https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/four-simple-words-better-communication
Four Simple Words to Better CommunicationOne of the main challenges of being on staff at camp is the degree to which you suddenly have to communicate with so many people. Because you have decided to accept the awesome responsibility for the...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/wanton-words-curbing-verbal-crudeness-cruelty-camp
Wanton Words: Curbing Verbal Crudeness and Cruelty at CampI love language. The beauty of a poem, the lyricism of a novel, the passion of a political speech, the sentiment of a heartfelt toast, the humor of standup comedy, and the simplicity of a handwritten...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/there-reason-understanding-challenging-behavior
There Is a Reason! Understanding Challenging BehaviorI once worked with cat. Not a “meow” cat, although that’s how she identified herself to me. She was a thirteen-year-old girl who insisted she was a cat. You can imagine how hard it was for her at...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/youth-objects-or-partners-advancing-opportunities-camper-leadership-decision-making
Youth as Objects or Partners? Advancing Opportunities for Camper Leadership and Decision MakingDisenfranchised 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/let-your-research-flag-fly-how-magnify-your-camp-story-research
Let Your Research Flag Fly! How to Magnify Your Camp Story with ResearchIn one of her 2010 commentaries in Camping Magazine, former American Camp Association CEO Peg Smith reflected on her conversations with award-winning researcher Marge Scanlin nearly a decade...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/martin-his-friends-counseling-skills-effect-change-camp
Martin and His Friends: Counseling Skills that Effect Change at CampMartin was sitting in the office of the boys' head counselor again. He'd been playing "Ga Ga" when another camper got him out. In what had quickly become an all-too-typical response for nine-year-old...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/time-our-lives-how-summer-camp-tames-transition-trouble
The Time of Our Lives: How Summer Camp Tames Transition TroubleIt is a common refrain that the college years best represent "the time of our lives," replete with newfound independence and denoting fulfillment of academic, social, emotional, and workforce...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/children-need-play-can-they-get-it-camp
Children Need Play: Can They Get It at Camp?When I was a child, in the 1950s, children were far freer than they are today. By the time I was five, I could go anywhere in town, on foot or bicycle, without adult accompaniment. My family moved...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/theres-camp
There's a Camp for That!Imagine a world where everyone knows about the value of the camp experience. Where camp is universally considered an essential part of human development. Where every parent, grandparent, and guardian...
https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/tears-rain-disciplinary-debacles-summer-camp-lessons-learned
Tears and Rain: Disciplinary Debacles at Summer Camp — Lessons LearnedThe sometimes heavy rain on the last and closing days of camp only accentuated the tears of sadness shed in this closest of communities. Some were tears borne of the profound sense of loss that the...