All Available Sessions

Sessions in Eastern Time

-10/9/2024

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Sessions in Eastern Time

10/09/2024 8:30 AM
Sponsor Gallery

-10/9/2024

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Sponsor Gallery

10/09/2024 12:00 PM
Pre-Conference Camp Tours

-10/9/2024

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Pre-Conference Camp Tours

10/09/2024 12:30 PM
We will visit three different camps as part of the preconference camp tours. Camps toured will be YMCA Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha, Lake Ann Camp & Retreat Center, and Camp Carvela.

12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Check-in for Camp Tours at the Camp Office

1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.  - Camp Tours

Transportation to each camp is provided. 

Dinner

Meal / Break -10/9/2024

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Dinner

10/09/2024 6:30 PM

Location: The Great House

Michigan Fall Gathering

-10/10/2024

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Michigan Fall Gathering

10/10/2024 8:00 AM
Check-In

-10/10/2024

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Check-In

10/10/2024 8:01 AM
Upon arrival, please follow signs for parking and proceed to the Leelanau Lodge for check-in. Check-in for the Fall Gathering is from 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Location: Leelanau Lodge

Welcome & Icebreakers

General Session -10/10/2024

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Welcome & Ice Breakers

10/10/2024 9:00 AM
Welcome to the Michigan Fall Gathering! Join us as we connect with others and have some fun.

Location: Leelanau Lodge

Interactive Activities

Hands On -10/10/2024

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Interactive Activities

10/10/2024 9:30 AM
Discover different activities that are offered at Leelanau-Kohahna. You will pick one of the four activities to explore and learn more about.

High Ropes: “Will you watch me transfer?” echoes throughout our Pine Forest when we open up our High Ropes Course. Develop confidence, teamwork, and push yourself out of your comfort zone on all 10 of our High Ropes Course Elements. At 22 fee in the air, you can soar in trees from element to element with our trained and certified instructors managing the risk along the way. Participants will observe the high ropes course in action. Closed toe shoes & long pants are required.

Teambuilding: Each group is given a “mission,” a problem that can only be solved through solid individual contributions and cooperative group effort. Students learn valuable lessons in effective teamwork, leadership, and communication. Participants will try out teambuilding activities. Closed toe shoes & long pants are required.

Pioneer Tools: Students take a step back to the mid-1800s to learn all about pioneers and the logging and homesteading that took place in Michigan. Students can use tools from this era to make a three-legged stool to take back to their classroom. Participants will observe and learn all about the activity. Closed toe shoes & long pants are required.

Blacksmithing: Heating iron to over 800 degrees and smacking it with a hammer! This is the real thing. Learn the ancient craft while making hooks, tools, and artistic designs out of steel. Participants will observe and learn all about this activity. Closed toe shoes, long pants, and clothing that won't melt are required.

Activity Debrief

General Session -10/10/2024

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Activity Debrief

10/10/2024 11:15 AM

Location: Leelanau Lodge

Lunch

Meal / Break -10/10/2024

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Lunch

10/10/2024 11:45 AM

Location: The Great House

Educational Breakout Session

-10/10/2024

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Educational Breakout Session

10/10/2024 12:50 PM
Navigating Social Inclusion and Respectful Rejection

Concurrent Session -10/10/2024

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Navigating Social Inclusion and Respectful Rejection

10/10/2024 12:50 PM
Life is full of social risks, yet we often overprotect children from developing the true skills they need to manage friendships. Instead of saying "we don't say: she can't play," come learn deeper tools to guide kids in setting boundaries, coping with fears, and being able to make the circle bigger.

Location: Leelanau Lodge

Heather Shumaker is an author and national speaker. Her renegade parenting books, It's OK Not to Share and It's OK to Go Up the Slide, promote play, risk-taking, and emotional and social learning and have been translated into French, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and other languages. Heather Shumaker is also the author of Saving Arcadia, a narrative nonfiction book about Great Lakes land conservation that's been called a “page-turning environmental action thriller.” It's won state and national awards including: Michigan Notable Book Award, Eric Hoffer Award finalist, and Next Generation Indie Book - Environment Winner.

