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/camps-transformation-economy

What do hibachi restaurants and summer camps have in common? Before I answer that, let me provide some context. Earlier this year, I dined at a hibachi restaurant for the first time. I sat up at...

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/top-25-staffing-solutions-gathered-through-collaboration

Highlighted here is a curated collection of great ideas about how to recruit and retain staff — a direct result of the last two years of conferences and various collaborative brainstorming sessions...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/mitigating-long-term-bereavement-risks-addressing-family-grief

Bereavement camps for children are now commonplace around the United States (McClatchey & Wimmer, 2018). Some of these are recreational, and others are more clinically focused. Most do not...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/ultimate-guide-staffing-your-kitchen

It’s not you. With a 3:1 ratio of available culinary positions to applicants, the labor shortage for kitchen staff continues to be a harsh reality. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/healthy-inside-out-role-mental-health-counseling-summer-camp

I spent my childhood summers at a sleepaway camp in Pennsylvania, and I loved it. When I turned 18 in 2021, I couldn’t wait to work as a counselor myself. I was following in my mother’s footsteps;...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/safe-space-trauma-informed-trauma-infused-what-know-how-help

Across the land, schools and summer camps have embraced a movement to better understand trauma and how it affects a child’s ability to learn and self-regulate their behavior. As that knowledge...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/reframing-mental-health-camp

Mental health at camp has always been a challenge. But for many camps, it wasn’t until worldwide stressors started piling up in 2020 that this challenge became overwhelming.