Living Smarter
The manager at the restaurant I worked at through college offered me some extra hours one weekend. “Come in around 5 a.m., and we’ll clean out the walk-in refrigerators and coolers. I’ll give you $50
Read It To Believe It
Ever wonder about the impact a camp program really has on campers? Does it matter whether staff members have camp names, or whether the camp hosts skit nights, or offers creative craft projects?
For Juniors’ Sake
First, the good news: Your youngest staff members possess a brand of exuberance, creativity, and playfulness that older employees do not. That positive energy is a tremendous asset to the camp.
Kids’ Big Fears, Part II
The catch in the woman’s voice and the emotional tone of her phone call suggested something terrible had happened. She told me that her sister--the mom of one of our campers--had died.
Kids’ Big Fears: Part I
I came home for lunch one day in first grade and the house was empty. As a minute stretched into five and then 15, I became convinced that my mom was gone forever. Sounds like the start of a therapy
Start The Day Right
Admiral William H. McRaven, who now serves as the University of Texas System Chancellor, is well-known for saying, “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.
Continuous Professional Development
“It’s like picking berries,” concluded the woman sitting next to me on the plane. I had just explained my seasonal commitment to provide in-person staff training for 22 camps and summer schools in the
Writing Camp Jobs On A Resume
Anyone who includes a camp job on a resume begins a fight. Thanks, in part, to movies like Meatballs, Friday the 13th, and Wet Hot American Summer, camp counselors must struggle against a pop-culture
Boys Will Be Girls ... And Girls Will Be Boys
Sure, there are anatomical differences between boys and girls, but even that apparent binary is more confusing than you might think. Indeed, about 1 percent of the young people you work with at camp were probably born intersex.
Manners Matter
Early in the history of organized summer camps, cooks sparked a debate. Directors on one side of the debate argued that camps should be egalitarian utopias that teach self-reliance. Therefore, children should cook for themselves.
Homesickness And Acculturation Stress
Research has shown that upwards of 95 percent of young people report at least some homesickness during a multi-week stay away from home.
Camp--The Final Frontier
I slept well last night as the rain fell against the composite shingles of the roof, down the aluminum gutters, and out through the storm drain.
Enough About Coronavirus
Early in the pandemic, mental-health professionals cautioned against overindulging in news. Keeping up-to-date is important, especially during a health crisis or an election year.
Am I Oversharing?
Hey, kids, gather ‘round. Let me tell you what I did on my night off, how far my romance has gone, and what I really think about the camp director.
Bridging The Gap
Generation Y has come to be known by several different titles: The Internet Generation, Echo-Boomers, The Boomlet, Nexters, and most commonly, Millennials.
Do You Want A Spanking?
As an academic psychologist and practicing clinician, I’ve studied parent-child interactions in many settings—hospitals, clinics, university laboratories, refugee settlements, schools, homes, and summer camps. While these locales appeal to the scientist in me, there exists no better place to study parent-child interactions than the supermarket.
Dazzling Surprises
In the world of quantum physics, there is a good chance that if I throw a pebble at a brick wall, the pebble will teleport through to the other side, leaving the wall intact. Many scientists have done this exercise with atomic nuclei and force fields.
A Healthy Lead
Staff members are usually on top of their game until they start treating their job like one. Once young people lose sight of the importance of caring for other people’s children, taking unhealthy risks increases.
The Importance Of Candid Feedback
While the biggest worry for a camp counselor may be coping with a particularly difficult camper, the second-biggest worry is how to tell that camper’s parents—either at the child’s pick-up time after