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/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/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/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/excellence-research-practice

In 2015, ACA, with the help of the Committee for the Advancement of Research and Evaluation (CARE), created the Eleanor P. Eells Award for Excellence in Research in Practice. This award is designed...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/nice-save-place-share

It’s free play, the 30 to 45 minutes of magical time at camp when nothing and everything happens. I walk from the dining room to the main campus after dinner and stop to watch five 9- and 10-year-old...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/assessing-summer-health-outcomes

How did it go? After 2020's "different" summer, we stepped into 2021 with hope. More camps opened, some staff were COVID-19 immunized, and protective behaviors — such as masks, physical distancing,...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/impact-technology-social-media-camp-staff

Miles is a first-time counselor at a sleepaway camp in the eastern United States. He had seen an online ad for the camp at which I met him and decided that a summer away from his Midwest town working...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/can-my-camp-nurse-do

"My nurse told the parent that she wouldn't give the medication unless she had the prescription in its original container. Can she do that? The Mom was just trying to help by putting the meds in...