Back

All Available Sessions

Thursday, January 11

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Thursday, January 11

01/11/2024 8:54 AM
Sponsor Gallery

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Sponsor Gallery

01/11/2024 8:55 AM
Registration and Continental Breakfast

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Registration and Continental Breakfast

01/11/2024 9:00 AM

Registration Location--Museum Main Entrance

Continental Breakfast and Networking Location--Swaner Forum

Welcome and Keynote --Camp Matters

General Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Welcome and Keynote --Camp Matters

01/11/2024 9:30 AM
Camp is more important today than ever before. Youth and young adults are facing a variety of challenges that did not exist 20 years ago. Technology, over programming, learning loss, a mental and emotional health crisis, and of course the COVID years. These challenges also present opportunities and a chance to make significant impacts in the lives of those we serve through our programs. Camp CAN and DOES make a difference in the lives of our participants and staff alike. It has the power to help them overcome challenges and build important life skills along the way, all while having a great time. Tim will share current trends in our industry, the importance of the life development skills we incorporate in our programs for both campers AND staff, and stories of impact throughout the years.

Tim Huchton, President/CEO Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly

Tim Huchton

Tim Huchton is the President and CEO for Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly in Hunt Texas. He started working in the camp industry while still in high school and has spent most of his professional career in this space. As a relationship builder he is passionate about helping create space for community and connections and feels that camps are some of the best places in the world to do so.

Tim has worked for numerous camps across Texas and the country and is a past employee of the American Camp Association. During his time with ACA, he helped coordinate and start the work with Camps on Campus as well as serve the needs of camps across the country. Tim’s work with Mo-Ranch allows him to connect employees, alumni, donors, guests, and other stakeholders to a vision that creates a place and programs for people of all walks of life to gather and connect.

Location--Swaner Forum

Break

Meal / Break -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Break

01/11/2024 10:45 AM
Educational Breakout Session #1

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Breakout Session 1

01/11/2024 10:54 AM
Crisis—It Really Can Happen to You 2023

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Crisis—It Really Can Happen to You 2023

01/11/2024 10:55 AM
The ACA Hotline is a year-round, twenty-four-hour-a-day service provided to any camp or individual who needs help in a crisis. Each year, ACA analyzes hotline issues and provides case studies and resources to assist in crisis management, staff training, and preparation for the unexpected, providing valuable lessons every camp can learn. This webinar explores situations from the ACA Camp Crisis Hotline that arose over the past year. This year’s topics will include issues related to staffing and personnel, health/medical, abuse allegations (at home and at camp), camper behavior, and other special situations.

Elliott Fraughton- Club U Summer Camp, Betsy Thamert-American Camp Association

Betsy Thamert is the ACA’s Western Region Professional Development Manager.  She enjoys connecting with camp professionals especially at local and regional events. 

Location--Dry Cave Lab (Level 3)

Oh no! That activity was supposed to take longer: How to extend hands-on activities

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Oh no! That activity was supposed to take longer: How to extend hands-on activities

01/11/2024 10:55 AM
When writing curricula, time frames for individual activities are a best guess and many times that guess is way off. Join us as we explore a multitude of ways to ‘fill up time’ by extending an activity. Come prepared to work with others as we participate in several hands-on activities and then work in teams to brainstorm extensions. Working through these challenges with peers will encourage creativity, communication, and problem solving. This session is for every youth development professional because it taps into curriculum development, developmental understanding, facilitation, supervision, and collaboration—plus, it’ll be FUN! We all deserve to have a little fun!

AJ Woolsey, Natural History Museum of Utah

AJ Woolsey has a passion for teaching in both formal and informal settings. For 7 years she was an elementary science teacher at a Title 1 school in Salt Lake City and for 9 years she has worked in a variety of capacities and programs at Natural History Museum of Utah, from facilitating youth programs like summer camp, Girl Scout workshops and late nights to creating curricula and mentoring staff. She has a passion for phenomena-based teaching and placed based learning and is dedicated to ensuring that all children feel valued and inspired. Her extensive experiences and trainings in formal and informal education gives her a unique perspective and understanding of child development.

Location--Naturalist Lab (Level 4)

What's In Your Backpack? Getting Deeper About Your Mental Health

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

What's In Your Backpack? Getting Deeper About Your Mental Health

01/11/2024 10:55 AM
Join us for this informative and engaging presentation as we delve into the critical aspects of mental health for Day Camp professionals. You'll leave with a deeper understanding of the unique challenges in your profession, practical self-care techniques, and the knowledge to create a more supportive and inclusive camp environment for campers and fellow professionals. Together, we can foster a culture of well-being and resilience in the world of Day Camps.

Shandy Clark, The Salvation Army

Shandy Clark

Shandy Clark is the Social Services Director at The Salvation Army here in Salt Lake City. She is passionate about pushing the social work profession forward and helping those in the field stay dynamic and competent in various areas of the field. She received her bachelor's in social work through Utah Valley University and served as president for the Social Work Student Association there. While in school she pioneered UVU’s first Mental Health Conference run by social work students.

