in building communities where accountability is not about blame, but about growth and repair. Many students named this day as one that shifted how they thought about their responsibilities as leaders. By this point in the week, Shared Meal Planning had also deepened: students split into working groups, with some focusing on the meal prep, others designing games and community activities, and still others taking on the challenge of coordinating logistics like how to transport supplies and food. They also took a camp-wide poll, and the results concluded that the shared meal would be rice bowls, a choice that reflected their collective decision-making and excitement for building something together. 

Day 4: Transformative Leadership & Embodiment 🌟📈🤲

FEEST staff Jude and returning Student Organizers Huda and Daniel led a workshop on transformative leadership development. Together, we explored what it means to be a front-facing leader who speaks out boldly, and what it means to be a behind-the-scenes strategist who builds systems and support, and how there is room in our movements for all of us to show up in our most authentic ways. Students completed the leadership scale activity, helping them identify strengths and areas they’d like to grow into this year.

Later in the afternoon, guest facilitator Tai Mattox guided an embodiment session, inviting students to connect with their bodies as sites of wisdom, resilience, and liberation. With gentle movement, breathwork, and reflection, students left with practical tools for grounding themselves during stress and with a reminder that leadership is also about presence, balance, and care for self and others. 

Day 5: Watering Our Grief Gardens & Youth-Led Meal 🌦️🔄❤️

On our final day, FEEST staff Ammara facilitated Watering Our Grief Gardens, a workshop rooted in healing justice and grief. Students shared grief collectively through an anonymous snowball exercise, practiced Qigong, and reflected on plants as co-conspirators in healing. The space was tender, brave, and full of love. 

Afterward, the day flowed into the shared meal that students had been planning. Students took full ownership: planning, grocery shopping, cooking, setting roles, and hosting a community meal with games and activities. It was a living example of accountability, collaboration, and radical joy. 

Just as important, students got to practice what every organizer knows well: the art of the pivot. When rain shifted our plans from Jefferson Park back to El Centro, they adapted quickly: reworking logistics, roles, and activities with creativity and care. Learning how to adjust and keep moving forward is one of the most valuable lessons of organizing, and our students rose to the challenge with heart. They proved that even when plans change, the core values of community, care, and joy carry us through.

Reflections & What’s Next 🌍🕯️🌱

Students left camp with skills and a clear vision of the year ahead – building campaigns for mental health resources, access to fresh school food, and schools rooted in collective care. The combination of skill-building, healing practices, and opportunities to lead gave students a strong foundation for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

As we step into the school year, we hold gratitude for every student who showed up ready to learn, lead, and imagine new worlds. The stories, lessons, and bonds built during this week will ripple outward into our schools and communities all year long. 

Thank you for reading this recap blog about FEESTs Summer Camp! Stay connected with us in the months ahead –  the work is just beginning, and we can’t wait to share more of their leadership and brilliance with you. 💌