Campfire Conversation

After six summers and 15-months of ‘full time' camp work, Samantha Thomson joins us around the campfire to explore the full time life of summer camp. (Hint: there is no ‘off-season!'). Enjoy!

Seeing great people build a life together is an amazing thing. That its also happening when you are helping to run camp together for the first time adds to the fun. Nikki Zenkel and Max Grossman join me to talk about their first foray into full time summer camp together and their plans for after the summer. Enjoy!

I've enjoyed working with and supporting Focus for a Future for many summers. The work they do introduces, as one great camp guy describes it, a spark of wonder for all the children at camp. My friend, Andy Newberg, joins me around the campfire to give us the inside scoop on all the great outcomes Focus for a Future and their volunteers create for kids.

What is learned at camp can have far reaching effects both personally and professionally. Tony McGaharan left Northern Ireland to spend two summers at camp. His journey from there included working for non-profits and then Google before starting People Playbook, a company which sounds a whole lot like… well, being back at camp.

Imagine taking a nice piece of property, full of trees and grass, and turning it into a summer camp. Think about all the pieces that go into that experience – planning, building, creating and more. Jackie Brethel of Kippewa Point tells us all about the ins and outs of starting a camp from scratch!

How does working at summer camp influence a school teacher? In what ways does working as a teacher make you a better a summer camp professional? Our long-time team member, Dana Stassen, lives in both worlds professionally and is happy to share her insights. Enjoy!

What is it like to go to camp when it's nothing like the world you know? What's it like to move from camper to counselor and then to Division Head? How do we apply the lessons of camp back home? Jorge Perez is kind enough sit around the campfire and answer these and many other questions. Enjoy!

‌ Did you know that one-third of the homeless population in the US is made up of families? Homelessness can have a huge (negative) impact on children… which is why camp can be so important and positively impactful in their lives. The work that Tyrone Squire and Homes for the Homeless is doing is literally changing lives.

One of the most necessary (and under-appreciated, misunderstood) aspects of camp is maintenance. Camp Maintenance Director John Weidner is around the campfire to pull back the curtain on this essential work at camp.  A must listen for parents, camp directors and camp summer staff!

We are talking today about all the benefits sleepaway camp has to offer.  We talk to so many people on the podcast who are summer camp lifers.  They grew up at camp or their family ran the camp, but Sara and I share something in common.  We don't come from that background.  We found summer camp later in life and we want to explore what that impact has on people.

Every summer, more than 100,000 college-aged people decide to work at summer camp. From this incredible pool of people, we hope to find a few that want to do the work full-time. Brenn McCans has several great lessons to share from her bumpy path from counselor to camp professional. Enjoy!

Going to camp for the first time can be daunting. That is why 12-year-old Eden WROTE A BOOK. Notes from the Camp Bunk will help campers, parents and camp staff alike start summer off the best way possible.

A person's mind, when trained correctly, can be a person's greatest tool. Dr. Lonnie Sarnell, a clinical and sport psychologist… who also happens to be the Girls Head Counselor at Tyler Hill Camp, has a great way to help all of our kids PERFORM at camp and everywhere else.

Literally growing up at camp is a gift though not one without challenges.  Lily Stoltz and Cole Kelly III give us the inside scoop of what being raised by camp directors is like. And make sure to stick around for a special guest at the end!  

When we remove all risk from our children's lives, we stunt their growth. Paul Dreyer, the CEO of Avid4 Adventure is an experiential learning expert who has a lot to teach about introducing the right kind of risks so that our children grow into competent, confident humans. Enjoy!

 Our kids have been through a challenging time over the past two years. Summer camp provides a great set of lessons on building one of the vital ingredients to make it through challenging times: resilience. Expert researcher and commenter Stephen Gray Wallace joins us around the campfire to reveal these resilience lessons and how we can apply them back home.

It's Christmas season and, for many, that means as much reverence as it does presents. In that vein, we wanted to learn a bit more about Christian summer camps. My new friend, Spencer Breedlove, joined the campfire to teach us more about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Merry Christmas everyone. See you around the campfire in the new year!

