The American Camp Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Alliance for Camp Health welcome camp directors and out-of-school time professionals to attend a free 75-minute Town Hall-style webinar to ask questions about the current state of the pandemic and the implications of the latest variant on camp operations. We will cover the latest information on the coronavirus, details regarding recent changes to CDC guidance, and current information related to testing and vaccination.   Click here to register. The post ACA, CDC, and ACH Town Hall Meeting – May 11 ..read more

Kids plunging into lakes, hiking Maine’s mountains, playing sports and making art. And, foremost, connecting with beloved camp peers and role models. It’s all back. In the coming days, thousands of youngsters will once again join friends and mentors in what many call their second home. Once again, Maine youth camps are opening. The majority of youth camps suspended their 2020 seasons. Now, having navigated a shifting landscape of pandemic protocols based on federal CDC guidelines, camp directors are committed to giving kids exactly what they need: time to play, connect, learn and unplug. In ot ..read more

More than 60,000 youngsters attend camp in Maine each summer. Each one of those kids needs a sense of belonging, camp directors say, and going to camp provides it. For many of those campers, that attendance is made possible by financial aid and campership programs. Several Maine nonprofit camps operate with a core mission of reaching out to underserved families. Take Camp Susan Curtis, located in Stoneham, which offers their program free of charge. The camp serves economically disadvantaged youngsters from Maine, all of whom are referred by schools or agencies. “It’s important to have the same ..read more

It’s been a hard year for teenagers. Between remote learning, curtailment of extracurricular activities, and socializing primarily via screens, adolescents’ lives have been upended for more than 14 months. Now, as summer approaches, there is a beacon for those teens. Camps are opening. And camp directors say teens need the camp experience more than ever. Matt Pines, and his wife, Monique, own and direct coed Maine Teen Camp in Porter. The camp, which suspended its 2020 season, exclusively serves teens, and Matt Pines says both campers and families tell him and Monique that summer 2021 “feels r ..read more

With screens now a norm, and the sprint to summer underway, Maine camps haven’t skipped a beat. Maine Summer Camps (MSC), a nonprofit with more than 150 member camps, recently joined efforts with an online events platform to host both its annual business networking and a job fair (with a second in the works). Camps rely on a full spectrum of goods and services – not to mention talented and committed staff members – for successful operations. Going virtual to help meet these needs was all in a day’s work for MSC. MSC will host a second virtual job fair next Wednesday, April 28. Virtual Job Fair ..read more

“I like to think of camps as so much more than childcare.” Helen L. Bren᷉a, president and CEO of the YMCA of Southern Maine, affirms the critical importance of day camp for working families. Yet Bren᷉a says the five different day camps operated by the YMCA of Southern Maine offer programs where children “are not just being babysat.” Rather, she says, “They’re our future leaders. [Camp] helps them to set out on a good path to be our future leaders.” Campers benefit from meeting other kids, given the isolation many youngsters have faced. “We do that at all five of our camps,” she said. “We’re pr ..read more

Halsey Gulick Award Winner Rich Deering Featured in Launch of Bi-Monthly Virtual Gatherings A few years back, a group of emerging Maine camp professionals decided to build connections with each other, and serve those in need, during off-season months. Their volunteer efforts reached several Greater Portland nonprofits, including Preble Street Resource Center. Then, enter COVID-19. Rich Deering, a Maine native, started attending Birch Rock at the age of 9. The group, which is part of Maine Summer Camps (MSC), a nonprofit representing about 150 camps throughout Maine, is now refocusing its effor ..read more

“We want to make it more intentional.” Meg Kassen, who alongside her husband, Peter, owns and directs Hidden Valley Camp in Freedom, knows the value of being a camp counselor. But, she says, the camp wants to help counselors better understand that value and learn to frame their experiences in the multitude of ways that can inform future career endeavors. Being a camp counselor is truly a 24/7 responsibility, demanding skill sets that camps simply cannot compensate on a par with other summer job experiences. Skilled lifeguards at camp, for example, do not just carry the enormous responsibility ..read more

  “Everything we do is intentional. Social emotional learning (SEL) is why it’s intentional.” Ash Bahi, camp director of Agassiz Village, a youth camp located in Poland, Maine, smiled as he said this in a recent virtual meeting. Camps statewide serving children from Maine, the nation, and the globe, are similarly mission driven. And Bahi, who took the helm as Agassiz Village’s camp director in 2019, wants to share that intentionality, make it a “shining beacon” for the hundreds of campers in residence for two-week sessions come summer 2021. Ash Bahi, camp director of Agassiz Village, a yo ..read more

“Kids need this so much right now.” Sue McMullan knows. As director of Alford Lake Camp, a traditional residential girls’ camp in Hope, McMullan has for decades committed herself to the camp’s mission in hosting campers and staff from around the world. Today, she says, a summer 2021 camp experience is absolutely vital for youngsters. COVID-19 may have put camp on hold in 2020, but McMullan says summer 2021 will be different. “We say to families, ‘we plan it to be all systems go, but the way I answer a question today may be different [another day],” she says.  “We want to be together, cele ..read more