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General Information
The Student Camp Leadership Academy (SCLA) is a weekend retreat that brings
together students, camp professionals, national ACA staff and leadership to
explore, learn, and understand what the camp professional of the future must
be and the leadership opportunities within the ACA structure at the local and
National levels to impact the development of youth and others. For more information
about the SCLA and its history, please read The
Student Camp Leadership Academy: Developing the Next Generation of Camp Professionals.
After successful completion of the SCLA experience, all students will receive
an ACA SCLA certificate.
Dates for the next SCLA event
The next SCLA will take place Friday, November 6, 2009 starting at 4:00 p.m. and ending on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. The location is Camp Henry Horner in Ingleside, IL.
Cost
The cost for the entire weekend experience including room and board is $130.00,
plus transportation of choice/necessity. For students who use
airline transportation, SCLA leaders will arrange transportation to and from
Chicago's O'Hare, Chicago's Midway, or Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field airport and SCLA site at no
additional charge.
SCLA fees can be paid for by:
- the student's ACA Section Office via SCLA Scholarship
- the student's past, current, or future camp
- the college student
- the student's university
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"I learned a very good staff training
tool and discussed some issues with the group that I had always wondered
about the camping industry. It was inspirational, educational, and empowering." Ben Cober
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Please, note college students wanting to attend SCLA must apply and be approved
to participate through their ACA Section Office regardless of where the funding
for the students' SCLA fee is coming from (even if the student is paying
for himself or herself).
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- Be approved by his or her local ACA Section
- Be a current student member of the American Camp Association
- Have an academic and/or professional interest in the camp profession
- Be in attendance or show proof of registration currently at the college/university
level
- Be employed in the past for at least one summer in a camp setting
- Be approved
by his or her academic advisor
Approval and Scholarship Criteria
All SCLA applicants must be approved by the local ACA Section regardless of
who pays the registration fee.
Applicants will be judged on camp experience and involvement both volunteer and
paid, related professional experiences, leadership, demonstration of professional
involvement and commitment to a career in the camp profession.
Application Process
- Complete the form. Include a current resume
and a letter of support from a camp professional. Students may use their own
word processing program instead of the application form. However, the student
is required to present their application in the same format, and approximate
spacing as the original application.
- Sign the application.
- Obtain academic adviser signature on application and submit official
university transcript with application.
- Applications should be postmarked by October 2, 2009 and mailed or e-mailed
as a .pdf document to your Section Executive at your ACA local office. Find the address
for your ACA local office.
- Applications will be reviewed by your local ACA Section office (Note: Many
Sections use their Education and/or Scholarship Committees as a review panel
for applicant screening). Some students will receive a scholarship from
their Sections. However, some students may be approved to attend SCLA,
but not awarded a scholarship. Other students may not be approved by
their local ACA Section office.
- ACA Section Executives will e-mail the names and contact information of approved
students and scholarship award winners to Gordie Kaplan, Section Executive,
ACA, Illinois at gordie@ACAil.org. If
you receive a scholarship, ACA, Illinois will send an invoice to your ACA Section
and all financial transactions for your registration fee will be handled between
ACA Sections. However, if the student is only approved to attend SCLA, but
not awarded a scholarship, ACA, Illinois will send the student an invoice for
his or her SCLA registration fee.
- ACA, Illinois will send all approved and "scholarshipped" SCLA
applicants a welcome packet by U.S. mail or e-mail.
The Welcome Packet will include a signed congratulatory letter, an event schedule,
and driving directions to the SCLA site, as well as an invoice for your registration
fee if you have not been awarded a scholarship.
- Once a student receives his
or her welcome packet from SCLA, students should
then review the information below regarding logistics for the event (see next
section: "Information for Students After Approval by
their ACA Section").
Information for Students After Approval by their ACA Section
Transportation
Students are responsible for arranging their transportation
to and from SCLA.
If a student receives a scholarship to attend SCLA, it typically only covers
the $130 registration fee. It does not cover travel expenses. Students
may choose to drive or fly to SCLA.
If students plan to fly to SCLA, students will need to fly into Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, or Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field airport. Students should plan to arrive at the airport no later than 1:00 PM on Friday of the SCLA weekend and plan
to depart no earlier than 5:00 PM on Sunday. If students cannot find
a flight within these parameters, please try to stay as close to them as possible. SCLA
leaders will work with whatever students must do in terms of flights.
If flying to SCLA, please communicate flight plans to Gordie Kaplan (gordie@acail.org or
312-332-0833 x22) as soon as possible. Gordie will need to know the following
information for your arrival and departure flights:
- Airport arriving at and departing from
- Airline name(s)
- Flight numbers
- Departure city
- Scheduled departure time(s)
- Scheduled arrival time(s)
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| "The three-day leadership training adds to their resume, improves
their career opportunities, and offers fellowship with others who have found
a passion to do a job they truly enjoy." Janice Rinaldo |
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SCLA leaders will arrange your transportation to and from the airport and
camp and will inform you as to who will meet you at the airport.
