* TACL-LYF in NorCal
* TACL-LID in SoCal
* BYC in Houston
* WMACS in DC
* TANG in the Northeast

More recently, we were ecstatic to have 2 more camps, NECYSC in New England and CYC in Houston, join the forum, which brings our participation to up to 7 leading TA youth camps from across the country, with more on the way soon!

I actually jumped at the chance to join TACL as the Director of Youth Camps last year because my years spent at my own camp were so absolutely transformative — a fact to which I’m sure many other participants of similar camps can attest. In fact, in speaking to the boards and leadership of all these camps, what struck me is just how passionately these camps inspire their participants, many of whom go on to become equally-passionate leaders!

Growing up in the DC area, I myself was involved with WMACS for 12 years: 5 as a camper (I wish I had heard about it sooner) and 7 as a counselor / head counselor. After stepping back to give way for “fresh blood,” I was just beginning to feel the camp-sized hole in my life when my good friend Bob approached me about setting up a new role on the TACL board, geared towards bringing together these camps across the country. How could I say no?

After months of initial recruiting, set-up, and baselining, I’m proud to say that we’ve formed an enthusiastic band of camp leaders, all eager to exchange ideas and best practices, share materials and resources, and most of all learn from each other. We’ve already started this information exchange in earnest, and aim to soon move on to even more tangible network effects — e.g. establishing a mentorship network (campers to counselors to alumni) or even a counselor-exchange program.

During the Midterm Convention in January, we had our inaugural National Camps Hangout, where leaders from every camp got to meet each other, and where we laid the groundwork for our knowledge exchange. Then,at the end of April, we had our second National Hangout to welcome our 2 new camps, and out of that came the idea to have our first Reddit-style “Ask me anything” (AMA) session in May, where we all deep-dive into one camp and see what works for them that could work for all of us!

As for the camps themselves, we’ve all finalized kick-ass counselor teams, camper registration is winding down (some of us are even capped out already!), and the camp leadership are in the home stretch of planning out their schedules. In fact, TACL-LYF already took place the week of June 24, with a full host of ~140 attendees.