You love the outdoors. You love hiking and biking and sailing. And — your good friend says you're great with kids.
If you relate to this, then there's the perfect place waiting for you: summer camp. Over half a million college students will find their way from their campus to camp this summer to fill openings at camps across the United States.
Imagine a job where almost anything is possible:
Read MoreFor any camp professional, imagining a camp without trees would be hard to fathom. Especially since for the past century, you and other ACA camp professionals have worked to preserve the camp experience for both children and adults. Unfortunately, there is an insect that threatens the camping experience for all of us.
Read MoreThe positive pressure one experiences at camp is something rare and hypnotizing. Friends at home call what you are doing a summer holiday, but you know the work is tough and comes with daily challenges like any job. However, at camp you have a network of people and systems that make the effort seem less like agony and more like a gem of an experience that will leave you forever changed.
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My first time working at summer camp, in fact during my first week, I melted off every one of my fingerprints. I was only 16 at the time, and I remember feeling shocked that this could actually happen. I also remember shamelessly considering what shenanigans I could get away with as a super cool, Justin Bieber-haired, imminently clever teenage boy without fingerprints. (The answer: not much.)
Read MoreA reality of today’s society is that many campers have parents who are separated, divorced or otherwise in a relationship that creates uncertainty for the camp regarding who is in charge of the child in camp matters.
At issue is the confidence with which a camp can rely on one parent’s authority to, among other things, enroll (and remove) a child, specify activities, receive notice in the event of emergencies, consent to medical care, and permit visitors.
Read MoreSports and recreational (SR) activities help to foster important social and team-building skills, while also improving health and quality of life. Unfortunately, participation in SR activity comes with the risk of injury. According to the CDC, an estimated 2.6 million children aged ≤19 years were treated each year in emergency departments (ED) for SR-related injuries during 2001–2009 (1). Around 173,000 (6.5%) of these injuries were diagnosed as suspected Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Read MorePicture the scene: A camp director makes a job offer to a counselor and receives a response of outrage that he has not been offered the job he wanted and, additionally, was not placed with his friends. The applicant has spent the previous eight summers as a camper and has now graduated through the system with certain expectations about what he prefers his job to be. Such is the epitome of the struggle in hiring former campers as staff members for the first time.
Read MoreIt's late in the evening. My feet are tired. Music is reverberating in my ears. We've been dancing and mixing all night. Tonight is an incredible celebration, truly a hallmark event. This may be the last time we will all be together like this. While bits of personal and collective nostalgia have been creeping into our conversations with one another throughout the night, now there seems to be a greater sense of urgency, a need to capture all these moments before the night is over. The DJ steps to the microphone.
Read MoreCamp directors: Please share this column with your staff. During the camp season it's more important than ever for them to read this.
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