https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/fumble-or-fiasco-ensuring-leaders-staff-campers-learn-failure

We need to fail before we achieve success. In our personal and professional lives, we generally try to succeed, which is perfectly sensible. To reach our potential, however, we must stop fearing...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/make-strategic-decisions-not-guesses

Enjoy one of camp’s sweetest sounds as you walk up on a dining hall or an evening campfire and hear a chorus of voices singing a favorite camp song — 100 campers, 250 campers, 500 campers — can you...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/decoding-camper-behavior

Many years ago, before social media, electric cars, and the smartphone, a little boy went to camp. He had overcome tremendous hurdles before ever stepping foot on a campground. In fact, at the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/nobody-ever-tells-me-anything-communication-camp

Growing up, my sister’s catch phrase could have been, “Nobody ever tells me anything!” because she said it so often. More and more, this sentiment is being shared at summer camp, too. Our camp staff...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/campline/medical-marijuana-current-issues-camps

Introduction A call recently came into the American Camp Association (ACA) Crisis Hotline from a member camp: Three adults attended a family camp and brought medical marijuana with them. Upon...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/youth-objects-or-partners-advancing-opportunities-camper-leadership-decision-making

Disenfranchised by Design? Nearly 40 percent of ten- to eighteen-year-olds report insufficient levels of involvement in camp (ACA 2006). That statistic surprised most camp...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/protect-your-camp-your-campers-your-staff-unspeakable

It’s 6:27 a.m. on a sunny Tuesday morning. There you are, comfortably seated at your desk, ready for another great day, when you are called for assistance by a counselor to the health center. Upon...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/development-leadership-among-counselors-training

Our society is in need of leaders for the future. The demands we have yet to face will require leaders who are flexible problemsolvers and have the ability to communicate with diverse people. Camps...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/leadership-life-henderson-county-young-leaders-program

Two years ago Carlos Vega was a shy, middle-school student. The summer after eighth grade he received a scholarship to attend a month-long session of camp from Blue Star Camps in Hendersonville,...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/revolutionary-leadership

When a new acquaintance asks, "What do you do for a living?" and I answer that I'm a camp director and shape lives in positive ways through summer camp, I often get a quizzical response. "Is that a...