https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/what-camp-staff-can-do-help-children-excerpt-homesick-happy

Dear Colleagues, When I sat down to write my new book, Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow, I wanted to answer three questions: 1) Why is it...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/parents/new-thinking-needed-helping-kids-avoid-or-cope-homesickness

ANN ARBOR, MI 2010 — A new report urges parents and children's doctors to change their thinking about homesickness among children, to see it as a nearly universal but highly preventable and treatable...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/family-conference

To be able to go to ACA's National Conference and feel so many people focused on the same goals that drive you, a group of people working toward a mission — it encourages so much growth. To be around...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/yes-only-means-yes-until-something-better-comes-along-making-camp-best-offer-gen-z-staff

Staff sign a contract, then inform you the week before camp begins that they won’t be coming after all. Or staff commit to working the entire season only to tell (not ask!) you they are leaving for...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/project-real-job-moving-forward-together

In the early ’80s, I graduated from high school and made a simple but life-changing decision. It was May and I hadn’t yet made plans for the summer. My mom encouraged me to call my former camp...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/meeting-minds-camp-directors-higher-ed-college-students

Camps need staff to run their programs; colleges/universities have various requirements for students regarding coursework and internships; and students are usually pulled between what they want to do...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/signing-dotted-line-commitment-two-way-street

Congratulations! You committed to working at camp this summer, and the director and/or team who hired you have been anticipating your arrival since you signed on the dotted line! It is completely...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/preventing-burnout-caring-your-staffs-mental-health-while-camp-session

A camp job is hard work. Camp is so worth it, as evidenced by all the positive outcomes research has shown campers achieve. But that does not make the job any easier — especially for the teenagers...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/commitment-how-do-we-earn-it-how-do-we-keep-it

An answer to this question of the century may seem counterintuitive, yet it is at the core of most camp communities: Relationships. More than ever, staff are looking for connection and belonging. So...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/first-contact-end-contract

We know that staff can be a challenge to find, attract, hire, engage, and retain. What makes the staff journey result in forward progress from start to completion of their camp experience? Current...