Archive for May 20, 2019

Dear Camp Counselor: This summer you will join, figuratively, with more than 320,000 staff working at some 2,400 accredited camps serving more than 7.4 million children nationwide (ACA, 2013). And, suffice it to say, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Why? Because you will greatly influence young lives. And, in my opinion, there’s no…

With March upon us and Valentine’s Day, when we celebrate love of others, behind us, perhaps it makes sense to take note of a similarly powerful kind of love: leadership. When you love to lead, great accomplishment probably lies ahead. If nothing else, as the saying goes, “If you love what you do, you never…

My congratulatory handshake to colleague Jake Labovitz, who along with his wife, Kerry, owns Windsor Mountain Summer Camp in Windsor, New Hampshire, was commentary on a highly successful season. Jake’s reply? “Thanks, but you’re only as good as your last batch of muffins.” What Jake was referring to is called “recency” — most recent —…

As we round out National Mentoring Month, it’s a good time to take stock of the many positive outcomes of these important relationships, maybe especially those of the peer-to-peer variety. During my fifteen-plus years at the helm of, arguably, America’s largest youth peer-to-peer education, prevention, and activism organization, I saw firsthand the remarkable capacity young people have…