With Steve gone to Washington to meet with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), I have taken over blogging duties for two days. Steve and I have a lovely division of labor. For example, he does most of the writing and conference speaking. He is our Camp Geek. I am more the Camp Mom – overseeing the Health Center and keeping eyes on all my little ones here at camp. I am also here for any worried moms. After all, I am often a worried mom as well and can completely relate with all you wonderful parents.
But with him gone, I have volunteered to write a couple of short blogs.
Yesterday, Steve was sweet enough to write about me. I would like to return the favor.
Steve is going to the “strategic council meeting” of P21 as a representative of the American Camp Association, where he serves as a national board member. The ACA has recently joined P21. P21 is a group committed to helping young people gather the skills needed for success in the modern world (please see Steve’s blog on June 12 titled 21st Century Skills). After becoming a huge force in education reform, P21 is now turning its focus to “extended learning environments” like summer camp, after school programs, youth groups, mentorship programs and other enrichment opportunities. The president of P21 is hoping that the ACA, Steve and our friend and camp owner, Scott Brody can be leaders in this process.
As my favorite Camp Geek, Steve has chaired the largest camp conference in the world for 3 years, served on the Executive Committee of the ACA national board and spoken over 3 dozen times in the last 7 years at schools and conferences. This fall he has been invited to speak in Turkey at the International Camping Federation.
I would love to share one example of his speaking. Last summer, he was asked to speak at his 20th Harvard Business School reunion on parenting. His topic was “the challenges overachieving parents create for our children”. Please take 10 minutes to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIb3JTB1jdg
I hope you enjoy it.
Susie ma’am
I am a very lucky man. 
Each session, we have an initiation ceremony where campers learn whether they are Trojans or Spartans for our team competitions. 
There are times when it seems a little hard to explain what we do. 
