Latest ACA Blog Posts
October 1, 2012
A big thanks to Hannah (Tom Tom) Wiese from Camp Chinqueka for this summer story! What did your summer at camp teach you? Send your stories to media@ACAcamps.org and you might see them here!
As soon as the car rounds the bend and Bantam Lake comes into view, I smile and bounce up and down in anticipation for I know that I am almost at my summer home. I know that as soon as the car pulls on to the gravel drive, there will be my summer family, waiting to greet me with happy screams and lots of hugs. This was only my second summer at sunny Camp Chinqueka, but from the moment I stepped out of the car and my feet hit the ground, I felt like I was back home.
At camp, I’ve learned many lessons — things I could have never learned in school. Lessons such as, if you use a leaf blower to clean your cabin, you’ll probably set off the smoke detector. And, that if you let a CIT drive...
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September 26, 2012
Are you interested in one day having a profession in the camp or youth development industry? Attend an ACA Student Camp Leadership Academy (SCLA) weekend retreat!
SCLA brings students together with camp professionals to take an in-depth look at options for a profession in the camp field. It also helps students build skills to prepare for a career in camp.
Choose from 4 locations:
September 25, 2012
I was rereading an article that was in the Boston Globe earlier this month titled “How Kids Make Friends — And Why It Matters.” Of course when I first read the article, I was reminded of ACA’s outcomes research and the power of the camp experience as it relates to “making friends.”
However, as I reread the article, I found myself considering deeper thoughts: The article does not just talk about making friends but honing “friendship skills.” Are we simply creating opportunities for kids to “make” friends, or are we teaching and facilitating “friendship skills?” And what does that look like?
The article also recognized our recent societal concentration on the prevention of bullying (which is...
September 20, 2012
Many thanks to Lynne Murphy from Ireland for this fun memory! Lynne was the evening program coordinator and Web manager at Camp Chinqueka in Connecticut this summer. Send YOUR summer story to media@ACAcamps.org.
As I look around my bedroom, a wall-to-wall shrine dedicated to camp memories, it is almost impossible to select one highlight of camp or explain how much camp means to me. It is a place where I feel more at home than I do in the house I was raised in; a place I have met the most spectacular people and children I will ever meet; and a place where I have grown, changed, and loved.
It was just two years ago that my life changed at sunny Camp Chinqueka. I had found a place where I could be myself and be happier than I have ever been. This summer was phenomenal! Despite the fact that every day at camp is packed with fun-filled activities, there is always one day that stands out in my...
September 18, 2012
Thanks, Krista White, for sharing this summer story! Krista is a head counselor at Eagle's Nest Camp in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Send your summer memory to media@ACAcamps.org.
The moment that had the most impact for me this summer happened on my first day at camp. A group of five of us were starting a week of lifeguard training. Our instructor was a no-nonsense kind of guy, and we set straight to work. After basic introductions, it was down to the lake for the swim test. We spent the rest of the day doing laps, watching videos, and learning techniques. With about an hour left before dinner, we took a quick bathroom break before attempting to watch one last video. I took that chance to pull the cell phone that I had ignored all day out of my backpack and check if I had any messages. My only text message was from my husband — it read “Please call me as soon as you can.” I...
September 17, 2012
Are we camp professionals? Yes. Are we mentors and advisors? Yes. Are we coaches and social workers? Yes. Are we surrogate parents? Yes. Are we youth development workers? Yes. Are we educators? Yes.
I also believe we are a new form of venture capitalists. We are making investments in humans and community systems that build competencies and capacities that lead to better results! Don't undersell or underestimate the power of capacity on future performance.
Better results that lead to better tomorrows — changing the world.
Photo courtesy of Tom Sawyer Camps, Pasadena, California
September 14, 2012
Thanks Angela Marks for the latest entry on the Counselor Blog! Send your favorite summer memory to media@ACAcamps.org!
My week with Rising Abilities was full of great stories and memories, but one story stands out the most. There was an adolescent camper with Autism who was so excited to catch a fish to cook himself that he spent every day asking his group to go fishing for all of their activity choices. On the last evening of camp, he finally caught one big enough to keep. Just down the stream, there was a five-year-old boy who was trying really hard to catch a fish, but was having trouble. The older boy looked at the younger boy and said, "Don't be sad — you can have my fish." Then he dumped his fish into the other boy’s bucket and walked back to the cabins. It was in that moment that I realized my campers had learned a great social skill: Kindness.
...
September 11, 2012
Many campers have returned home for the remainder of summer, and you may have noticed something about their behavior — their manners!