As we move into the holiday season, we are talking about religious camps around the campfire.  Our neighbor and good friend Jeff Braverman of Camp Nesher and NJY Camps joins us for an introduction into the joys of Jewish camping.

There is a lot to be grateful when thinking about summer camp: incredible mentors, carefree activities, a thriving community… and all the good this provides. Dan Zenkel, the person responsible for getting Kate and I into camping, is around the campfire to talk about what he's grateful for, SCOPE, and a lot more. 

While there are a lot of pieces to a ‘great summer camp' puzzle, summer staff is the biggest and most important one. For many camps, international staff members who come through the J1Visa cultural exchange program are essential to their staffing puzzle. Ivy Cohen, head of Camp Leaders, is around the campfire to explain the importance of these great people to camps across the US.

When we last left you, summer camp staff orientation was about to start and the campers were not far behind. It's been a few months now since we dosed the last campfire of the summer and caught our collective breath. Camp was amazing and challenging and fantastic and tiring – more so than any summer before. And, it was the most important summer in the history of our industry. Here's a short conversation from the two of us as we learn from this past summer and prepare for an even better Summer '22.

Wow - What a year! Tonight's final campfire of this season is about both remembering and looking forward. We hope this fun "wrap up" conversation leaves you looking forward to more Campfire Conversations this fall. Have a safe and happy summer!  

Want to know what it’s like growing up at camp, leaving camp, and coming back? Want to know what it’s been like to be a camp director preparing for the most important summer of our lives? My friend Adam Baker, Director of Camps Equinunk and Blue Ridge, is around the campfire tonight and will give you all the details. Enjoy!

We are all coming out of a very tough time with Covid and political strife and so much more. However, it’s time to move from despair to HOPE. No one I know thinks more deeply about this move than John Hamilton, the Director of Camp Hope America. It’s hope-full people who change themselves and the world around them in positive ways. John will tell you how it gets done. Pull up a log and have a listen!

We are lucky when we get to learn from legends, even more so when they are our parents. My friends, Ross Moskowitz of Camp Westmont and Matt Stoltz of Island Lake Camp share many of the lessons learned from Mike and Bev and Fred and Minna. There are some very important lessons for parents (and children!) in this conversation. Enjoy! ‌

Health Care at summer camp is very much in the limelight these days. (Frankly, it always should be!) Tracey Gaslin, the Executive Director of the Association of Camp Nursing, is around the campfire talking about how parents, Health Center staff, and camp directors can best work together to make Summer 2021 a happy and healthy success.

Sometimes‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌easier‌ ‌to‌ ‌see‌ ‌the‌ ‌impact‌ ‌of‌ ‌something‌ ‌when‌ ‌you‌ ‌are‌ ‌further‌ ‌away.‌ ‌ We‌ ‌all‌ ‌know‌ ‌summer‌ ‌camp‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌gift‌ ‌for‌ ‌children.‌ ‌This‌ ‌is‌ ‌especially‌ ‌so‌ ‌for‌ ‌those‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌poorest,‌ ‌ most‌ ‌difficult‌ ‌situations.‌ ‌Global‌ ‌Camps‌ ‌Africa’s‌ ‌Executive‌ ‌Director,‌ ‌Emily‌ ‌Crowder,‌ ‌is‌ ‌around‌ ‌ the‌ ‌campfire‌ ‌talking‌ ‌about‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌good‌ ‌being‌ ‌done‌ ‌in‌ ‌South‌ ‌Africa‌ ‌by‌ ‌people‌ ‌who‌ ‌love‌ ‌summer‌ ‌ camp‌ ‌and‌ ‌kids.‌ ‌Make‌ ‌sure‌ ‌to‌ ‌check‌ ‌out‌ ‌their‌ ‌upcoming‌ ‌‌Global‌ ‌Gathering‌!‌ ‌

We’ve all lost a step in the ‘joy’ department. The lockdowns and the past year has been tough for everyone. It’s time to unclench our hands and open up. That’s the only way to give and receive any gift… and especially the gift of camp. Camp owner and director Kate Kelly is around the campfire to talk about the important lessons of joy camp can offer up.

