The month of June holds a very special place in my heart. Warm weather, the joyous arrival of seasonal staff and campers, and of course, LGBT Pride Month. Pride is a time to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and all the communities that support and affirm us in our authentic identities. For many campers, that affirming community is their camp family. Pride is a time to celebrate the progress we’ve made, but it is also a time to remember the work we still have yet to do.

To truly understand if you are serving campers in the ways you hope, you need to look at enrollment from several different angles.

Enrollment represents the number of campers we serve — but, as straightforward as that sounds, it’s not. 

As the summer of 2018 is getting underway, it is evident that this has been another challenging hiring season for many of you. It is likely there are camps out there still looking to hire for a few key positions or who may even have to continue the employment process once camp has begun to keep minimum ratios in check or to fill in where holes are left due to last-minute cancellations or no-shows. Regardless of your staffing situation, you have worked hard to get to this point.

Before I get started, I have a confession: I lied. I said in the title that in this post I was going to introduce you to a new friend, but that’s not entirely true. The Camp Program Quality Staff Checklist is not in fact new: it’s been available (for FREE!) on the ACA website for almost ten years. But it is likely new to some of you, and I’m going to discuss some new ways to use it, so the use of the word new is not entirely misleading. Now on to business.

The NASA Wavelength site has a list of activities specifically selected for camps!

At the 2018 ACA National Conference, our iconic former CEO Peg Smith was presented with the Association’s highest honor — the National Distinguished Service Award.  In her acceptance remarks, Peg complimented camp professionals and summer staff members everywhere for the transformational work they do with children, youth, and adults.  I want to share three brief excerpts of Peg’s speech, as I believe they speak to the inspiring staff culture that each of you carefully nurtures during every exceptional session of camp you offer. 

Whether this is your child’s first year at summer camp, or they’re a seasoned veteran who has been attending camp for years, it’s always a good idea to refresh yourself on what to bring and what to leave at home. Below are several summer camp packing hacks to ensure your child is well-prepared for camp.

This blog is about a special double issue of the Journal of Youth Development focused entirely on camp research.

This summer is a great time to focus on the planets!