The entire camp experience is made of teachable moments, and perhaps one of the biggest is how to live with a group of people. Campers learn to pick up after themselves, respect each other’s property, and say “Please” and “Thank You.”
Keep your camper’s good habits alive long after the summer is over:
- Remember to Remind — When campers come home, they often keep the spirit of camp alive for a week or two, and then things trail off. Use positive reinforcement to remind campers that you appreciate the positive attitude and willingness to help that they developed at camp.
- Become Camp-Like — Families can set the example by demonstrating a willingness to change something at home in order to sustain some of the...
September 10, 2012
Here's another counselor's summer story — all the way from Australia! Thanks Nicola Hadskis Gordon for this one! Share your story with media@ACAcamps.org!
I first worked at YMCA Camp Weaver in North Carolina in the summer of 2011. I am from Australia, so I sadly had to return back to my family. This year, 2012, I missed camp so much I decided I needed to go back, even if it was just to volunteer for a month. A week after I arrived I had decided that I needed to stay the whole summer, so I volunteered the entire 3 months and I am returning for sure next year.
Camp is in my blood — I know that camp is my true home and where I can truly be me. And I feel as though each day I am helping a child overcome a fear, whether it is homesickness, swimming, or mosquitoes. Camp Weaver is my home.
This is my story, where my heart is and forever shall be.
Photo courtesy of...
September 10, 2012
There are many ways to have a "ful" life.
Thankful. "Annoyful"
Respectful. Awful
Hopeful. Doubtful
"Gameful." Hateful
Mindful. Hurtful
Joyful. Neglectful
"Heartful." Shameful
Impactful. ...
September 6, 2012
Today's story comes from Katelyn Gillum, who now works for her camp fulltime! Send your story from the summer to media@ACAcamps.org.
If you would have told me nearly four years ago that being a camp counselor was going to change my life, I never would have believed you. I walked into my first summer at Camp Walden in Diamond Point, New York, thinking that it was merely going to be a two-month experience that would give me the opportunity to work with kids and boost my resume as a prospective teacher. What I didn't know is that it would change my world forever.
Having never gone to a sleep away camp as a child, I entered the camp world knowing nothing aside from what I had learned through movies such as The Parent Trap and shows like Bug Juice. I was expecting to find campers sneaking out of bunks, being sent to isolation cabins, and playing poker without any adult supervision. What I...
September 4, 2012
Here's another camp counselor story! Thanks, Victoria, for sharing! Send your story to media@ACAcamps.org.
Ever since my first year at camp twelve summers ago, I’ve come to realize that camp can only be completely understood through experience. The following is my defense of a continued obsession with the experience called "camp" — for anyone who might not understand why I work as a camp counselor, including my dad.
“Working at Camp Howe is wonderful, but please don't delude yourself into thinking that it is all just fun and games (although there are definitely a lot of both). The truth about my employment at camp is that I work hard for excessive hours each day for very little money — the same principle that applies to most people in their own everyday jobs in the 'real world.'
The job world — like life, and society in general...
August 31, 2012
Here's our first summer story! A big thank you to Justina Lau for submitting. Keep the stories coming! (Send them to media@ACAcamps.org.)
I spent my summer with the Diabetic Youth Foundation. During camp, we do midnight check of campers’ blood sugar levels. Before one particular midnight checking, it was my rotation to watch the kiddos and to put them to sleep. Well, I had no idea what I was up against! I was in a room filled with twelve campers by myself! They were shouting, laughing, farting, and causing chaos as young campers do!
After telling them that pool time would be taken away if they didn't get into their own bunks, they were immediately quiet. I asked if they would like music, and all of them agreed they wanted to listen to some. I played a variety of piano songs off of my iTouch. One of my campers surprised me when he...
August 30, 2012
No doubt your camp counselor experience this summer included some awesome campers, co-workers, and even a “lesson learned” or two.
We want to collect the best camp counselor stories from across the country and share them here! Tell us about your favorite memory, camper, day at camp, boss, activity, etc. Write it up in 500 words or less and send it to us at media@ACAcamps.org, and you might just see it on the blog.
Congratulations on a “summer well-spent,” and good luck with your fall adventures!
Photo courtesy of Camp Howe, Goshen, Massachusetts
August 20, 2012
Have you seen the T-shirt that says, “Forget the box — think outside”?
I want that T-shirt. There are so many applications for this phrase.
- If we want to save the “outside,” we better forget thinking inside the box. Solutions are going to have to be new, innovative, and profound.
- If we read the research, our ability to think is enhanced by the time we spend outside. To be boxed in a classroom for extended periods of time (throughout the year) seems counterintuitive.
- If we would think about how we help our children balance their time spent with technology and ...
