Podcast Day Camp

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/including-non-neurotypical-campers Every child deserves a camp experience. Period. Allison Krabill and Sam sit down to tell you how to help non-neurotypical campers have a successful camp experience. We’re grateful to welcome The Summer Camp Society’s new executive director, Allison…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/staff-not-coming-back Justin Pritikin returns to give you an inside scoop on why your staff are not coming back, quitting and in general, “done” with the camp industry. Picking up from our past episode 66, and the Tri-State Camp Conference Session that he and I gave last week in Atl…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/staff-holding-hostage A proactive approach to working with this post-COVID generation of staff This past summer was intense, especially in the realm of managing our staff who have been through a lot in the past two years. Managing staff resistance is something that comes with the jo…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/equity-in-camp Staff training is the opportunity to show how important DEIJ is at your org. Daniel Morias and Leslie Keller are two awesome camp professionals who over the pandemic started the Equity in Camp Initiative- and have launched a successful consulting business supporting c…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/day-camp-office-admin Keeping the Trains Running on Time! The Day Camp Office is the nucleus of the organization during the off-season and during the summer. Filled with multitaskers, databases, spreadsheets, phones, Emails, texts, push notifications, weather reports- and as technol…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/purchasing-2022 Don’t say we didn’t tell you so! We’ve all heard the news- The shipping containers stranded outside Los Angeles, the supply chain issues, the lack of truck drivers, the lack of workers everywhere - THIS IS NOT FAKE NEWS - this is Purchasing 2022, and if you want cups…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/living-your-core-values You say you’re an “inclusive camp”…but are you living that every day? DEI! We can’t talk about it enough, because frankly - it’s THAT important. We’re fortunate to be joined this week by Danny Tobin, who has experienced camp, and life, from unique perspective…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/appreciating-staff-brandwein It’s your friend from Chicago…Michael Brandwein! We all want our staff to be professional, and we all want to support them. Great. We also want the pandemic to go away, voting rights, and peace in the middle east… These situations are HARD, and take crea…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/from-the-mouth-of-babes Have you asked your camp staff what their summer was really like? Andy and Sam did - and we found out their staff are incredibly honest. For our first podcast of 2022, we’re going to the source- the staff themselves- so you can hear their debrief of last summ…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/2021-resolutions Here’s how our hosts are (and you can) set yourself up for success in 2022! 2021 has come to a close, and Sam, Tiff and Andy have some New Year’s resolutions to make 2022 the best it can be for our camp, and especially our staff. SUPPORT, training, diversifying reve…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/extreme-heat-2021 The heat is ON! Here’s how to not just survive, but thrive when the weather is at it’s hottest! 2021 was literally the HOTTEST SUMMER OF ALL TIME. The heat is on, people, global warming is real, and it ain’t getting any cooler. We need to do what we can as camp ope…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/dream-big-cannabis Mary Stein is here to tell us how she dreamed big…and how she was one of the first camps to face marijuana legalization at camp! Mary Stein started a private day camp from scratch in a neighborhood that at first didn’t realize how primed for it, it was. Dream BIG …

