Across communities in Washington County, kids are getting the chance to develop skills, take positive risks, and learn resiliency. And for four weeks each summer, while they are outside their classrooms, they are building on those educational opportunities. The program is called EdGE, and it is operated by the Maine Seacoast Mission, a Bar Harbor-based […]
Despite Maine’s enormous natural beauty – from woods to lakes to coast – not all kids get outside. One organization, in conjunction with the Appalachian Mountain Club, is trying to change that. The Piscataquis Soil and Water Conservation District, based in Dover-Foxcroft, will offer its Teen Wilderness Expedition to kids aged 12-16 this summer. The […]
Camps in Maine boast an enormous range of activities for kids of all ages. One subset of those camps are farm camps, where kids learn first-hand about the day-to-day activities that make a farm tick. From the 622-acre property of Wolfe’s Neck Farm to a small demonstration farm at Farm Camp in Cape Elizabeth, farm […]
Sustainability. As one camp director puts it, the term means many things to many people. But one fact is certain. Camps throughout Maine are seeking to implement and teach practices that show respect for the environment. From utilizing solar installations to planting trees to serving locally sourced foods, camps are on board when it comes […]
Camp offers a broad range of benefits to kids, from participating in outdoor activities, to being in nature, to making new friends. In providing these opportunities, camp also presents an environment for developing a wide variety of skills. While swimming or sailing, creating art or music, pitching a tent or navigating a challenge course, kids […]
High school and college can be stressful, no doubt, full of decisions about academics, job experience, and careers. And the pressure is great. It comes from school and peers and parents, and is a huge factor in how young adults choose to spend their summers. Now more than ever, students are faced with questions about […]
Every summer, thousands of parents put their children’s care into the hands of camp staff members. From day camps offering a single week of activities and instruction, to summer-long residential camps hosting kids for as many as eight weeks, Maine camps depend on their staff for providing an enriching – and fun – experience for […]
The countdown is on for Maine camps. Their websites list the days, hours, even seconds, until opening day, when girls and boys from here and afar descend on the scores and scores of camps throughout the state. But while campers are still immersed in school and activities, camp directors are keeping their eyes on the […]
Homesickness. The feeling is different for different kids, but the discomfort can be profound. And it isn’t necessarily limited to campers; even camp staff can feel it. But as parents and kids prepare for the camp experience, being mindful of homesickness and how to manage it is a key element for a successful summer. Last […]
Camps in Maine serve a vast range of purposes: building skills and community, creating lifelong friendships, plunging into nature and unplugging from technology. While each of those purposes can touch a child’s spiritual side, there are camps in Maine that purposefully seek to help kids look beyond themselves and into a world where God or […]
Kristine Snow Millard is a free-lance writer from Portland and a fan of all things summer, including camp. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of New Hampshire, a master’s degree (communications) and a law degree from Boston University, and, most recently, earned an MFA in creative writing from the Stonecoast MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine. She is currently helping to edit The Art of Outdoor Living, a guidebook used for Junior Maine Guide candidates, and is a regular contributor to the Maine Summer Camps newsletter. She has also contributed to the American Camp Association New England newsletter. Kris has written regularly for Maine Women and My Generation, both publications of Current Publishing. She has written features for the Maine Sunday Telegram, and is also a free-lance grant writer. A parent, she is also deeply committed to the subject of emotional wellness, and has seen how camp can foster whole and healthy kids. She is working on a memoir about living with clinical depression, and an essay she has written on that topic is forthcoming in an anthology to be published by Talking Writing, an on-line literary magazine.
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