Episodes

Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Episode 35 | Harness the Power of Plants for Your Program
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
ACA's Professional Development Manager of the Western Region, John Beitner sits down with two experts in horticulture! Join the conversation about the importance and value of connecting young people to the power of plants and the rewards of growing them as a key aspect of youth development. Featuring Susan Yoder of Seed Your Future and Alex Yost of Farm Camp.
Special thanks to our wonderful sponsors!
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
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All music attributed to artists from freesound.org:
-Guitar intro by eltenjohn (https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/) (changes made)
-Guitar transition by kvgarlic (https://freesound.org/people/kvgarlic/sounds/149417/)
-Guitar outro by joshuaempyre (https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/) (changes made)

Friday Feb 26, 2021
Episode 34 | Talking With Campers About Racism
Friday Feb 26, 2021
Friday Feb 26, 2021
ACA's Professional Development Manager of the Western Region, John Beitner sits down with Hameeda Abdul Kadir, Raegan Quattlebaum and Ronald Towns to discuss how their camps have made diversity and inclusion the cornerstone of their programs and how they discuss racism and oppression on a regular basis with their campers. They share impactful strategies and activities to help camps integrate this type of programming and improve practices around communication, anti-racism training and belongingness. Special thanks to the wonderful sponsors of this episode: ACTIVEWorks, CampBrain and UltraCamp.
Guest Panel:
Hameeda Abdul Kadir
Outreach & Engagement Coordinator - Building Bridges
Raegan Quattlebaum
Transform Program Manager - Building Bridges
Ronald Towns
Executive Director - Camp Common Ground
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
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All music attributed to artists from freesound.org:
-Guitar intro by eltenjohn (https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/) (changes made)
-Guitar transition by kvgarlic (https://freesound.org/people/kvgarlic/sounds/149417/)
-Guitar outro by joshuaempyre (https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/) (changes made)

Friday Jan 29, 2021
Episode 33 | Cultural Appropriation at Camp: We Need to Stop Doing Harm
Friday Jan 29, 2021
Friday Jan 29, 2021
This episode will not give you answers, but we hope that the questions we ask ourselves are thought provoking and valuable for the culture of your camp. ACA's Professional Development Manager of the Western Region, John Beitner sits down for an honest conversation between Camp Winnarainbow Director, Yatiel Owens and Tumbleweed Day Camp Owner/Director, Liz Kimmelman. Together, we talk about the roles of our camp communities in recognizing cultural appropriation with staff and campers. Unacknowledged cultural appropriation continues to cause harm and acts as an inclusivity barrier for everyone.
We are thrilled and thankful to have 3 sponsors for this episode. Our huge thanks to ACTIVEWorks, CampBrain and UltraCamp. Your support fuels our podcast and your services make the camp industry a better place.
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
All music attributed to artists from freesound.org:
-Guitar intro by eltenjohn (https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/) (changes made)
-Guitar transition by kvgarlic (https://freesound.org/people/kvgarlic/sounds/149417/)
-Guitar outro by joshuaempyre (https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/) (changes made)

Monday Dec 21, 2020
Episode 32 | Hiring for Diversity
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
CampWire is pleased to bring you a conversation on hiring for diversity — full of value for camps and youth-serving organizations. Our expert panel covers topics around how camps can identify their diversity needs; how they can benefit from a diverse staff; how to address diversity, equity, and inclusion during staff training; and much more! As we approach a new year, we hope this episode offers rich perspective during the camp staff recruitment and hiring process. Special thanks to our wonderful panel:
Host
Michael Johnson — chair for the ACA, Great Rivers Field Office and member of the Staff Retention and Recruitment Committee
Panel
Susana Cruz — activities director for Midwest Children's Burn Camp and Camp Monarch and founder of Chicana in Nature
Douglas Sutherland — executive director of Brantwood Camp and an organizer of Black Lives Matter at Camp
Dr. Nika White — president and CEO of Nika White Consulting for strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion training
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
All music attributed to musicians from freesound.org:
Intro music: by eltenjohn -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/
Outro music: by joshuaempyre -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/

Friday Nov 20, 2020
Episode 31 | Fall Camp for Virtual Learning & Looking Ahead to Summer 2021
Friday Nov 20, 2020
Friday Nov 20, 2020
On this episode of CampWire, we are joined by Liz Kimmelman of Tumbleweed Day Camp in Los Angeles, CA and Andy Shlensky from North Star Camp for Boys in Hayward, WI. We talk about how their camps safely served student communities as kids returned to their school programming in online formats amid the pandemic. We also discuss how the Field Guide and lessons learned from summer 2020 will help camps offer more life-changing, in-person experiences as we look ahead to summer 2021.
Special thanks to our sponsor, camp management software - CampBrain!
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
All music attributed to artists from freesound.org:
-Guitar intro by eltenjohn (https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/) (changes made)
-Guitar transition by kvgarlic (https://freesound.org/people/kvgarlic/sounds/149417/)
-Guitar outro by joshuaempyre (https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/) (changes made)