Location--Earth Lab (Level 2)

Lunch and Awards

Meal / Break -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Lunch and Awards

01/11/2024 11:55 AM

Location--Swaner Forum

Educational Breakout Session #2

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Breakout Session 2

01/11/2024 12:54 PM
Camp Panel of Experts

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Camp Panel of Experts

01/11/2024 12:55 PM
Ask the experts! Just kidding, we’re not the experts, but we do have over 50 years of experience as youth development professionals, and we’re thrilled to share it with you. Ask us anything. Have a question about parent communication, partnering with local organizations, supply management, drop off and pick up procedures? Ask us! Maybe it’s a question about camper behavior, curricula development, staff training, or putting together a risk management plan. Ask us!

Shelli Campbell-Natural History of Utah, Diesel Hennessey-YMCA of Northern Utah, Elliott Fraughton-Club U Summer Camp, Warren Bailey-Utah Burn Camp

Dave “Diesel” Hennessey is the Day Camp Director for YMCA of Northern Utah and has 2 decades of YMCA camp experience, a Masters in Camp Administration and Leadership, and creativity not measured by any human scale. Diesel supports the mission and vision of the YMCA of Northern Utah and embellishes its day camp sites with magical charm! 

Shelli Campbell is the Youth & Family Programs Manager and Summer Camp Director at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Shelli has worked at NHMU for over 23 years, overseeing all aspects of her department from budgeting and staff hiring to program creation, implementation and oversight of their award winning programming. Shelli is also the current Utah Representative for the American Camp Association’s Local Committee of Leaders.

Location--Naturalist Lab (Level 4)

 

Exploring ACA’s Bridge Program Workbook: Building and Sustaining an Effective Bridge Program

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Exploring ACA’s Bridge Program Workbook: Building and Sustaining an Effective Bridge Program

01/11/2024 12:55 PM
What is a Bridge Program? Come learn! Join researchers in reviewing the new ACA Bridge Program Workbook that builds from a multi-year research project on establishing leadership pathways for underrepresented youth at camp. This workshop will help participants understand how they can use this tool for developing a Bridge Program or building the next phase of an existing program.

Hilary Lambert and Bryn Spielvogel, University of Utah

Bryn

Bryn is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Utah, where she does research on out-of-school learning contexts, particularly summer camps. Her research is broadly focused on how the contexts that people live in and interact with shape their development and wellbeing.

Hilary is a PhD student in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism department at the University of Utah. She has work experience at camp, in education, and as a non-profit executive. She is interested how schools integrate outdoor learning and outdoor spaces into curriculum and how to make those practices equitable.  

Location--Dry Cave Lab (Level 3)

Play Matters

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Play Matters

01/11/2024 12:55 PM
We all need to fill in some gaps from time to time in our schedule. Having a robust bag of tricks is one way to help when that time comes. This will be an active session geared toward helping you fill your bag of tricks and games. Most games will be geared towards low or no prop games, time fillers, quick initiatives, and more. We will play and discuss facilitation techniques to help grow your bag of tricks.

Tim Huchton, President/CEO Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly

Tim Huchton is the President and CEO for Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly in Hunt Texas. He started working in the camp industry while still in high school and has spent most of his professional career in this space. As a relationship builder he is passionate about helping create space for community and connections and feels that camps are some of the best places in the world to do so.

Tim has worked for numerous camps across Texas and the country and is a past employee of the American Camp Association. During his time with ACA, he helped coordinate and start the work with Camps on Campus as well as serve the needs of camps across the country. Tim’s work with Mo-Ranch allows him to connect employees, alumni, donors, guests, and other stakeholders to a vision that creates a place and programs for people of all walks of life to gather and connect.

Location--Earth Lab (Level 2)

Break

Meal / Break -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Break

01/11/2024 1:55 PM
Educational Breakout Session #3

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Educational Session 3

01/11/2024 2:04 PM
De-escalation Basics

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

De-escalation Basics

01/11/2024 2:05 PM
The children who participate in our programs (camp, afterschool, etc.) come to us with a wide variety of experiences, many of which we are unaware of. Children are with us for a small percentage of their time, and for some, camp is a completely new experience. New experiences and unfamiliar settings can be anxiety-inducing for anyone, but especially for those who have experienced ACEs. Our participants may not have learned the skills needed to regulate that discomfort on their own, which often times results in a display of undesirable behaviors, leading to even more stressful situations, for the child and for the provider. This session will teach you de-escalation skills that will help you feel more confident in these overwhelming scenarios. We will also go over necessary procedures to follow before, during, and after an adverse situation.

AJ Woolsey, Natural History Museum of Utah

AJ Woolsey has a passion for teaching in both formal and informal settings. For 7 years she was an elementary science teacher at a Title 1 school in Salt Lake City and for 9 years she has worked in a variety of capacities and programs at Natural History Museum of Utah, from facilitating youth programs like summer camp, Girl Scout workshops and late nights to creating curricula and mentoring staff. She has a passion for phenomena-based teaching and placed based learning and is dedicated to ensuring that all children feel valued and inspired. Her extensive experiences and trainings in formal and informal education gives her a unique perspective and understanding of child development.

