Asheville School Students Work to Empower Local Elementary School Students During Camp Good Trouble 

This summer, Camp Good Trouble returned to Asheville School for its second year. The mission of the camp, which was co-founded by Nicole Alleyne 2019 and Maggie Chang 2019, is “empowering youth of color to ensure they have the confidence, skills, and motivation to cause ‘good trouble’ to make the world a better place.” 

Asheville area elementary school students attended the weeklong camp, where they practiced swimming, horseback riding, and art, and they brushed-up on math and reading skills in preparation for the upcoming school year.  

“Our whole purpose is to make kids feel loved and let them know that they are capable,” says Kelsey Mann 2021, who worked as a leader at Camp Good Trouble this year. “Short-term success is when a child learns their multiplication tables or spells a new vocab word or learns something new. If they are one step closer to being prepared for the school year, we have made progress, but we have not fulfilled our mission until all of our kids have a grounded and strong confidence in themselves and their abilities.”  

Camp founders Alleyne and Chang began the camp when they were students at Asheville School. Now graduates, they hope to train current students like Mann to take the reins and lead Camp Good Trouble in coming years.  

“My biggest hope is for the camp to remain rooted in mission and purpose that Maggie and Nicole intended for it,” Mann said. “What stood out to me this year was how much the counselors care about the campers. It’s always a wonderful feeling when you are a part of a group of people working towards the same goal with the same amount of love for what we are doing.”  

You can check out photos from this year’s camp here and read more about the founding of Camp Good Trouble here.