Did you know that Westwind is an ACA-accredited summer camp? ACA stands for the American Camp Association. It is a national non-profit focused on ensuring a standard of care and quality of experience at camps across the country. ACA supports camps of all sizes and program types. It advocates on their behalf and provides an accreditation standard for the health and safety campers.
Why ACA Accreditation
ACA Accreditation is a series of steps ensuring that a camp meets the highest standards of care. “The American Camp Association is the only nationwide accrediting organization for all types and designs of organized camps.” (ACA Website). This means that all activities, procedures, and practices must meet a national benchmark. ACA has over 175 guidelines for camps. When you attend an ACA-Accredited camp, you know that it meets a standard that places camper safety first.
What does that mean at Westwind?
At Westwind, ACA Accreditation means that our camps meet a high level of health, safety, and risk management. These standards cover a wide range of activities and advise how we staff our camp. They ensure that we mitigate risk for all of our incredible activities. This means having the appropriate number of lifeguards, running background checks for all our staff, having a certified medical professional on-site during our youth camp programs, and so much more. It means providing the most adventurous, amazing, life-changing camp experience while protecting camper safety.
As part of ACA Accreditation, we welcome representatives from ACA to tour our site visit and review our policies. This is a collaborative process where other camp professionals help us meet the ACA guidelines. ACA Accreditation is a benchmark that we use to continue improving our camp experience.
Growth and Goals
Being an ACA Camp means we have access to a vast network of camps and camp professionals. Through ACA, Westwind is a leader in our local camp community. At the recent ACA Cascadia conference, six Westwind staff presented how Westwind creates a more sustainable and accessible camp experience. We shared how our rental program, site team, kitchen program, and summer camps collaborate to create the Westwind experience. Based on a presentation that our Site Manager Brian gave in 2023, he was invited to speak about our SSC and AmeriCorps partnerships at the UMCRM National Camp & Retreat Leaders’ Gathering.
In addition, our Buisness Director Sarah and our Development Director Riley are preparing for ACA Camp Hill Days. They will travel to Washington DC to meet with lawmakers and advocate for the importance of camps. This may secure funding so that camps can continue inspiring campers and will highlight the importance of camp.
Soon, Westwind program staff will be traveling to the ACA National Conference to meet with and learn from camp professionals. This is a great experience for us to grow the quality of our programs and learn from the success of others!
As an ACA-accredited camp, Westwind will continue to provide the highest level of transformative summer camps. In our local community of camps, we will continue to lead the future of camps, showing how outdoor education non-profits can care for place and community.