https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/reflections-hiring-camp-staff

Hiring young women and men who are prepared to put campers' needs before their own is by far the most important thing I do each year. With year-round programs offering short-term residential...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/determining-competency-essentials-interviewing

"What you have to do is get them talking in such a way that they are unguarded. It could be anything they happen to be into, like their favorite baseball team or a dream they have about doing...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/mind-part-1-what-directors-need-know-about-staff-mental-health

Hiring young adults to care for other people’s children seems like folly, from a neurodevelopmental perspective. Nobody’s brain is fully developed, many activities are dangerous, the weather can be...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/expand-your-mesh-capacity-summer-begins

Consider these scenarios: A parent calls: “My child has ADD and takes medication for depression. Can she come to camp?” A counselor dashes into your office: “We need you at Cabin 5. A camper...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/childrens-mental-health-camp-what-our-role

Few children's issues have drawn more attention, or been more controversial, than those involving their mental health. For example, in the past twenty years, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/mind-part-ii-what-staff-need-know-about-their-own-mental-health

Think, for a minute, about the adults to whom you were most strongly attached as a child. Can you see their faces and remember how they treated you? Perhaps you see parents, teachers, coaches, clergy...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/evolving-risks-employment-practices-sexual-harassment-unlawful-discrimination

In 2015, there was a sharp increase in the number of calls to the ACA Crisis Hotline about accommodation and inclusion of individuals, both staff and campers, who identify themselves as transgender,...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-el-tesoro-de-la-vida-camp-experience-bereaved-children

The death of a loved one is a reality that each of us must face at some point. The experience of a loss invokes a myriad of feelings for adults and children alike. Some will maintain the belief that...

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

At a recent gathering, a group of camp professionals were talking about stress. They mentioned how it seemed fairly pervasive among campers and staff, sometimes at debilitating levels. Then they said...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/creating-connection-between-university-education-programs-summer-camp

In Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, at a large residential summer camp, over one hundred male counselors pack the air-conditioned canteen on July 1. It is late as the off-duty counselors watch the re-run of...