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/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/camping-magazine/because-i-worked-camp

Now that the summer has come to a close, camp directors are inevitably thinking about the staff they want to invite back next season. If we as directors have created a strong camp community, one that...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/big-eight-other-culinary-menaces-camper-society

“The gluten-free cinnamon rolls are amazing!” Those emphatic words are emblazoned in my brain, stamped into my memory. As tears began to well in her eyes, Annalise, one of our counselors, looked...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/moving-mainstreaming-outsourcing-what-everyone-can-learn-working-different-needs

I run two different camps for kids with different needs, including a resident camp for kids with autism. A concerned parent called to talk about how she wanted her son to be “mainstreamed” in the...

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/working-children-special-needs

It is often said by people who mean well that working with children with special needs “requires the patience of a saint.” Not true. What it does require is human compassion — something more of us...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/take-your-horse-camp

Another way to increase usage at camp facilities is to allow people to bring their own horses to camp. Both youth and adults will have this interest and appreciate having a location to camp with...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/riding-programs-camp-enrichment-different-kind

Horseback riding has deep roots in the history of American summer camps, but stereotypical images of the expense and elitism of riding may get in the way of a full appreciation of the benefit and...