https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/developing-keeping-great-counselors

It takes a great staff to make a great camp. Jack Weiner once said: "With the right counselors, camp could be held in a parking lot." When one looks at all of the possible aspects of camp in which to...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/staff-retention-recruiting-revving-season

By this point in the year, you've processed your staff evaluations, and you've been thinking about those difficult decisions: "Should I hire her back?" or "This person just didn't cut it; is it time...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/play-healing-therapeutic-recreations-role-coping-grief

Camp can be an ideal setting to help children cope with the death of a loved one. Since 1991, Camp ReLeaf, a weekend camp hosted by Triangle Hospice of Durham, North Carolina, has been helping...

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/putting-nature-perspective-interview-scott-sampson-phd

Scott Sampson, PhD, is a dinosaur paleontologist, science communicator, and passionate advocate for connecting people with nature. He currently serves as vice president of research and collections...

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/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...