https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/growth-through-play

About a year and a half ago, as I was nearing the completion of my college degree, I faced the reality of beginning my true adult life and was largely overwhelmed by the idea of it all. I surfed...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/reimagining-faith-based-family-camp-model-family-togetherness

The Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia were settled by strong and resilient families. In Nelson County many families were in these mountains long before a local government was established in 1807....

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/continuous-improvement-program-quality-lessons-learned-part-two

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

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/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/lost-boys-finding-their-way-summer-camp

Are 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/continuous-quality-improvement

In my decades-long career as a camp professional and outdoor educator, one of my favorite parts has been problem-solving. How can I, in whatever role I find myself, help make the camper experience...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/behavior-management-steroids-how-turbocharge-reinforcements-consequences-change-kids-behavior

All of your campers want to behave well. It’s just that some of them haven’t learned how to behave well, in certain ways. That’s where you come in.

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...