What would five decades of summer camp experience teach? What if those (ongoing) fruitful years included learning from and visiting camps not only around your own but around the world? John (Jorgi) Jorgenson, Camp Director at Camp Tawingo and the Head of the International Camping Fellowship spends some time around the campfire to chat. Pull up a log and sit a while - it’ll be well worth your time!

Maya Angelou said “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” This is certainly true for summer camp as well as the rest of the world. Briana Mitchell, the  Director of AF Camp and co-founder of S’more Melanin (and a long time camper) describes how we can use summer camp to bring that strength of diversity to light.

Gina Greenlee said “Experience is a master teacher, even when it’s not our own.” Dayna Hardin, Owner/Director of Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods camps in Michigan welcomed campers and staff for Summer 2020. She’s around the campfire tonight to share what she learned and describe the very hopeful path forward to an amazing summer 2021 for us all.

After months of COVID lockdowns and social distancing, our kids (and parents!) need summer camp like no other time in recent memory. And, while we are all excited about heading to camp, we’ve got to be honest about the rise in anxiety and intentional on how we handle it. Mental Health Counselor and summer camp veteran Rikki Goldenberg is around the campfire to help.

The idea behind this podcast is to shine a light on those lessons learned at summer camp and figure out how we can apply them in our lives going forward. I hope you’ll enjoy what you hear and put these ideas to work in your life back home.    From the outside looking in, I wouldn’t be surprised if you thought summer camp was a pretty insular place. The camp spirit at each camp is very high. The traditions are unique. The staff are fully engaged with how we do it. In fact, you’ll often hear new staff members say ‘Well, at my camp, we used to….’    While each summer camp certainly has many reasons for their kids and staff to think only about themselves, every great camp I know helps to develop generosity, altruism and servant leadership among their campers and staff members.  During these hard times in the US and around the world, I thought it would be fun to explore how camp has helped one young person reach out and give back to his community.  JT Richman is a rising 8th grader from NY, a great big brother to Robbie and Viv, and a fantastic example of someone who, because of camp, wants to give back.

Cole spends some time around the campfire talking about what it's been like being a Camp Director in the time of a pandemic. 

We all know the power of camp: the fun, activities we have a hard time re-creating at home, and the joy of learning something new. While many camps have closed for this summer, Happy Camper Live has become a great way to keep the spirit of camp going for kids all across the country.  Join me, Allison Miller and Steve Slavkin to learn how we can literally bring camp home this summer.

After chatting with the moms last week, it's time for the dads to get into the action this week.  Tune in as we assemble the "Council of Dads" to talk about how summer camp makes better Dads.    

Camp teaches a lot of great lessons to kids and staff. And, it teaches us parents as well. I thought it would be fun and instructive to find out how camp has shaped the parenting styles of three great moms with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working for many years.

Summer camp serves as a launching point for so many people. Thankfully, it’s helped a large number of staff and campers alike become professional helpers as mentors and teachers. LaDarrius Calvin, Vice President of Boy II Men in Indianapolis, IN, spends some time talking about the magic of summer camp the power of mentorship. 

For the first time in my professional life, I have some concerns about summer camp opening. It’s not what I want to even think about. However, as Mr. Rogers used to say, if it’s human, it’s mentionable. And, if it’s mentionable, it’s manageable.  Like many other cultural institutions, summer camp has been greatly affected by Covid-19. Thankfully, there are a number of wonderful resources helping us learn more and devine a future forward. Whether it’s the actions of the American Camp Association national office, our local ACA offices, the Jewish Federation of Camps, our local Department of Health offices: they are doing their all to determine a safe path forward.  The other resource we have are those who have lived through something similar. When all this starting happening, one of the first people I thought of was Bobby Harris, the longtime camp director of URJ Camp Coleman. While Bobby has been in camping a little while longer than I have, we’ve got a lot of connections: time spent in Boston, experiences helping to lead multiple camps and the virus that brought originally together 12 years ago. Heck, he’s even got one of our former campers playing guitar on the welcome page of his website! This is a perfect time to learn from past and take inspiration for the future. Bobby Harris is the right camp director to provide both. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with my friend, Bobby Harris.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us we are all – everyone on earth – are neighbors dealing with the same situation. We get a perspective on camp and Covid-19 from China with my friends Marco Reyes and Mike Lewis of the YMCE Group. If you’d like a window into their experience, I hope you’ll take a few moments to listen.

