Staff morale is part of all aspects of the camp operation. Six components of camp operation are reviewed in terms of how they affect staff morale. They include: scheduling, training, food, facilities, staffing pattern and program. Each of these aspects is presented in terms of physical needs, or emotional needs, or the subtle, underlying ideas…

Camping Unlimited for at-risk youth, which originally ran from 1969-76, was recently revived at Blue Star Camps (Hendersonville, North Carolina) with 150 youth from southern Florida. The one-week stay, funded by several partnerships and organized by youth programs in the home county, included all regular camp activities. Increased staff and…

To increase its counselor retention rate, a New York camp developed a course for counselors that focuses on leadership training and earns participants college credit. The class teaches situational leadership and focuses on the camper, not the activity. Course curriculum and objectives, course elements, and lessons learned about program improvement…

School camping began with three movements in American society: children's camping, which has been traced back as far as 1823; the Nature Study Movement, which is thought to have begun as early as 1839; and the holistic "new education." In 1940, L. B. Sharp opened National Camp in New Jersey and Julian W. Smith initiated the Clear Lake…

Six programs are described in which camps served children who lost parents in the September 11 attacks. Programs ranged from providing free camp or making the annual camp more supportive and safe, to special camps just for those children. All included outreach to families, special staff orientation, bereavement counseling, and balancing support…

Describes role of nurses in residential camp programs. Discusses ways camp administrators find and hire camp nurses. Emphasizes importance of communication between nurse and other staff for assessing campers' developmental needs and potential health problems. Discusses camping environment, health service needs, and campers' most common health…

Provides a philosophical and practical rationale for the development of a global perspective camp program citing increased enrollment, quality staff, public relations value, and creative programs as potential benefits. Discusses program development including involvement of camp governing board, global perspectives themes, curriculum resources, and…

The philosophy and practices of a residential camp program for delinquent and emotionally disturbed youth are set forth in this book designed for persons directly involved with children. The therapeutic camping model discussed here provides an outdoor setting in which disturbed youth live in small, primary groups and get their education through…

The Indian Youth Leadership Program and the Indian Youth Leadership Camp (IYLC) were created in 1981 in response to the need to develop specific skills in Indian youth who will assume leadership positions in the future at the family, school, community, tribal, and national level. Patterned after the National Youth Leadership Camp, the IYLC emerged…