Since the beginning of 2026, Peer Leaders from across the U.S. and Bermuda gathered with other regional teams to prepare their last PeerForward campaign of the year.
Spring Training Camp season has officially come to a close! Peer Leaders from New York, Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado, Texas, Maryland, and Bermuda, attended their training camps to plan their final PeerForward campaign of the year, review their progress to date, and prepare the juniors to take over following the upcoming graduation of our seniors.
At their Spring Training Camps, our Peer Leaders reviewed their scoreboards, admiring the impact they’ve had on their peers so far while recognizing where they can continue to grow moving forward. Much like during our Fall Training Camps, they also engaged in role-specific training.
However, this time, there was an added twist. This time around, seniors stepped up and told the juniors what they wished they had known about their role when they first got it and how they would do things differently. In turn, our juniors asked follow up questions, insuring they are ready to take on their new roles with confidence. They then reconnected with their teams to share reflections and then create an “action calendar” for their role each month including events, role-specific steps, and team-based areas of focus.
With the school year already winding down, our teams are shifting their focus to Campaign Connect. The purpose of this campaign is to help students build career skills while making academic choices aligned with their future goals and aspirations in mind. In order to get into the Campaign Connect mindset, our Peer Leaders were led through a vision boarding activity that focused on the future they want for their school and classmates.
Another focus of our 2026 Spring Training Camps was the concept of financial literacy. Led by the coaches, Peer Leaders reflect on financial myths before assessing their “fixed” vs. “variable” expenses. They were tasked with looking at four sample financial award letters along with a description of a fictional student’s situation. In their teams, they discussed which award package they thought would suit the needs of the student the most and why, before sharing their opinions with the larger group.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a PeerForward Training Camp without the engagement of our corporate partners and volunteers! The Boston Spring Training Camp was hosted at the Locus Robotics, facilities, which our Peer Leaders were thrilled to have the opportunity to return to! Our NYC Spring Training Camp was held in the beautiful Deloitte office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. While there, a representative from Bank of America, Irene Awuah, joined us to give our Peer Leaders a crash course on communicating with confidence! During our Spring Training Camp in Maryland, we were joined by several Deloitte employees as well as a number of PeerForward Alumni. They shared their own postsecondary experiences, making sure to touch on why they chose the college they did. With Decision Day around the corner, these conversations couldn’t come at a better time!
Thank you to every Peer Leader, advisor, volunteer, corporate partner and coach who made this Training Camp season a success. We can’t wait to see our junior Peer Leaders step up to the plate while the seniors prepare for graduation and what’s next after high school. They’re ready to create positive change in their schools and community, and we look forward to providing them with additional leadership training at our upcoming summer Workshops!
