"Spring Fever" is spreading throughout our children in the community. Watch for symptoms such as lack of focus on indoor activities: shedding of shoes, venturing into the woods, playing in streams, and a desire to get out of the house.

The cure is coming, but symptoms can be treated by allowing your child to sign up for summer camp!

Abigail A. Van Slyck, author of "A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth", recognizes that camps were introduced into North America in the 1880s. She notes that camps became part of the back-to-nature trend in many areas, as they provided respite from what were regarded as the moral and physical degradations of urban life.

In 2011, the American Camp Association (ACA) celebrated 150 years of Camp. ACA exclaiming, "Camp is the ultimate gift! It gives children a sense of who they are, helps them to become more independent, and opens up a world of opportunity where they see that they CAN become leaders, work with others, and accomplish goals through hard work . . . all while having fun!"

As Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve gears up for our 2012 camp season, offering variety of activities for children from ages 4-15, we interviewed some employees at the Preserve to see how their lives were touched through camps during their formidable years.

(<- - - Click on Picture for more Info on Available Summer Camps)

Growing up as an inner city kid our executive director remembered specific field trips; recreational, team-building, and field games; as well as sleeping in canvas tents with bunk beds. With a smile on his face and a far-away look in his eye, he noted the way the exploration, hikes, and learning were FUN while promoting a healthy active lifestyle. Who knew time spent away from the normal, trouble-causing distractions in his life would lead him to a position of executive director of a nature preserve.

Our education coordinator followed the footsteps of her big sister. Too young to attend on her own, she enjoyed adventures with sis as they relished the arts, crafts, cooking, rope net climb, camp fires, and, of course, sleeping in a cabin. She acknowledged those years of camp as a "path to a certain destination". Now a professional naturalist, she hopes to develop the same passion in youngsters attending Strawberry Hill's camp; to find friends, enjoy play, and explore nature just as she experienced as a child.

Our camp coordinator, a high school teacher, expressed her preference for nature-based camps. Evermore excited to attend nature camps, she loved the chance to get dirty without getting into trouble for it. As she learned about her environment and the local ecosystem, she became more aware of her surroundings. She learned the value of exploring without the need to obtain all the answers. She is now one of Strawberry Hill's leaders for Strawberry Hill's- Summer Nature Adventure Camp for Kids, referred this year as SNACK time.