Ever felt overwhelmed with too many things to do and not enough time? Ever have that organizational system you thought would fix everything simply add more work? We are all feeling this way now with our normal lives turned upside down. Diana Bloom, camp pro, twin-parent, and accountability consultant can help!

The idea of achievement is not new but the stress surrounding achievement these days often leads to burnout. These days, with our newly added stressors and uncertainty, we hoped that Lindsay Boccardo, generational coach,  would give us insight into high achieving learners, their relationship with burnout, and how a shift in attitude may be the difference in living a life that’s just successful and a life that’s joyful and successful. Take a listen to see what easy and actionable steps Lindsay shares to help all of us find ways to be high achievers who are also kind to themselves and ultimately, others.

Yes, it’s a big issue facing all of us, even those in the summer camp industry. The good news: most camps still have a long time before we open. Co-hosts Scrappy Stassen and Cole Kelly discuss how the camp industry is approaching this summer and everything else they learned at this year’s ACA Tri-State Conference.

Getting outdoors makes us better people. Sometimes we ignore the evidence that supports this idea because getting outside feels like another thing on a to-do list. On this episode of Campfire Conversations,  Ruby Compton shares with us why we need to make the time to leave our offices, classrooms, homes, and cars to reconnect with nature, and she gives us some tips on how to do just that. We hope you’ll give this a listen, preferably on a walk outside, and then learn some more about Ruby by visiting her website, rubyoutdoors.com

There is no better leadership learning lab for young people than summer camp. The opportunities to lead are widely available as are the lessons from watching near-peers lead themselves and others. Professor Dave Malter is around the campfire talking about ways in which camp develops leadership and how we can instill more of those lessons back home.

We all need more playfulness in our lives. As kids, and especially at camp, we play a bunch, whether it’s in the dining hall, the fields, around the craft tables or elsewhere. That play is instrumental in building positive outcomes for kids and adults in physical, emotional, and social ways.   Michael Brandwein, one of the most well-known experts in education and youth development in the US, has a lot to say about the positive impact of play and how we can incorporate more of it back home. You can get his newest book, Growing Great Qualities in Kids, here. Enjoy!

Change is all around us, whether you are at summer camp or not and questions abound: will cyborgs take over camp? Will camps have to become resource independent? Will our minds become unhinged? Take a moment to listen to Dr. Chris Thurber talk through these ideas in the (very!) optimistic backdrop of summer camp.

The composer Gustav Mahler said “tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” These words echo importantly at summer camp. Dr. Elizabeth Corey has spent a lot of time thinking and writing about the importance and challenges of traditions and how they help us both at summer camp and at home. Enjoy!

We all want to live our best selves and figure out ways to help others do the same. Steve Nugent, a former NCAA Division I head coach and awesome camp guy has been thinking about this very idea for decades. Want to bring out the best in your people? Pull up a log, grab a s’more, and tuck in.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Beth Goldstein for my entire career in camping. When Kate and I took the reins at Camp Wicosuta, a wonderful girls camp in NH, we spent a lot of time with many referral agents. Beth, who focuses on helping families in the Philadelphia and NYC area find a great summer camp fit, was very helpful to us. By visiting a wide variety of camps each summer and working with a number of unique families, Beth has an valuable vantage point on the Summer Camp world. When we spoke recently, the idea of comfort zones came up along with an article that left her smiling and shaking her head a bit. It was too good an opportunity to pass up for me to get Beth around the campfire.

There are very few spaces in our world that combines joy and friendship, anxiety and challenge in a more fruitful way than camp. Dr. Dan Wolfson, a clinical psychologist with a great deal of summer camp experience, has combined his love of camp and his practical work to help his clients (and us) better understand our relationships, our anxieties, and our grief.