Making the Most of Mentors

Experienced mentors will be available to support you on camp day. Make the most of their help to keep your development on track.

When to Ask a Mentor

Don’t hesitate to call a mentor in these situations:

Claude keeps repeating the same error
You don’t know what to ask
You’re unsure about direction
You’re anxious about whether your current approach is right
Environment setup or tool issues won’t resolve

Time spent struggling alone is wasted time! Raise your hand and call a mentor.

How to Ask for Help


"I asked Claude to do this, but I keep getting an error and it won't fix it"
"I know what I want to build, but where should I start?"
"Am I going about this the right way?"

Sharing your specific situation helps mentors give you advice quickly.

Guidelines for Mentors

If you’re participating as a mentor, please keep the following in mind.

Core Principles

Don’t do your own work — During the camp, focus entirely on supporting participants
Participant success is your success — Do everything you can to help each participant build something that works
Don’t over-teach — Give hints that help participants think for themselves, rather than handing them answers
Help with Claude, not with code — Rather than writing code yourself, advise participants on what to tell Claude

Support Guide

Situation	Mentor Response
Stuck on an error	Teach how to read error messages, guide them on how to ask Claude
Can’t decide what to build	Listen to their work/interests, help organize ideas together
Unsure about direction	Acknowledge what’s going well, then present options
Trying to do too much	Suggest focusing on minimum features and getting something working first
Hands have stopped	Check in, understand the situation, and think through the next step together

Tips for Making the Rounds

Walk around the venue regularly and approach anyone who seems stuck
People staring at their screen without typing are likely having trouble
A simple “How’s it going?” lowers the barrier to asking for help
If multiple people hit the same issue, announce the solution to everyone

What Not to Do

Take over a participant’s laptop and write code directly (let them do it)
Push your own preferred tech stack
Dismiss a participant’s approach with “this way is better”
Work on your own personal development tasks