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/sleepaway-spirit-4 An annual tradition of ours…where we talk about…traditions (and other great stuff!) Every season on this podcast, we discuss the “secret sauce” of camp- with a couple of crossover day camp pros, who have special insight. Today, we welcome Dave Skolnik from Hampton…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/staffing-and-reorg What to do when it feels like you need to rethink EVERYTHING? Summer 2022 is the time. What more of a kick in the butt do you need? Staff need to be paid equitably, programs need to be rethought, value-added means something totally different nowadays and we need t…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/camps-at-school School’s out. Camp’s in! You can run a great camp program ANYWHERE! If you’ve got the right people, a solid program and a can-do attitude, you’re in. Running a day camp in a school setting, but it definitely also has some major advantages! For millions of kids across…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/2022-staffing-pt1 Was staffing a slog in 2021? We have a cheat code for 2022 - her name is Kim Aycock Kim Aycock dedicates her life to the ins and outs of camp staffing- Recruitment, Hiring, Retention- All-round Best Practices. She trains camp staff, she posts great content on socia…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/multicultural-camp-dcp Just because your marketing materials say you are multicultural, or diverse, doesn’t mean you are. Here’s how Kevin Gordon did it, and how you can, too. Kevin Gordon is a camp owner and director who started Camp Kupugani from scratch, as a multicultural camp e…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/summer-2021-debrief We’re on the other side of the Summer of 2021 - Let’s unpack it together. How are you? After a first, or second COVID-summer, many Day Camp Pros are only now coming out of hibernation. It was, to say the least, a tough summer. But have no fear, the Day Camp Pod i…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/2021-mental-health The perfect, and most important way to wrap up our season together - Thanks for being a friend of camps everywhere Dr. G! 2020 and 2021 have been quite a shock to our camp community. The clinically inclined would call it trauma. Same as a 9/11, a war, or other exp…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-not-for-profit-like-for Welcome to the meshugganah motivator himself, Aaron Greenberg! The not-for-profit camping world has had it tough this past year, with nervous funders, shoe-string budgets, furloughed staff and such. But not as much so with the Jewish Camps that work with…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/supporting-trans-campers-staff We can’t keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them if our goal is to keep all of the campers in our care safe. Welcome, Chris Rehs-Dupin! Day Camps have gone through all kinds of changes through the years. In the 1950s and 60s - the talk was prob…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-games-games Curt “Moose” Jackson is with Sam to share his best games and best gaming practices. This mini-pod is all about games! Games are the bread and butter of a great camp staff member and you can never have too many favourites. We’re grateful for Curt to join us on this e…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/circle-taco Using circles (…and tacos?) to help our campers be their best this summer. Welcome, Emily Golinsky! Most Day Camps fancy themselves masters in the art of Circle Time, but we doubt that most look at it as an act of restorative justice. To quote a golden Bob Ditter metapho…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-camp-training-dave-malter Welcome back to the Podcast, Dave Malter! Andy and the great Professor Dave Malter are here to talk about the complexities that will go into training staff to serve kids that have been living in a pandemic for a WHOLE YEAR now. It’s going to be a diffe…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/frank-brandwein Welcome back, Michael Brandwein! Like a day camp guardian angel, Michael Brandwein has been bestowing wisdom upon us for longer than many of our listeners may roam this earth- How does that make you feel, Michael? The defending champion of Day Camp Pod guests returns…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-camp-activities SPONSORED CONTENT - Thanks to Camptivities for their support! Day Camp schedules come in all ways shapes and forms, but most of us have the same goals- to create a wide-ranging and engaging program that kids can enjoy and learn from. Set activities, electives, s…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/liquid-sunshine It’s time to learn to dance in the rain, folks! At day camp we don’t have rainy days, we have Liquid Sunshine, and it’s not raining until we say it is. My brother lives in Seattle, where it rains almost every day, and nobody complains. As we camp directors like to sa…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-advocacy-gold Welcome back, Jonathan Gold! Review us on iTunes! Please help us welcome back the man, the myth, the legend, Jonathan Gold to this Day Camp Mini-Pod! Tune in to hear more about: WHY Government advocacy- It’s like an insurance policy- and it’s also a bit pricey. Fo…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/you-can-do-it A Love Letter for Camps Considering Running in 2021 - from Go Camp Pro Review us on iTunes! If you’re able to run camp this summer, we want to make sure you know you can do it. This special Go Camp Pro Podcast is for camps out there who are on the fence about running t…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mike-stillson Meet Mike Stillson - A True Day Camp Maverick! Review us on iTunes! The Camp Industry has some great leaders. We've interviewed a bunch of them, and we’ve got another one for you. Mike Stillson showed tremendous leadership in guiding his organization to open last summe…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-marcy-brower A spotlight on a wonderful woman in camping, Marcy Brower Review us on iTunes! There are some amazing people who blaze a trail for change; Marcy and Bob founded and operated Circle M Day Camp in Wheeling Illinois for 45 years, one of the first private camps to hire…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/parks-and-rec-pod The ins and outs of one of the largest groups of day camp providers, Parks & Rec departments! Review us on iTunes! Municipal Parks and Rec. programs might have more day campers across North America each summer than all the private camps in the United States combine…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-dave-thoensen A conversation with Andy Pritikin & Dave Thoensen Please help us welcome Dave Thoensen to this Day Camp Mini-Pod! Tune in to hear more about: Private Day Camp BUSINESS practices Fiscal responsibility Last summer: PPE purchasing, staffing, parent communication- you…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/hard-times It’s not all waterslides and s’mores, folks! Here’s how to persevere through the hard times, to get back to the good ones! The world changed for us all in March 2020, with life, and camp, and business becoming more stressful and challenging than ever before. But “what doe…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mini-scott-brody How Scott Brody and The ACA supported camps through the dark days of summer 2020. Andy is joined by his longtime friend, colleague and business partner, Scott Brody, who also happens to be the Board Chair of the American Camp Association, with a concentration the pa…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/traditions-at-day-camp Powerful ways to draw kids into the wonder and magic of your Day Camp. Kids love predictability, kids love silliness, kids love TRADITIONS. Most every camp out there has some kind of traditions that have woven their way into your program or facility- It’s part…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/ppp-era-aca Timely info for American Camps - Jan/Feb 2021 For many camps and small businesses in the United States, the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program was a lifesaver- enabling us to keep our best people employed which we navigated the uncharted waters o…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/preschool-program-2021 They’re the most fun, the most magical, the most squirmy and they’re the future of camp. Here’s how to rock your preschool camp programming! Pre-Schoolers are the little saplings of day camp. Show them and their families a good time, and you have an annuity th…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/dei-at-day-camp-pt2 Here’s part 2 of this important conversation with Dr. Perry and Dr. Ozier. One of the silver linings 2020 has been the awakening of many camp professionals to the glaring lack of diversity in the camp industry. Besides camps that cater to children living in the i…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/dei-at-day-camp-pt1 The Day Camp world is being reborn after the summer of 2020. Let’s rebuild it into a world of diversity, equity and inclusion. One of the silver linings 2020 has been the awakening of many camp professionals to the glaring lack of diversity in the camp industry. …

