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https://www.acacamps.org/blog/program-quality-matters-youth-development
Program Quality Matters for Youth DevelopmentGreetings camp evaluators! Congratulations on making it to the end (or very nearly the end) of your summer season. I am so excited to present the following guest post for this week’s Research 360...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/introducing-new-free-friend-camp-program-quality-staff-checklist
Introducing a New (and Free!) Friend: The Camp Program Quality Staff ChecklistBefore I get started, I have a confession: I lied. I said in the title that in this post I was going to introduce you to a new friend, but that’s not entirely true. The Camp Program Quality Staff...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/nellies-gift-story-trauma-informed-care
Nellie's Gift: A Story of Trauma-Informed CareNellie was a conundrum. She didn’t smile very readily and preferred hanging out at the edge of camper groups. She didn’t initiate conversation either; she generally waited until someone approached...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/how-get-kids-calm-down
How to Get Kids to Calm DownWorking closely and networking with other camp professionals is one of the best tools for growing our own camp programs. I am fortunate to have a dear friend, Audrey Monke, who is the owner/director...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/happy-campers-how-camp-relationships-promote-social-emotional-learning
Happy Campers: How Camp Relationships Promote Social and Emotional LearningYoung people are diverse and dynamic, and they have myriad pathways to success. Unfortunately, youth development research often highlights watered-down averages of sample sets that offer limited...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/most-important-question-you-can-ask-alumni-staff-applicant
The Most Important Question You Can Ask an Alumni Staff ApplicantWe love having alumni apply to work for our program. Following their years of participation as campers, we ask them to step away for a year or two before they can reengage as a staff member. We...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/summer-camp-unique-environment-social-emotional-learning
Summer Camp: A Unique Environment for Social and Emotional LearningAs an education research organization affiliated with the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, we thought it was an exciting opportunity to investigate camp as a unique learning...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/talk-set-success
The Talk That Set Up SuccessLike many camps that are hiring college-aged staff to work during the summer, over the past few years I have noticed an increase in staff that are being treated for (or have recently been treated for...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/making-sense-mesh-partnerships-parents
Making Sense of MESH: Partnerships with ParentsAs we tackle mental, emotional, and social health (MESH) issues in our programs, we must use every tool possible to help the struggling person. ...
https://www.acacamps.org/blog/conversation-katie-how-one-camper-handles-mental-illness
A Conversation with Katie — How One Camper Handles Mental IllnessThe thing about mental, emotional and social health (MESH) is that you never know when, and you never know how, it is going to affect you...