https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/youth-objects-or-partners-advancing-opportunities-camper-leadership-decision-making
Youth as Objects or Partners? Advancing Opportunities for Camper Leadership and Decision MakingDisenfranchised by Design? Nearly 40 percent of ten- to eighteen-year-olds report insufficient levels of involvement in camp (ACA 2006). That statistic surprised most camp...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/martin-his-friends-counseling-skills-effect-change-camp
Martin and His Friends: Counseling Skills that Effect Change at CampMartin was sitting in the office of the boys' head counselor again. He'd been playing "Ga Ga" when another camper got him out. In what had quickly become an all-too-typical response for nine-year-old...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/tears-rain-disciplinary-debacles-summer-camp-lessons-learned
Tears and Rain: Disciplinary Debacles at Summer Camp — Lessons LearnedThe sometimes heavy rain on the last and closing days of camp only accentuated the tears of sadness shed in this closest of communities. Some were tears borne of the profound sense of loss that the...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/been-there-done-got-t-shirt-challenges-seasonal-return-camp
Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt: The Challenges of the Seasonal Return to CampWelcome back! In most camps, returning staff are an important part of a successful summer, bringing knowledge, perspective, and opportunities to broaden the camp experience for the campers. It's also...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/horses-wilderness-meeting-needs-youth-risk
Horses and the Wilderness: Meeting the Needs of Youth at RiskThe staff at Kamp Kessa, an adventure education and treatment program utilizing horses and the wilderness for youth who are considered at-risk and who have special needs in Frankfort, Kentucky, are...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/sympathy-empathy-shift-compassion
Sympathy, Empathy, and the Shift to CompassionLearning about a revolutionary and powerful new understanding of the dynamic of caretaking may change the way you train your staff, talk with parents, and think about yourself. Peter is...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/groundhog-day
Groundhog DayHarold Ramis' classic Groundhog Day (1993) turned a once minor day in February and minimally celebrated holiday into a profound lesson on love, life, and one's personal journey of growth and...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/sankofa-value-meaningful-debrief-end-camp-season
Sankofa: The Value of Meaningful Debrief to End the Camp SeasonAnother camp season is complete. After working overtime to ensure that every session was special, enriching, and fun-filled, we camp professionals are finally able to exhale. We did it! The energy,...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/lost-boys-finding-their-way-summer-camp
Lost Boys: Finding Their Way at Summer CampAre boys in crisis? Popular literature (Raising Cain, Lost Boys, Boys and Sex) and theater (Dear Evan Hansen) seem to suggest so. Terms such as “boy code” and “toxic masculinity” further paint a path...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/confessions-disciplinarian-how-managing-camper-behavior-can-save-summer
Confessions of a Disciplinarian: How Managing Camper Behavior Can Save the SummerLike many camp directors — and other educators for that matter — I am frequently thrust into the unenviable role of disciplinarian. And, frankly, I don't feel that I'm very good at it. That is my...