Adventist Education Shines at the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee

The 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee in Gillette, Wyoming, United States, was a vibrant event, drawing approximately 33,000 Pathfinders, young and old, with a passion for learning, to the North American Division Office of Education’s Creation Station, located in Energy Hall at CAM-PLEX. The station was a hub of activity, offering patches, prizes, and scholarships that added to the fun. 

Artie the Dinosaur, Southwestern Adventist University’s animated model T-Rex, and the highly sought-after NAD pins attracted a great deal of attention. The NAD Education booth, formed by back-lit panels depicting the seven days of creation, was a popular spot where visitors could receive one of the five NAD pins (Bermuda, Canada, Guam-Micronesia, NextGen Leader, or United States) and an Adventist Education Believe the Promise patch. 

NAD Education also introduced a Guinness World Record attempt. The camporee made history on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, by setting a world record for the most people simultaneously filling backpacks with school supplies. 

According to Hannah Ortman, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records, the goal was to surpass 250 participants, each of whom had to pack at least one backpack with five items independently. Camporee attendees packed a total of 255 Pathfinders backpacks. After breaking the record, the packers continued until 6,200 bags were stuffed with supplies.

The colorful backpacks, filled with a variety of school supplies and outreach materials tailored to different grade levels, will be distributed within the Gillette community through the city’s Blessings in a Backpack program and the Salvation Army. The remaining backpacks will be distributed by Pathfinder clubs in their local communities. 

Key supporters of this initiative — among them ADRA, Adventist Community Services, the office of the NAD vice president for evangelism, the NAD’s union education departments, and renewable energy company Circuit Electric Solar — were excited to participate in a project that would set a new record and benefit students on their education journey.

The Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities (AACU) also played a significant role at the camporee, collaborating to recruit, engage with Pathfinders, and plant seeds of interest in Adventist higher education. AACU institutions taking part included AdventHealth University, Andrews University, Burman University, Kettering College, La Sierra University, Loma Linda University, Oakwood University, Pacific Union College, Southern Adventist University, Southwestern Adventist University, Union Adventist University, Walla Walla University, and Washington Adventist University.

Two international universities also joined the effort: Antillean Adventist University (Puerto Rico) and Sagunto Adventist University (Spain).

Through our AACU institutions, union education departments, and several of our academies, NAD Education provided more than 30 honors and activities at the Creation Station in Energy Hall. Honors were as wide-ranging as African-American Seventh-day Adventist history, Bible markings, blacksmithing, photography, and dinosaurs/fossils. Activities included the art of filmmaking, a climbing wall, basic rescue obstacle course, coding for kids using robots, a photo booth, doodling with Ms. De, first aid and fire safety, and of course, the backpack challenge. 

Numbers Matter

The NAD Office of Education’s camporee offerings and accomplishments are summarized below. They included 21 honors, 33,000 Pathfinders, 13 Adventist academies, 13 NAD colleges/universities, and two international universities. It also included one Guinness World Record, 39 booths, 22 volunteers, 9,200 NAD pins, and more than 500 NextGen Teacher patches distributed.

The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.