WHICH CAMP IS RIGHT FOR YOUR CHILD?

The Board of Trustees of the Farm & Wilderness and Ninevah Foundations met in our quarterly meeting October 23-24, 2021. Although we were (still!) virtual, the October meeting is usually a joyful one, and this year was no exception. It was wonderful to be with the camp directors as well as most of our year-round staff.  

Camp directors had two main themes to their reports. This was the hardest summer ever, with significant challenges to both camper and staff resilience due to the COVID restrictions we had in place. At the same time, the magic was alive, each camp’s spirit prevailed, and we met our One Goal: healthy, safe, and fun camps. Trustees shared their deep gratitude to our Camp Directors and their summer staff, as well as our Re-Opening Task Force, and other year-round staff who hard work made this summer happen..  

The summary of 2021 from Frances was that we will end the year well by several measures. Specifically, safe, healthy and fun camps for campers and staff; financial strength due to enrollment and annual giving; strengthening F&W’s culture and operating capacity; and continuing to build our marketing foundations. Emerging 2022 goals include fully-enrolled camps with enough seasonal staff to run high quality programs, and building to long-term financial sustainability. Trustees heard more from Frances on each of these topics, and how our crack Leadership Team is approaching our 2022 goals. For instance,  

• I hope that you have found the time to explore our beautiful and functional new website. Staff’s intention was to make it more user-friendly, especially to families who don’t yet know us but are interested in Vermont summer camps. 

• Along with returning to full capacity in each of our camps, Development has launched a wrap-around campership program that will help increase our racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity. It will explicitly support BIPOC, low-, and moderate-income families with more than campership awards (for instance, equipment and greater help for families who may not have transportation to visit their child’s camp).  

• In order to ensure all of our camps have the seasonal staff they need to operate high quality programs, we will increase our recruiting efforts and better communicate the benefits of working at our camps, with a focus on developing skills for life.  Our goal is to have hundreds of skilled applicants for our 200 seasonal staff positions.  

• Speaking of staff, our management team will also be hiring directors for SAM and Tamarack Farm, and navigating the IB/BDC transition as Polly Williams can only spend 2022 directing both camps. Staff and Trustees are excited for the relaunch of TF this summer, and Frances’ Program Team will be assessing that program as we go.  

• In light of specific post-camp comments from families, Frances shared our systems and processes when campers depart early from camp, and improvements that the team will make to these processes so there is greater focus on ongoing communications with families after their child leaves camp. 

The rest of the meeting was devoted to the Board’s functioning. We looked at a draft of the new mission statement (not yet ready for prime time); we heard from our Board Stewardship Committee and our HR Committee about work they’re engaged in at this time of year. We had an especially compelling discussion about the size and composition of our Board itself.  

It’s hard to believe that the Board has been operating virtually since April of 2020. Some of us have never met each other in person. Half of the Board (eight of us) had never experienced an October Board meeting at which we heard from camp directors. We’ve adjusted amazingly, and are so grateful to both seasonal and year-round staff for their dedication and work above-and-beyond. We’ll be back (virtually…) in early February.  

In the Light, 

k 

Hello IB and BDC communities:

It’s been 23 years since I was last on staff at IB as the Director. In that time I have raised two children, one of whom spent seven years at IB. I’ve worked at The Home and Boston GLASS, ran a high school teen parenting program, ran three daycares for the YMCA Boston, been a PE teacher, DEI director, worked for PFLAG greater Boston, taught gender education for MA Department of ED, and ran the Barn Day Camp at Farm & Wilderness. A year ago, I started a consulting business with Dusty Clitheroe from IB and we have been swamped with work. Dusty has taken it on full-time. I help with training while she coordinates the Organizational Change part of the business. Dusty and I met at IB back in the late ’80s.

This summer I was blessed with spending two mornings at IB lifeguarding and teaching canoeing skills. It was wonderful. I taught canoe-over-canoe rescue and basic care of canoe equipment, which was so fun. In fact, on the second day when a canoe tipped, the campers immediately went into canoe-over-canoe rescue in the middle of the lake. So fun to see them execute the skill flawlessly and on their own. I even got to join in the fun on a relay. where Tori Clitheroe and I swam about 30 yards and switched paddleboards.

