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When I look at our program catalog, I’m continuously in awe of the wide ranging variety of activities kids can do here. In a single day, a camper in Base Camp might move from their swimming lesson to the craft studio, to the climbing wall and then to the dining hall for lunch. After which they may choose archery or a zip line elective, produce a video short, or learn cartoon sketching. I love that kids have a well -rounded experience, have choice and freedom, take risks and try something new.

 But I’m here to say that so much of the magic that happens at camp happens during the moments in between. Navigating relationships, managing transitions, and regulating the ebb and …

We live in a world where customization has become quite a luxury. Custom made cabinets, custom tailored suits- vacation planners promising a customized getaway. But here at Summer Fenn we believe that a customized experience for children shouldn’t be for just a few of our campers. In fact, we know from decades of research that a one-size-fits-all approach to child development leaves so many children in the margins and fails to fully develop the skills necessary to thrive in adult life. Skills like flexibility, frustration tolerance, self-awareness and problem solving come online for kids at varying ages. Given that each child’s developmental trajectory includes some accelerated …

For all of my years in working with children and families, I’ve immersed myself in the constant unfolding body of research about raising healthy and happy kids. As a parent and a professional, it’s like I’m chasing the holy grail (or maybe just chasing my holy tail), working so hard to “get it right”- which turns out to be a fast moving target. It’s grit, it’s resilience, it’s being present but not being a helicopter, it’s giving them confidence but not empty praise, it’s loving unconditionally but squaring that with the message that failure is now a good thing… but not too much failure. Learning from failure, is that it?

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In my family we moved a lot. My dad was in the Army, and I had lived in Germany, Hawaii, and Massachusetts by the time I was 7 years old. We had a tradition that the first meal in each new place, each person got their favorite food. For my sister and me, that was luckily a simple macaroni and cheese, but I can picture each and every time we ate it surrounded by boxes, ready for a new adventure.

Our entire lives are infused with traditions, whether it’s the bride and groom cutting a cake, or opening pajamas as a holiday gift, or passing down a traditional family recipe. Traditions keep us connected- to the past, to each other, to our values.  

Nowhere is this more evident than at…

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” –L.M. Montgomery

The New England chill has settled in the air today and the camp office is SO very quiet. It’s hard to imagine that just a few weeks ago we were in the throes of a hot summer afternoon with 450 campers and counselors laughing, splashing, building, climbing, singing, and playing in a campus-wide bustle of activity. It was like we blinked, and it was over.

And don’t we always have that same feeling about our children? 
Blink, they’re walking into 1^st grade.
Blink, they’re riding a two-wheeler.
Blink, they’re driving a car.

Yet each time we blink there’s…

Yes, I learned to share and clean up my toys in kindergarten, but the most valuable lessons for my children have come from camp.

I watch the elective transitions on Mondays and Wednesday, and see over and over the way our campers navigate choice, disappointment and success. I see them branching out from the friends they came with in favor of trying something new that peaks their own curiosity.

Every time we sing a “This is a repeat after me” song with the chant back in unison from the crowd, I see the power of community song and ritual. It’s intentional- the way we unplug here, the way we stay active, how we encourage silliness. The older I get (and often try to fight it)…

One of the first staff interviews I ever held as the new Summer Fenn Director was a candidate who had formerly been a camper here. It’s important to note that our camp ages out at 15 years old for campers, and then we don’t hire staff unless they’ve graduated high school and are at least 18. No C.I.T. program, no junior counselors. It’s a model that has worked for us, and earned us the reputation of having the stellar staff of professionals of which we’re so proud.

During this interview, this former camper talked about the clarity with which she remembered her counselors’ kindness, and how she always felt the most comfortable here at camp. She had been …

My two sons are so lucky. They have a Camp Director mom which affords them a summer of great programming, friendship and fun every year. They may not always feel so lucky, as I remind my boys to put on sunscreen, and check in with their counselors behind their backs, and peek out my office to see if they are attempting the high ropes course. But hey- I’m a mom and parents worry. In general, it’s what we do. Some of us more, some of us less, but concern for our kids’ safety is as ubiquitous as air, and it’s something as a Camp Director (and mom) I never forget.

But there are three, special letters that make my worry settle calmly in the far reaches of my brain, that …

New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday, it always has been. There’s something so hopeful and optimistic about a new beginning. And unlike the other “gift-giving” holidays, for me there’s less pressure, less angst, and more rest and relaxing.

As we turn our attention to 2016, here at Summer Fenn we’ve been taking time with our own families, but we never stop thinking about yours. That’s because there’s something so awesome about camp- which is that every summer is a chance for kids to reinvent themselves, to put their “one-year-older”, best foot forward and jump right in to becoming who they wish to be. In the rest of their world, …

There’s one scene here at Summer Fenn that always captures the essence of camp for me. Sometimes it pulls at my heart strings so intensely, and makes me well up with pride and satisfaction. It happens when we gather in the morning at the canopies in the meadow as campers arrive, and again at the end of the day as we await the arrival of parents at pickup.  Children are playing, pairs and groups sprawled out across the middle of our green grass on this scenic campus. There’s always a Frisbee being tossed by the Codebreakers’ canopy, and casual soccer happening with a group behind the Owls’. The kids at the Video Production tent are riveted to one of their …