Heather holds a BA in sociology/anthropology from Swarthmore College and an MS in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Traverse City with her husband and two children. Her newest book is The Griffins of Castle Cary, and award-winning adventure for kids ages 8-12. She co-hosts BookSmitten, a new podcast focused on children's books.

What Students Want: A Research-Based Approach to Recruiting & Retaining Camp Staff

Concurrent Session -10/10/2024

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What Students Want: A Research-Based Approach to Recruiting & Retaining Camp Staff

10/10/2024 12:50 PM
It's not just you - hiring and retaining staff is getting harder for camps each year. Some of the reasons seem obvious: internships, better pay, and academic progress have all been factors for a while now. But is that just the way it is? Over the past year, UltraCamp has conducted a study that explores how collegiate students think about and approach summer opportunity - asking what they value, when they plan, and how they finalize their decisions. This session will break down the findings and make some recommendations for camp leaders to consider as they begin recruiting for the next season of camp.

Location: The Great House

Donnie Keele III is a communicator and certified coach who specializes in helping others discover and share what makes them unique and gives them purpose. Equipped with degrees in mass communication and campus chaplaincy as well as 15+ years of experience split between summer camp administration and university student affairs and development, he now produces digital media and learning engagements for UltraCamp in Niles, MI. His current focus is helping camp professionals make sense of complex and shifting demands so they can continue growing as exceptional leaders who provide transformational experiences for campers and staff alike. 

ACA Accreditation Conversation

Concurrent Session -10/10/2024

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ACA Accreditation Conversation

10/10/2024 12:51 PM
Come learn more about the ACA Accreditation process. Bring whatever questions you have, whether you're at an accredited camp or are curious about ACA's Accreditation program.

Location: Arts & Crafts Room

Weldon Rutledge is a long time ACA visitor and the Camp Director at Leelanua & Kohahna Camps.

And Have Fun! Alumni & Donor Engagement

Concurrent Session -10/10/2024

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And Have Fun! Alumni & Donor Engagement

10/10/2024 12:51 PM
2024 is Camp Echo's 100th anniversary summer! With this milestone, there is a lot of WORK and a lot of OPPORTUNITY to dial up the alumni and donor engagement. This milestone aligned with shifts in the Camp Echo staff structure, that created capacity and necessity for a fresh approach to nurturing these relationships with a focus on the long-term success of camp. Learn a bit more about Camp Echo's journey, new practices that were introduced in 2024, and FUN ideas of how to level-up alumni and donor engagement at your camp.

Location: Conference Room

Bernard Rocca loves to learn and make camp magical for ALL. He has served as Executive Director of McGaw YMCA Camp Echo for 10+ years and participates in several project to support the broader camping movement, such as the Michigan Y Camp Network and YMCA of the USA Camp Inclusion Project.

Closing Keynote

General Session -10/10/2024

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Closing Keynote - Giving the Gift of Risk

10/10/2024 2:00 PM
Childhood is a time of risk, and there's no better place to explore that than at camp. We'll take a look at types of healthy risk, and ways you can welcome more open-ended play and risk-taking at all stripes into your program.

Location: Leelanau Lodge

Heather Shumaker is an author and national speaker. Her renegade parenting books, It's OK Not to Share and It's OK to Go Up the Slide, promote play, risk-taking, and emotional and social learning and have been translated into French, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and other languages. Heather Shumaker is also the author of Saving Arcadia, a narrative nonfiction book about Great Lakes land conservation that's been called a “page-turning environmental action thriller.” It's won state and national awards including: Michigan Notable Book Award, Eric Hoffer Award finalist, and Next Generation Indie Book - Environment Winner.

Heather holds a BA in sociology/anthropology from Swarthmore College and an MS in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Traverse City with her husband and two children. Her newest book is The Griffins of Castle Cary, and award-winning adventure for kids ages 8-12. She co-hosts BookSmitten, a new podcast focused on children's books.