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We have been imparting these very skills to children for more than a century. They are our bread and butter, the outcomes that virtually every camp in America strives to achieve each summer. What child does not emerge from a quality camp experience with stronger skills in most of these areas? Are our campers not more flexible and adaptable after weeks spent together in a cabin or group? What camp doesn’ t teach leadership, enhance a sense of personal responsibility in each and every camper, build their social competencies, and help them to become more flexible and adaptable by strengthening their resilience?

We are the master teachers of these skills, and we have been teaching them to each and every child who has been a part of the camp experiences we create every summer. At a time when parents feel bombarded by so many messages about what they should be doing to help prepare their children to survive and thrive in a changing world, camps hold an important answer to that question. At a time when businesses are searching for qualified workers with the ability to work with others, demonstrate leadership, communicate effectively, be self-directed, and act with integrity, camps hold the answer. While all Americans wonder what the next big thing will be that will sustain our economy and propel us forward, we are here to make a unique contribution to those who will create that future.

Camps teach 21st Century Skills. We teach life skills to children and career skills to staff. We help children and staff develop the higher order cognitive skills that are vital to their future. We need to think of ourselves in a whole new way. We

must become a part of new discussions and dialogues about our place in the education of children and the training of tomorrow’ s workforce. We have never been more relevant.

With this in mind, we have a choice ahead of us. We can continue to keep this secret to ourselves, or we can share it with the world in our marketing materials, our conversations with parents and community members, and in our staff training. We can continue to speak about the“ magic” of camp, or we can articulate our unique ability to directly impact the development of the life and career skills of our campers and staff.

We can choose to do what we have always done, reassured by a vague certainty that what we are doing has incredible value, or we can choose to do this important work with greater rigor and greater intentionality. We can choose to measure our outcomes and commit to sharing our best practices with each other so that we can build these skills even more effectively. It is time for the world to know what happens at camp. The time has come for parents and employers to clearly understand that there is no better way to strengthen life and career skills than spending summers at camp!

Scott is the Owner / Director of Kenwood- Evergreen in New Hampshire.

Scott Brody www. kenwood-evergreen. com

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