History of Spirit Camp
Spirit Camp has had 45 beautifully productive years. We started our camp in 1978 at West Georgia College in Carrollton, GA. Then when the Olympics came to Atlanta, and West Georgia needed their space for the Olympics we found a new home in 1995 at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. In 2008 we held camp for one year at University of Alabama at Birmingham, followed by 9 years (2009-2017) at Huntington College in Montgomery, Alabama. 2018 found us going back “home” to JSU, where we have been ever since. Covid interrupted us for 2 years (2020-2021), but we are thrilled to once again have Spirit Camp at Jacksonville State in 2023.
Present
The uniqueness of Spirit Camp is its ability to add value to your student leaders and the director knowledge to put those leaders to work at home to help improve your band, improve the
director’s life and the quality of ownership in your band program the students need and deserve.
Our staff of instructors find instructional success with every student at our camp. This is not a mass-produced type of camp. We have a low student teacher ratio and are proud of that fact. We fully intend for the director to have a real staff of junior instructors when you leave here to go home. We also will spend a lot of time in our DIRECTOR’S SYMPOSIUM sessions making each other aware of the many ways your student leaders can help make the band better, make your life better and create a legacy that will live at our schools long after the students have gone on in life.
Future
The future of Spirit Camp is strong as our community of directors and our board of advisors envision the usefulness of having strong dedicated and knowledgeable leaders for their band programs. We are dedicated to making sure the leaders of your band tomorrow have the same character, instructional knowledge, and confidence you have come to expect from your leadership/instructional team. As long as there is a need, SPIRIT CAMP will be here to help with the leadership part of your successful band program.