What To Bring
- A GREAT attitude!
- Your resume and professional portfolio (if you have one)
- Notebook and pen
- Appropriate clothes (i.e., camp casual and comfortable) and rain gear for
November weather in the northern Illinois area. For up-to-date weather
information, please visit: http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/60041?from=hrly_topnav_undeclared
- Sleeping bag or bedding/linens and pillow (You will
be sleeping in a cabin.)
- Hiking shoes
- Personal items (i.e., towel, wash cloth, soap, shower things,
etc.)
- Anything
else you need to be comfortable
- Bring a University T-shirt and/or hoodie for a group photo.
Information for Section Executives and Presidents
The purpose of this section of the SCLA web site is to better inform Section
Executives and Presidents on what to do and how to proceed with processing
SCLA applications.
The group that started this program and have conducted it since 2005 includes
representatives of ACA Great Rivers, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, St. Louis,
and Wisconsin. We hope that eventually other ACA Sections will offer
an SCLA in other locations around the country, so that students can attend
for the lowest transportation expense possible. Until additional SCLA's
are available, the SCLA held in northern Illinois will continue to be open
to any seriously interested student from anywhere around the United States
as space permits.
The SCLA Planning Committee also welcomes participation of one or more section
leadership representatives from other ACA Sections considering offering an
SCLA in their part of the country or who has or has had a student attend SCLA
from their section.
The SCLA Planning Committee needs the help of Section offices to ensure a
smooth applicant approval process. As you noticed from the information
presented above, all SCLA applications will be sent to the students' local
ACA section office by 10/2/09.
SCLA usually takes place the 1st weekend in November, which makes the application
deadline usually the first Friday in October. Please, familiarize yourself
with the "Application Process" presented
above. You will notice that SCLA applications will be submitted to the
Section Executive by U.S. mail or by a single .pdf file. Then, the Sections
must review the applicants and approve or not approve the applicants.
The SCLA Planning Committee wants a student's Section staff member, volunteer
leader, or Education and/or Scholarship Committee to review each application
to try to ascertain if a student is seriously interested in the purpose of
the SCLA and that the student is emotionally mature (i.e., being able to participate
by supporting the learning experience of others, learn from others, and function
as a part of the group without taking an inordinate amount of the group's
attention to meet their own personal needs). The student application
deadline is a guideline, NOT an absolute deadline. Our goal is to enable
up to 25 students nationally to attend SCLA.
In regard to an approval process, many Sections use their Education and/or
Scholarship Committees as a review panel for applicant screening. Some
students will receive a scholarship from their Sections. However, some
students may be approved to attend SCLA, but not awarded a scholarship. Participating
ACA Sections tend to offer between 1 and 5 SCLA Scholarships each year. Some
ACA sections give $130 scholarships to cover the SCLA registration fee, while
other ACA Sections provide $130 scholarship(s) plus the cost of transportation.
After your Section completes the applicant review process, ACA Section Executives
will e-mail the names and contact information of approved students and scholarship
award winners to Gordie Kaplan, Section Executive, ACA, Illinois at gordie@ACAil.org.
ACA, Illinois will then send all approved and "scholarshipped" SCLA
applicants a welcome packet by U.S. mail or e-mail.
If your Section does not approve an applicant, it is the Section Executive's
responsibility to inform that student in writing by letter or by e-mail.
If your Section awards scholarship(s) to one or more students, ACA, Illinois
will send an invoice to your ACA Section for reimbursement. Students
who are approved to attend SCLA, but not awarded a scholarship will receive
an invoice for their SCLA registration fee. Please, be clear when e-mailing
Gordie in regard to which of the students from your Section have been approved
with a scholarship from your Section, and which students have been approved
and not awarded a scholarship from your Section.
If you have any questions regarding SCLA (i.e., approval, finances, logistics,
invoices, etc.), please contact:
Gordie Kaplan
Executive Director
American Camp Association, Illinois
67 E Madison St Ste 1406
Chicago, IL 60603-3014
Phone (312) 332-0833 Ext 22
Cell Phone (312) 835-9692
FAX (312) 332-4011
E-mail: gordie@ACAil.org.
If you have any suggestions regarding the content of this SCLA web site, please
contact Dr. Nathan A. Schaumleffel at nathan.schaumleffel@indstate.edu or
812-237-2189. Our goal is to make the SCLA student recruitment and screening
process as smooth as possible.
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