https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/innovation-work-2024-eleanor-p-eells-award-winners

Each year, ACA’s Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence honors camps that embody the spirit of the award’s namesake through their efforts to provide exceptional programming that effectively...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/bodies-beliefs-bias-why-respect-human-rights-unnatural

My mother crochets. Over tea in restaurants. In line at the airport. At the movies. If you can breathe there, my mom can crochet there. She crochets for friends, family, and perfect strangers....

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-counselor-self-care-guide-emotional-physical-well-being

As a camp counselor, you have many responsibilities to juggle, including home life, camp life, and life after camp. It’s important to prioritize your physical and emotional health, as they are...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/five-essentials-supporting-staff-mental-health-well-being

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define mental health as “your emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It can therefore affect every stage of life and impact how you...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/continuous-improvement-program-quality-lessons-learned-part-two

As established in the first “Lessons Learned” article (...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-pride

Growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, something I looked forward to every year was attending summer camp. After spending winters mostly indoors, the perfect reprieve from school was getting the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/continuous-improvement-program-quality-lessons-learned

Program quality (PQ) is essential to youth programs, and research shows that high-quality programs are directly linked to more positive outcomes. PQ refers to the environment that is created at...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/embracing-differences-forging-intentionally-inclusive-diverse-communities

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” –James Baldwin Here’s the truth: we were all raised differently — even those of us who share similar...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/meeting-campers-where-they-are

I’ve often been taught to look at a person through the lens of a prism. On one side, you can see only a clear, flat, one-dimensional object, but when the light filters through you are left with all...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/discussing-identity-equity-authenticity-camp

Use these skills for developing more equitable communities where staff and campers feel included in spaces where they want to belong.