Amplify is an empowering, award-winning sleep away camp

Hosted in Southern California, just 90 minutes northwest of Los Angeles, Amplify is truly one-of-a-kind. Youth choose a track (rock band, photography, music production, skateboarding, journalism, DJ, podcasting, music video making…) to focus on throughout their session(s), then they also choose from over 50 weekly electives for an unforgettable summer.

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Every week we also venture out on incredible day trips, like Universal Studios, Hurricane Harbor, our local beaches for surfing or camp outs, and more! We also hold super fun camp-wide community events, like morning assemblies, Friday night dance parties, pool parties, and of course our big end-of-camp showcase! Amplify campers follow their dreams, try incredible new things, and gain lifelong friends and positive role models in a safe and supportive environment.

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Campers largely move throughout camp with their own age groups, including dorm assignments/location, electives, and creative tracks.

Our campers follow their dreams, try incredible new things, and gain lifelong friends and positive role models in a safe and supportive environment. Our very low staff-to-camper ratio of 1:6 ensures a level of instruction, engagement, and mentoring that makes the experience unforgettable.

Campers choose a specialty (we call 'em TRACKS) to focus on during each session of Amplify. Some campers sign up for a different track for each session they’re enrolled in, and some stay with the same track for the whole season. There’s no wrong way to AMPLIFY YOUR VOICE.

No matter where you land, you’ll have about a million opportunities to dabble in lots of artistic areas and work alongside campers from other tracks. We love TEAMWORK and co-creation.

Session 1

• Bass
• Guitar
• Drums
• Vocals
• Music Production (+ Sound Engineering)
• Music Video Making
• Journalism

Session 2

• Bass
• Guitar
• Drums
• Vocals
• Music Production (+ Sound Engineering)
• Podcasting
• Photography
• Skateboarding

Session 3

• Bass
• Guitar
• Drums
• Vocals
• Music Production (+ Sound Engineering)
• Music Video Making
• Journalism

Session 4

• Bass
• Guitar
• Drums
• Vocals
• Keys/Piano
• DJ
• Music Production (+ Sound Engineering)
• Podcasting
• Photography

Rock Band Track

Our rock stars spend their session learning (or further mastering, if they've chosen one they already know and love) an instrument, forming a collaborative band, writing original songs, and performing on stage for the entire camp community. But don't let the name “rock band” fool you—camper bands can be any genre under the sun! Indie, pop, folk, R&B, funk, blues…whatever your authentic voices are!

DJ Track

Learn to mix, scratch, edit, and more on the road to becoming a bona fide DJ. We'll cover beat-making and matching, setting up and rocking your own performance space, mastering the DJ station (of course!), even performing LIVE at camp-wide events, like dance parties! And that's just the beginning.

Music Production & Engineering Track

Professional instructors with years of music industry experience teach our young producers and sound engineers all about music theory, recording, and more. Walk away from camp with not only a toolbelt bursting with modern music production skills, but also a totally polished original demo ready to be overnighted to Sony Music…

Photography Track

Young visionaries learn extensive photography skills. Highlights include working with camp community “clients” to capture their beauty, learning editing tools like Photoshop, and working closely with instructors to compile their own digital portfolios.

Podcasting Track

Fearless truth seekers learn all about basic researching/developing, interviewing, and recording/editing techniques. Morning instruction mirrors a professional broadcasting room, where campers pitch stories, plan their podcast concept, develop hard-hitting questions, master their equipment, and so much more.

Music Video Making Track

Campers are fully immersed in the various facets of making music videos, from initial concept to final editing. By the end of the session, every camper in the crew will have had the opportunity to direct, shoot, and edit a part of their team’s original music video. Even cooler: music video making crews work with REAL LOCAL BANDS/musicians to create the video for one of their rad songs! Some essential elements covered are visualizing the video’s look and aesthetic, planning the video in storyboards, even learning to shoot and keep the film in sync with the music!

Skateboarding Track

Hit the ground running in Ojai’s very own famous concrete jungle: thousands of sq. ft. at Ojai Skate Park. Our skate coach and several other camp staff are passionate, experienced skate pros who meet our campers at any skill level, whether they’re just starting to balance on the board or are ready for aerials.

