|
It sounds almost impossible to have a group
of nine people that can think broadly and specifically enough to deal with the scope
of issues involved in developing and maintaining
an accreditation program for U.S. camps:
- In
settings from the Northwoods of Minnesota
to the Caribbean waters of the Florida
Keys to an urban park in New York City
to a college campus in Los Angeles.
- Offering
activities from kosher cooking to extreme
sports to circus training to scuba diving.
- In
sync with laws and regulations and licenses
and certifications of all kinds and that
change constantly.
- Assuring
a high level of consistency across the
country through a cadre of trained volunteers.
The NSC is
a team of "ordinary" camp professionals
with the extraordinary commitment and perspective
to address these challenges. Together they
represent private and public, for-profit
and nonprofit camps; mountains and waterfront
and forested settings across the country;
agencies and businesses related to camps;
personal expertise in a wide range of camp
activities; and an openness to learning whatever
it takes to maintain a quality accreditation
program for the increasingly diverse industry.
Additionally, they share their personal
leadership gifts for team building, for provoking
"out-of-the-box" thinking, for defining the
details of a proposed standard, for anticipating
the implications of an action to the larger
organization, and most importantly, for how
the standards will improve the camp experience
for the camper and the camp.
ACA's
National Standards Commission (NSC) met in
September in Indianapolis to review the summer
of 2007, review the recently revised standards,
and to continue to look toward the future.
Part of the three-day meeting involved ACA
staff from different "Teams" (Education,
Research, Legal, Public Policy). This gave
the NSC members direct access to ACA
staff that are involved in outcomes research,
opinion research, professional development,
and visioning. These are large ACA areas
of interest that are influenced by and have
direct influence on standards and accreditation.
Regarding lessons learned from this past
summer, the NSC will be gathering input from
the membership and, in particular, the Council
of Delegates at ACA's National Conference
in Nashville regarding possible revisions
to the newly revised standards.
Meet this dedicated
group . . . .
- Susie Davis, Indiana – Recreation
Coordinator and Summer day camp director
for the Parks and Recreation Department
- David Silverstein, New York and
Arizona – Owner/Director
of summer day camps
- Nancy Garran, Massachusetts – Owner/Executive
Director of private day and resident
camps
- Linda Kotowski, Colorado – Recreation
Administrator for parks and recreation
programs; National President of National
Parks and Recreation Association.
- Stan
White, California – Executive
Director of a multi-site private nonprofit
Christian ministry
- Ron Springs, North
Carolina – Camp Director for
denominationally sponsored boys and
girls summer camps
- Tom Riddleberger,
New Jersey – Director of private
resident sleep-away camps
- Bev McEntarfer,
New York/New Jersey -- Volunteer
for international private nonprofit
camp, Camp Director for nonprofit
group helping make camp possible
for the "underserved
populations."
- Kathy Trotter,
Arkansas – former director
of denominational camps; national
consultant to camps, conference centers
and retreat centers
|
Top of page |
 |
|