Location--Earth Lab (Level 2)

The Proper Care and Feeding of Unicorns

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

The Proper Care and Feeding of Unicorns

01/11/2024 2:05 PM
Great staff are like unicorns. Join the conversation and leave with practical tools and activities for nurturing the best in your staff. We will explore how to select and support your star staff members and how create space for horses to become unicorns.

John Beitner, American Camp Association

John Beitner is the ACA's Western Regional Director, a frequent presenter at ACA local and national conferences, and a contributor to Camping Magazine. He is deeply interested in issues of staff success and is the staff liaison to the ACA Staffing Summit planning committee.

Location--Naturalist Lab (Level 4)

Youth Belonging at Camp and Connection to Nature: A Collaboration Between Practitioners and Research

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Youth Belonging at Camp and Connection to Nature: A Collaboration Between Practitioners and Research

01/11/2024 2:05 PM
Increasing rates of urbanization in the U.S. suggest that many youth are removed from the benefits of the strong connection between youth exposure to nature, interest in nature, and overall well-being. This session will facilitate a mutually beneficial interactive discussion between researchers and camp practitioners that explores how practitioners are working to promote youth interest in nature on the ground and preliminary research being conducted with data from the ACA National Camp Impact Study. This collaboration will support the development of future practical research and equip practitioners with ideas on how to facilitate youths’ ecological interest and affinity for nature.

Kevin Geoghegan, Bryn Spielvogel, and Wenting Yu -- Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, University of Utah

Kevin

Kevin is a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, and a Research Assistant for the ACA. Prior to joining the University of Utah and ACA teams, Kevin worked collaboratively with Grand Canyon Youth, a non-profit organization that offers educational outdoor expeditions that connect young people to the transformative power of the rivers and canyons of the Southwest, and completed a Master of Arts in Psychological Sciences from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Kevin’s current research interests include outdoor and experiential education and program evaluation.

Bryn

Bryn is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Utah, where she does research on out-of-school learning contexts, particularly summer camps. Her research is broadly focused on how the contexts that people live in and interact with shape their development and wellbeing. 

Wenting

Wenting is a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah. Her research interests are youth development, human diversity, and outdoor activities.

Location--Dry Cave Lab (Level 3)

Break

Meal / Break -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Break

01/11/2024 3:05 PM
Educational Breakout Session #1

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Education Session 4

01/11/2024 3:14 PM
Exploring Nearby Nature with iNaturalist

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Exploring Nearby Nature with iNaturalist

01/11/2024 3:15 PM
Incorporate nearby nature into your programming using iNaturalist – a free platform that documents the living things around us. During this workshop you will learn how iNaturalist works, how your programs can utilize iNaturalist to explore and record nearby nature, AND how people of any age can contribute to records of biodiversity used by scientists around the globe!

Ellen Eiriksson, Natural History Museum of Utah

Ellen Eiriksson is the Citizen Science Manager for the Natural History Museum of Utah

Location--Earth Lab (Level 2)

Staffing Round Table

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Staffing Round Table

01/11/2024 3:15 PM
Join Tim for a discussion regarding current staffing trends, issues, and solutions.

Tim Huchton, President/CEO Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly

Tim Huchton is the President and CEO for Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly in Hunt Texas. He started working in the camp industry while still in high school and has spent most of his professional career in this space. As a relationship builder he is passionate about helping create space for community and connections and feels that camps are some of the best places in the world to do so.

Tim has worked for numerous camps across Texas and the country and is a past employee of the American Camp Association. During his time with ACA, he helped coordinate and start the work with Camps on Campus as well as serve the needs of camps across the country. Tim’s work with Mo-Ranch allows him to connect employees, alumni, donors, guests, and other stakeholders to a vision that creates a place and programs for people of all walks of life to gather and connect.

Location--Naturalist Lab (Level 4)

Using Evaluation to Be Better

Concurrent Session -1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Using Evaluation to Be Better

01/11/2024 3:15 PM
In this introductory workshop, participants will learn the value of centering evaluation in a continuous improvement cycle. Understanding the low-stakes/high reward nature of using evaluation to make improvements to their organizations and programs, participants will walk away with the ability to start creating a culture of learning at their camps, tangible ways to make evaluation fun, and free access to ACA's two Continuous Improvement workbooks!

Jessie Dickerson, American Camp Association

Jessie serves as ACA's Manager of Program Quality Systems. In this role, she supports camps in continuously improving the quality of their programs through trainings, coaching, and a community of practice. Ensuring that camp is truly for all kids is what fuels Jessie's work. She's dedicated to supporting camps in striving for equity—for camps to be a safe and supportive space for all youth, which is a critical piece of program quality.

Location--Dry Cave Lab (Level 3)

 

Thanks for attending!

-1/11/2024

You Selected This Session

Thanks for attending!

01/11/2024 4:15 PM