Journalism Track

Learn the ins and outs of modern journalism and creative writing! We’re talkin’ basic reporting, researching, interviewing, and editing techniques. Youth learn journalism both from the technical side (how to set-up and work the tools of the trade, how to copyedit) and the creative side (designing their own article art, layouts, color themes…). By the end of the program, students will have produced multiple stories on whatever topics move them, plus have them published via real publication partners!

Syryn Leadership Program

All campers exiting their junior or senior year of high school participate in this intentional leader-in-training (LIT) program, where teens get all the fun of sleep away camp, but also all the professional experience and skill development of an advanced internship. Plus, LITs get to go on ADDITIONAL OFF-CAMPUS TRIPS designed just for them, and did we mention all the community service hours LITs can earn?

Typical Day at Amplify！

7:15 AM: WAKE UP! Greet the day from your cozy dorm room along with one or two of your new best friends. Counselors gently encourage everyone to get ready for breakfast, where flannel pajama pants and t-shirts are perfectly acceptable. When everyone is ready, step outside into fresh mountain air and beautiful blue California skies. Make your way to the dining hall.

8:00 AM: BREAKFAST. Campers arrive at the outside dining hall and sit at tables with their pods. Counselors are also dispersed throughout the tables and get campers amped for the day’s activities. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc. options always available. Breakfast is also where daily temperature checks occur.

8:30 AM: MORNING ASSEMBLY. Here you’ll find out all the details about your day, be entertained by our famous Skit Time Players, and play a few games to get our day started.

9:00 AM: TRACKS & MORNING ELECTIVES. Become a rock star, journalist, podcaster, DJ, producer, filmmaker, photographer, reigning queen, and more. Each track’s staffers take their group of excited campers to their track areas, where they spend the morning learning, exploring, growing, and having a blast. Every track has its own engaging curriculum and expert instructors who truly know the ins and outs of their discipline because it’s their real-world job.

FYI, all tracks are split up by GRADE. While Lights are in their music instructions, for example, Legends will be in electives/workshops. And then they switch! Our daily electives are a huge camper favorite. Choose from a daily list of super fun activities, like hiking, rock climbing, DJ, screen printing, music video making, trapeze, and more.

12:00 PM: LUNCH. Campers reconnect with their friends and counselors at lunch. If anyone has a birthday, expect a custom-made cake and the whole camp singing Happy Birthday to you—a highlight of every session! Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc. options always available.

12:45 PM: FREE TIME, CAMP STORE, PRIVATE LESSONS & OPEN SWIM. This is downtime for campers, when we encourage writing letters home, taking a breath, or taking a plunge in the pool! This is also a time when our camp store is open. Campers can purchase camp sweatshirts, sweatpants, stamps, water bottles, stickers, healthy snacks, and more.

2:20 PM: TRACKS & AFTERNOON ELECTIVES. Just like our 9:30 AM block, but in the afternoon! Here our Lights pick one elective block but the older you get at camp the more electives you get to explore, so our Legends get two electives in this block. LITs spend this time embarking on special LIT off-campus trips, engaging workshops/electives geared at taking their leadership to the next level, etc.

5:00 PM: FREE TIME. PRIVATE LESSONS

6:15 PM: DINNER. Counselors get you dancing and singing at dinner, and you’ll learn all of the Amplify traditions. Then, still buzzing from an incredible day, the whole camp community gets together after dinner for that night’s evening activity block. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc. options always available.

7:00 PM: EVENING ACTIVITY/SPECIAL EVENT BLOCK. The sun may be setting, but the fun continues! Tonight you could be going to karaoke, watching a movie with your friends, attending a dance, going night swimming, or experiencing another of the many fun events and surprises we have planned. This is where we bring in off-the-charts special performers, like Zella Day and Carmen from BONES UK’s mind-blowing 2021 evening performances

Refund Policy

• WITHOUT INSURANCE, payers who cancel by February 1 will be issued a 75% refund.
• WITHOUT INSURANCE, payers who cancel by March 1 will be issued a 50% refund.
• Without insurance, refunds will not be issued after April 1.
• When space is available, campers can switch to another session should summer plans change.