The Summer Camp Hall of Fame

This email is all about the great Scott Brody. But first, I want to tell you about my last week, which you will see in a moment, is very much related to Scott Brody.

I wake up every day and worry about K&E. I'm the luckiest guy in the world because I get to think about the best place on the planet all day everyday.

Just this last week,

• I got to spend time working with Scott's two day camps, Everwood and Sewataro, on how to do great staff training and think about messaging for camp.
• Got to work with the Sues to put in a new floor in Geof, our facilities director's house.
• Met with our new chef about how to make sure the food is incredible this year. Can't wait to tell you more about that.
• Got to be in Rhode Island visiting with a camper and his family talking about being a senior at camp
• Caught up with some of the seasonal leadership team to talk about their summer plans.
• And a million other little things

This is all to say, running camp is a lot of moving pieces, but wouldn't have it any other way.

And this past week was the ACA National Convention, which I also went to in Dallas to be with the camp community and to see some really inspiring people.

Scott Brody has run K&E for 30 years.

Thirty years.

That means for 30 summers, he's been showing up at Eagle Pond, leading staff, caring for kids, making decisions, handling crises, improving programs, and keeping the soul of this place alive.

That's what great leadership looks like.

But Scott's mission has always extended way beyond K&E.

The reality is, from my perspective, the summer camp industry might not exist in its current form without the work Scott did during COVID.

He led the way to get camps open. He led the way in terms of safety for kids. As ACA National Board Chair, he handled work very few are willing to do which ended up being billions of dollars moving around in PPP loan forgiveness to summer camps.

That kept hundreds, maybe thousands of camps afloat.

Scott didn't do that for K&E. He did that because he believes in the impact that summer camp has on kids' lives.

We've written a ton about the power of camp here. How it builds confidence. How kids learn to navigate friendship and conflict. How they become more kind. How they discover who they are when they're away from screens and schedules and all the pressure.

Last week at ACA Nationals, Scott received the Distinguished Service Award. It's the highest honor in the summer camp industry.

We are the luckiest camp in the world because Scott has spent his last 30 summers caring about K&E and caring about camps all over the country.

He didn't just build a great camp. He's spent decades making sure other camps could exist and thrive, too.

And what's he doing now?

He's working on Camp Caucus, an ACA initiative focused on advocacy for camps everywhere. Government affairs work in Washington, D.C. His mission is working for all camps. No benefit to himself. Just because it matters. Because more kids need to go to summer camp.

And the cool part? Though Scott doesn't have to focus on all those operational things I listed above, he's still going to be at camp this summer.

Leading Friday night services. Playing guitar. Being an incredible mentor to campers and staff.

Scott's leadership over 30 years has made K&E a place we all still want to spend our summers. It's the legacy, and it's why we are here.

We are the lucky ones,

Jack