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Kids these days… Weekly insights for inspiring flexible and thoughtful leaders I came across an article in Outside Magazine a few weeks ago that had me chuckling. “Can a Campfire Improve Your Mental Health? Many Therapists Say Yes.” To summarize the piece, therapists and nonprofits are using campfires to help a variety of folks (teens included) open up about their struggles. And the science backs it up. A 2014 study found that sitting around a fire decreases blood pressure, fosters…

Kids these days… Weekly insights for inspiring flexible and thoughtful leaders Did you know there’s real strategy to Rope Burning? Yeah, maybe K&E lifers already know this, but this summer I saw it in action for the first time. In real time. Jordan Cohen, coaching on the Grey team, had this down, and it was incredible to watch. Teepee height versus width. Flame placement. Match economy. Teaching iteration under pressure while a hundred kids chant “Watermelon cantelope come on baby burn that…

Kids these days… Weekly insights for inspiring flexible and thoughtful leaders I’m writing this as summer draws to a close. This is always the most bittersweet time of year. The buses have rolled away. The bunks stand empty. Another transformative summer has ended, this one on the edge of exciting change. Evolution is essential. But sitting here in the quiet, I found myself thinking back to something I shared with camp families 25 years ago. A simple question that shaped so much of what…

When Arthur and Judy entrusted me with K&E’s future in 1995, they didn’t just hand over keys to camp. They passed along a sacred responsibility. Entrusting someone else with a place that had shaped thousands of lives, including my own. It has been my greatest honor to carry that trust forward. I was thinking about this over the weekend at Visiting Day when making another big announcement for K&E.

It’s mid-July here at camp, and outside of our wonderful camp bubble, it has been a truly tragic week. I wake up every day and think about what happened in Texas and feel a surge of sadness, but I will myself back into my immediate reality…what is going on here, on the shores of Eagle Pond. I am in the here and now with a camp full of amazing kids and staff, and this is what I want to focus on today with all of you.

It’s Wednesday night at 9:30 pm as I send this, and I can still hear the echoes of hundreds of voices singing together tonight. But before we even get to that, you already know that late this afternoon, the kids arrived at camp. There was the best kind of nervous energy everywhere. At our bus stops, parents doing that thing where you smile bravely while your heart does somersaults, as you waved goodbye through the bus windows.

It’s June, but for a second, let’s take a long walk back to a Saturday afternoon in early May. New families are gathering at Everwood for what we call our JC Weekend and New Camper Event.. Kids meeting kids. Parents meeting parents. Everyone getting a taste of what summer will bring. But look closer. The counselors leading these activities, teaching the cheers, high-fiving the shy kids? They aren’t our seasoned staff (who we’ll get to shortly). These staff are 17 years old and it’s their first moment as counselors.

The other day, I found myself doing something I never imagined I’d do. Asking ChatGPT for guidance about tomorrow, especially where our kids are concerned. It wasn’t because I don’t trust my instincts in this area, but because I wanted to see what an AI would say about preparing children for… well, a world full of AI. The question was fairly simple: “What skills will kids need to thrive in a world with AGI?” The response came back instantly (AI is very fast). The skills list looked like this…

We all want our kids to be happy. And we all want to see our kids grow into successful, fulfilled human beings. I don’t think those two sentences are in any way controversial. But just because we want these things to be true, it isn’t always easy seeing the path to make it happen, that these two desires can create tension. The Atlantic published a piece this week by Russell Shaw titled “The Wrong Way to Motivate Your Kid,” which instantly caught my eye. Partly it was because the headline was a bit click-baity. After all, we’ve all seen our share of articles that highlight something “wrong” and then promise simple fixes to complex challenges.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Hollowpalooza, the K&E concert that’s among the best things we do all summer. I could have just as easily written about Color War, Big Weekend, or even Carnival. But for now, with Hollowpalooza in mind, just picture this: A nervous first-time performer stepping up to the stage, guitar in hand, looking out at a sea of supportive faces. “I don’t think I can do this,” they think quietly to themselves. And almost sensing this internal dialogue, this quiet uncertainty, a K&E counselor leans in and says something simple: “I know it feels scary. But I also know you’re ready for this. And we’ll be right here backing you up the whole time.”