Monday Sep 14, 2020
Episode 30 | Stephen Gray Wallace & Youth Mental Health
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
On this bonus edition of CampWire - we sit down with school psychologist, adolescent and family counselor, SADD Chairman and CEO, camp director, researcher, motivational speaker, and college professor - Stephen Gray Wallace! During this archived conversation we cover how Stephen got involved in the world of camp, his outlook on "relational vs. transactional counseling" and the critical need for mentoring and youth mental health professionals in camps and other organizations.
Stephen currently serves as president and director of the Center for Adolescent Research and Education (CARE), a national collaborative of institutions and organizations committed to increasing favorable youth outcomes and decreasing negative risk behaviors.
Check out Stephen's new book, IMPACT – An Introduction to Counseling, Mentoring, and Youth Development.
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
Like Comment and Subscribe to the CampWire Podcast -
Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Rave Sports!
All music attributed to musicians from freesound.org:
Intro music: by eltenjohn -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/
Outro music: by joshuaempyre -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/

Monday Aug 31, 2020
Episode 29 | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Roundtable Discussion
Monday Aug 31, 2020
Monday Aug 31, 2020
On this episode of CampWire - Kymberly Miller facilitates a frank and candid discussion between three African American women that have created highly impactful youth development organizations. This compelling conversation covers information about the individual programs they’ve founded and what it takes to lead their organizations. The group explores perspectives and opinions on the reality of white privilege and challenges to expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion. They tackle leadership, fundraising and provide a message of support and solidarity for BIPOC camp professionals.
Expert Panel:
Facilitator - Kymberly Miller, Executive Director of Children’s Fairyland - Oakland’s Story Book Theme Park
Guest - Sprinavasa Brown ,Co-Founder and Executive Director of Camp ELSO - Experience Life Science Outdoors
Guest - Kelly Carlisle, Executive Director Acta Non Verba - Youth Urban Farm Project
Guest - Tiffany McDuffie, Owner and Executive Director of Purposeful Play
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
All music attributed to musicians from freesound.org:
Intro music: by eltenjohn -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/
Outro music: by joshuaempyre -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/

Monday Jun 08, 2020
Monday Jun 08, 2020
On this episode of CampWire - Board certified attending family physician and resilience expert, Deborah Gilboa, MD, aka “Dr. G” joins John Beitner to speak to the importance of maintaining mental, emotional and social health (MESH) as a top priority at summer camp – even during a COVID-19 pandemic.
Please "like" and subscribe. As always, feel free to leave a comment on what you would like to see next!
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
All music attributed to musicians from freesound.org:
Intro music: by eltenjohn -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/eltenjohn/sounds/59507/
Outro music: by joshuaempyre -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/

Monday Mar 02, 2020
Episode 27 | Camps on Campus
Monday Mar 02, 2020
Monday Mar 02, 2020
ACA's Camps on Campus Coordinator- Tim Huchton joins Youth Protection Program Directors LeeKeshia Williams from University of Austin Texas and Nate Freidman from University of Utah.
This group of leaders speak on the rise of accreditation needs on college campuses and the importance of protecting minors in those environments. Special thanks to this episode's sponsor, CampDoc!
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
All music attributed to freesound.org
Intro music by: ValentinSosnitskiy (https://freesound.org/people/ValentinSosnitskiy/sounds/495482/) (edited)
Outro music by: Joshuaempyre (https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/) (edited)

Monday Jan 27, 2020
Monday Jan 27, 2020
We are delighted to sit down with ACA's Director of Research, Dr. Laurie Browne to break down what it means to be a "Leading Voice for Camp in Youth Education and Development". We provide research updates and look to the future of the camp industry. Catch Dr. Browne at the Research Forum during ACA's National Conference (February 11-14) in San Diego, CA.
Want to learn more about ACA's research initiatives? Check out our Research Page on our website.
If you enjoy this episode, please like, comment and subscribe to our podcast. Enjoy!
The views and opinions expressed on CampWire by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Camp Association or ACA employees.
Intro music by: ValentinSosnitskiy -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/ValentinSosnitskiy/sounds/495482/
Outro music by: joshuaempyre -(Changes made) https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/sounds/250749/