Strategies for recruiting and retaining summer camp staff include promoting meaningful relationships among staff, communicating to staff the importance of their job, providing opportunities for challenge and growth, encouraging staff to have fun, making camp an affordable employment option, and giving staff a voice in camp operations and…

Trends in staff development for camp counselors include using experiential training activities, inviting outside speakers to address staff on topics of concern, and teaching staff about child-related issues. Addresses problems in working with staff and provides suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of staff training programs. (LP)

Describes summer-camp experiences of young people who are incontinent because of spina bifida. Focuses on residential camp program as encouragement for youth to learn independent incontinence management. Describes self-catheterization program and process as minor inconvenience and positive alternative to soiled clothing and accompanying…

Provides a brief overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and schedule for phasing in the law. Discusses general features of the law that apply to camps including provisions of employment and public accommodation and requirements for making camp facilities and programs accessible. Provides key definitions included in the ADA and…

A five-day adventure-based residential camping program for Boston middle school students and their teachers develops cooperative learning skills and leadership abilities. Matching staff and students' background and race cultivates and celebrates diversity. Teachers' assistance in program development helps meet new standards and ensures follow-up.…

Gives 10 strategies and examples for camp crisis-management: a written, implemented emergency plan; clear, honest communication; trained staff; good community relationships; learning from experience; knowing the local environment; preparing for the media; considering long-term impacts; avoiding adverse effects; and recognizing good things that…

A widower describes a week-long camping trip he and his two sons took at the Audubon Family Camp at Hog Island (Maine). Scientists and educators provided lectures, games, art projects, and field courses on subjects ranging from oceanography to forest ecology. Spending time in nature proved healing for the family as well. (TD)

Discusses conflicts among girls in a camp setting and how camp counselors can promote positive changes. Examines conflicting female roles in today's society and girls' reactions. Suggests addressing social dysphoria among girls through outdoor-challenge activities led by credible adult female role models. Includes counseling tips. (SV)

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. By publishing a diverse range of views on a wide array of topics, "Children's…

The publication provides some broad guidelines for serving impaired, disabled, and handicapped children in nonspecialized or regular day and residential camps. Part One on the rationale and basis for integrated camping includes three chapters which cover mainstreaming and the normalization principle, the continuum of services (or Cascade System)…

A 1979 external evaluation of the Eckerd Wilderness Educational System (a series of 9 residential, therapeutic camps for disturbed youth in 3 eastern states) drew data from 3 sources: records of the first 1,385 youth entered into the camps from 1968 through November 1979, test results from the most recent 157 clients who completed both entry and…

Because outdoor education complements the aims of education in a way that indoor instruction cannot, it should therefore provide the setting for experiences that cannot be achieved or achieved as readily in the classroom. Outdoor education provides pupils the chance to come to grips with reality, acquire the principles of democracy, and…

Although there were camps for children as early as 1861, it was not until the post-depression era that professional educators gave serious consideration to the educational values of camping. By the late thirties school camping was beginning to find a foothold in various sections of the country and during the forties this movement continued to…

The Camp Chinkapin program, begun in 1957-58 as a pilot program for the State of Oregon, provides all sixth grade students in Crook County (Oregon) with a 5-day session in a resident camp setting in the early summer. The book serves as an introduction to and workbook for students attending the Crook County Outdoor Classroom at Suttle Lake. The…

Purposes and objectives are set forth for this outdoor education program designed to concentrate on the educationally disadvantaged. Selection procedures, letters and forms utilized, and daily schedules are included. Segments of the program evaluated are nature studies, nature crafts, food preparation and clean-up, recreation, budget, and…