31 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 25, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Camp directors discuss meeting the challenge for today’s kids
BY JESS MICHAELS
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
With more children and young adults
experiencing mental health challenges, summer
camps have needed to adjust over the
years, especially during COVID, to help meet
the needs of their campers and staff.
Jamie Sirkin, owner and director of Summer
Trails Day Camp in Westchester and
president of the New York State Camp Directors
Association, has advocated for almost
a decade along with other camp directors
to get a law passed that would allow camps
in the state to hire licensed professionals
such as social workers. This past July, the
law passed, giving camps the option to hire
licensed professionals for their campers and
staff.
“Camp directors have seen more children
arriving at camp with eating disorders,
anxiety and depression. Then there are just
the things that happen during a typical summer
such as a child being upset about their
favorite counselor leaving,” Sirkin explained.
“This law will give camps the option to have a
professional on hand to help children, along
with young adult staff, deal with the baggage
they come to camp with and to process the
things that happen during the camp season.”
When children are prepared before heading
off to camp, they feel less anxious about
the new experience and ease into camp life
easier.
“Children who go to camp with positive
expectations go into camp excited. We have
ramped up a lot of what we do prior to camp
to help kids have a smoother adjustment,”
explained Matt Krouner, owner and director
of Camp Schodack, a coed overnight camp
in NY. “There are new camper days, home
visits, and each camper has a big brother or
a big sister. We are having more contact with
parents and Zoom calls for new parents leading
up to camp, which is above and beyond
what we have done in the past. Our goal is
to set positive expectations so campers feel a
sense of place before getting to camp.”
Camp Schodack also tells campers before
the summer that within the first week of
camp, they can choose a staff member to be
their check-in person.
“Campers can identify a person on the
leadership team or a counselor that they
can go to if they need support. When a
child picks the person, it also makes a staff
member feel amazing and connected to the
person that chose them,” Krouner said.
As camps opened up last summer after a
year of COVID, they were prepared for children
to come to camp having had limited
social interactions and fewer extracurricular
activities after experiencing remote learning.
“We knew kids were desperate for social
interactions that they couldn’t have for the
18 months prior to camp,” Krouner said. “We
went into the summer with a plan to have
increased check-ins with campers but most
of those weren’t necessary. Children found
their stride quickly and felt protected and
safe at camp. Staff, on the other hand, felt
more limited at camp without their normal
days off out of camp due to COVID and it
affected their experience. We’ve made some
changes to make sure our staff feel supported.
I’ve hired a staff liaison, which is
like a staff cruise ship director, to focus on
the needs of our staff and to adjust things as
the summer goes on.”
Sirkin explains that as kids were back
at camp after many months in isolation,
simple things like dealing with disappointment,
learning to share or taking turns was
a struggle for them.
“These were things we always taught at
camp and now half of the group was having
difficulty and the counselors had to manage
things on a different level than previous
summers,” Sirkin said. “These are not
necessarily part of a counselor’s skill set. For
next summer, we will enhance this part of
our staff training to include mindfulness,
taking a break, behavioral management and
communication skills.”
Th e camp director and leadership teams at
both day and overnight camps are there to help
both campers and staff . However, it’s important
for parents to be honest with the camp
about any challenges a child may be having.
“When you send your child to camp, you
are forming a partnership with the camp director,”
said Davina Angus, executive director
of the American Camp Association, NY
and NJ. “You want to let the director know
if your child has had any recent changes in
their life or is experiencing any issues that
would be helpful for the camp leadership
team to know ahead of time. Being upfront
with what is going on will help the camp set
your child up for a successful summer. If you
leave them in the dark, they won’t necessarily
be able to support them in the best possible
way.”
Photo via Getty Images
“Children who
go to camp
with positive
expectations go
into camp excited.
We have ramped
up a lot of what
we do prior to
camp to help kids
have a smoother
adjustment.”
— Matt Krouner
camps
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