As I dive into the heart of planning for summer camp, I am starting to think about my own summer experience when I was a kid. For most of my life, I was always at “camp outdoors,” where my parents would just send me off with my friends to go play outside all day. I remember not even knowing Summer Camps existed so I never really felt like I was missing out on anything. However, there was one year, when I was maybe 10 years old, where my parents sent me to a local day camp. This was the year that my brothers were old enough to have their own lives and didn’t want to watch me all summer, so they figured, why not experience something different.

I remember being so excited for what was to come, but also a bit nervous because I didn’t know anyone. When I got there, it was clear that many of the campers had been going for years so I threw myself into the mix to make friends. The first week was fun as I navigated this new world; however, by the second week, you could tell that the staff were already complacent and weren’t as enthusiastic as that first week. The camp quickly turned out to be a dud and I remember telling my parents that I never wanted to go back.

When I was in high school, I started working at a day camp and remember telling myself that I didn’t want the campers to experience what I did when I was their age, and made it my mission to ensure that they had the best time ever. I took this mentality with me throughout the rest of my career as I led and managed various camps for students of all ages. 

As I look towards my first summer at WardlaLAartridge, I hope to bring that same energy to our summer programs. A successful camp is one that engages campers in many ways, and also allows them a platform to simply be kids, let their energy out, and have an enjoyable experience while making memories that will last. During summer camp, activities should be where kids are using their creativity and flexing their imagination. At LA, campers will take part in various STEAM based activities where they create projects, explore new topics, and discover their passion. Summer camp is about making new friends and making stronger connections with old friends. It’s about learning the importance of working together through active and non-active activities, hunting for hidden “treasures,” and most importantly, having fun in a safe and welcoming environment. That is what we strive to do at LA Summer Adventures. We want to make sure that every camper leaves with an imaginative spirit, learns new topics and creates new skills, and of course, we want to ensure they have memories that will last a lifetime.

I often think about how my life would be different if I never attended that summer camp as a kid. Would I have worked at a camp in high school? Would I continue to be working at summer camps years later? Unfortunately, I can never know the answer to those questions, but I do know that the goal for any summer camp is to make sure campers have the best experience possible.