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/essence-of-camp When you take away all of your camp’s window-dressing, what’s left? Andy and Liz Kimmelman dig into it on this Mini-Pod. Every camp we’ve spoken to that opened during Summer 2020 quickly realized that all the bells and whistles they’ve accumulated over the years were…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/mark-transport We’re always doing a bit of a turnaround at camp, so let’s hear from a Day Camp Pro who’s a…well…pro at it! Review us on iTunes! Being successful in the camp industry these days calls for strong, courageous leadership- and on Long Island, Mark Transport has made himse…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/perseverance-in-day-camping We will persist. Kids need camp too much for us to give up. Review us on iTunes! The last 8 months have been emotionally trying for all of us- Whether you opened in 2020, or chose not to open, this has been a rite of passage like none other- with no self-…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/sleepaway-spirit-pt3 “The Mont-sters of Day Camp” are here for our annual episode on harnessing the spirit of overnight camp at your day camp! If YOU have experienced both day camp AND resident camp, agree that a great day camp captures the “Sleepaway Camp” Spirit- This episode, our…

Here are some art projects that teens will actually enjoy! Review us on iTunes! On this mini-pod, Sam sits down with Cricket to tell you about some of their favourite art projects that are winners with teens! And since it’s hard to do an audio-only show of crafts, here is a write-up of the crafts! Thanks, Sam and Cricket! - Do you have a suggestion…

Find full notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/2021-staff-recruitment-and-retention We’re not exactly sure what the summer of 2021 will look like, but we know we’ll need a great team of staff! Here’s how to get them on board, and keep them around! As we navigate the pandemic waters, the staffing landscape has skewed a bit. Some might…

Find more at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/eleanor-eells Celebrating a foundational Camp Professional. Tune in to learn about Eleanor Eells and her legacy in camping in part, through Title XX funding. Review us on iTunes! Eleanor P. Eells was a leader and inspiration within the field of camp throughout her life. She was an active participant in …

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/blog/women-of-gcp-podcast What do you call it when you gather a bunch of female camp and podcasting pros in a room? You call it AWESOME. In today’s special crossover episode, Beth Allison from Camp Code hosts a conversation with several of the women who podcast with Go Camp Pro. Today’s episode …

Find show notes and links at - https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/day-camp-from-scratch Post-COVID, the world is going to be in need of more connection than ever. What better way is there to connect than at camp? Here’s how to start your own! Review us on iTunes! If only one out of every six American children attends summer camp programs, there’s a wh…

Find full show notes and links at: https://gocamp.pro/day-camp-pod/day-camp-kitchen Happy Kitchen - Happy Camp. Here are some best practices for camp kitchens of all kinds! Review us on iTunes! Running a food service at your day camp is not typical, and it certainly isn’t in the talent wheelhouse of most camp directors. But for those who can pull i…