Why great camps still change lives and what smart camp leaders are doing differently
I recently spent several days with camp leaders from across the Carolinas and Virginias, and somewhere between conversations about staffing shortages, insurance increases, counselor burnout, and whether middle school boys are physically capable of walking past a lake without throwing something into it, I kept coming back to the same thought: Camp professionals are carrying far more than most outsiders realize. Camp leaders reading this already know that. You know this work is no longer only about activities and schedules. Camp today sits directly at the intersection of youth mental health, emotional resilience, leadership development, social growth, risk management, and human connection.
That is a heavy assignment.
I say that personally because camp shaped my life, too. I served as a summer-camp counselor. My wife served as a counselor. All three of our children have worked on camp staffs as well. Around our house, camp stories are family history.
Some families pass down recipes.
We pass down stories about thunderstorm evacuations, talent show disasters, homesick campers, and the mystery of how every cabin somehow produces twelve missing water bottles and one completely unexplained wet towel hanging from the ceiling.
Camp gets into your bloodstream.
But after years of working professionally in youth-leadership development, I have become convinced of something important: Great camps are not successful because they entertain kids well. Great camps succeed because they intentionally create environments where young people grow.
