Youth Development

Across the land, schools and summer camps have embraced a movement to better understand trauma and how it affects a child’s ability to learn and self-regulate their behavior. As...

That doesn't happen at camp. But what if it did? Grounded in their beginnings as a means of preserving youth and innocence, many camps shy away from holding space for difficult...

Overview:

Every cabin/group has a Quirky Kid or two… these are campers who tend to act, do, and socialize differently from their peer.  Quirky kids often don’t pick up social cues...

DESCRIPTION:  In ACA’s 2017 Emerging Issues Report, the top issue facing camps is campers’ Mental, Emotional, and Social Health (Browne, Bialeschki & Wilson, 2017). Considering...

Inflection points refer to everything from mathematical equations to management advice. But, equally, if not more, compelling is an application of the concept to the growth...

So many incidences of mean behavior, (and sometimes even bullying) occur at camp. Time is less structured than at school and counselors are young and don't necessarily have the...

Are you ready to go from counselor to educator?  Do you want your campers to know you "get them".  Do you know that "there must be a better way"? This course gives you the skills...

We've all been there. We're trying to help or referee some situation with kids, we're told a few things or parts of the story, and we think we know what happened, so we turn to the...

Camp participants and staff experience a range of emotions throughout camp. Some emotional responses are the normal reaction to a new situation while others struggle from a...

In this Research 360 blog post, Victoria Povilaitis discusses what's going on in phase three of the summer camp impact study.