I am so psyched to be back helping IB nurture and support female-identified and non-binary youth to recognize their strengths by challenging them to learn new skills and experience the wonderful outdoors. I want every camper to be able to come back and point out to several generations how they helped build IB. Someone asked me the other day if I could name the first work project I did. Not only could I name it, but I am also still in touch with the staff member I spent hours with working on it.

Folks may be wondering, “What about you being the Director of BDC?” The BDC is and has been in a really solid place. I am very proud of the capable leadership and program staff at BDC. Frances and I will work together on a leadership plan for BDC in the coming months, and I’ll continue to stay closely involved.

The BDC has been home to me for 17 years and has helped raise both of my kids. The staff and campers are folks I care deeply about and I want to continue to nurture their growth. Every summer, my staff work really hard to provide a wonderful experience for campers. They are what makes the BDC the amazing place that it is.  Looking ahead to camp next summer, I expect many staff to return and that we’ll be able to bring back swim lessons, and more opportunities for campers to experience different program areas in the afternoons.

I look forward to supporting IB and the BDC through the F&W journey. Please feel free to reach out with questions at polly@farmandwilderness.org.

Peace,

Polly Williams

I’m in touch to let you know that Theresa Serr, the Director of IB and Red Spruce Grove, has decided to take a new program role at Two Rivers Supervisory Union, the school district that serves nearby towns including Ludlow, Mt. Holly and Chester where she will oversee the 21 Century Learning after-school and summer programs.

Theresa joined Farm & Wilderness in 2019, and I am very grateful for her leadership and stewardship of our largest camp during such a challenging time in the world.  Under her leadership, IB and Red Spruce Grove welcomed back over 200 campers this past summer. Watching Theresa in action–even at a distance–this summer, I saw her demonstrate that work truly is love made visible and that camp magic can happen anytime, anywhere!

Theresa shared with me, ”IB and Farm & Wilderness have my sincere respect, gratitude, and more than a little part of my heart. Serving as the Director of IB and supporting Red Spruce Grove has been such an honor. Stewarding the development of program, staff and community, a true treat. Working and living in residence is simply not congruent to the needs of my partner, teenage son, and aging parents. It is in the spirit of care, love, and light that I step aside to be fully present for my family, and to create space for the next champion of IB and Red Spruce Grove.”

While we are sad to see Theresa go, my colleagues and I fully respect and understand her decision to make this change and prioritize her family.

Polly Williams will be assuming a larger leadership role at F&W, continuing to lead BDC and serving as the Acting Director of IB and RSG during this transition. Polly will work closely with me and Tori Heller, the Red Spruce Grove Program Director, on several program development projects for IB and RSG, as well as the recruitment and training and support of IB’s next Director.

Many IB families and alumni know Polly, who started her F&W journey as a camper over 40 years ago, worked at and served as the IB Director in the 90s. For the past several years Polly has directed the Barn Day Camp, and earlier this year she joined F&W’s leadership team.

Over the past few years, Polly has built an incredibly capable leadership and program staff at BDC, and she and I will work with these folks and others to ensure seamless and strong leadership at BDC, as Polly assumes leadership responsibilities at IB.

Polly brings a wealth of experience, from her various F&W roles as well as an educator and DEI adviser at Cambridge Friends School and in other youth development organizations, and a DEI consultant to other schools and camps. I am looking forward to working closely with Polly, and I know she is looking forward to deepening her connection to IB—the camp, campers, families, alumni, and staff. Stay tuned for a note from Polly.

If you would like to set up a time to talk with Polly or me, please reach out to polly@farmandwilderness.org or frances@farmandwilderness.org.

With Theresa’s departure, I will be working with Ann-Marie White, our Assistant Clerk, as well as Polly and Tori Clitheroe, an IB alumna and our Communications Coordinator, to adjust our plan for engaging the IB community to discern a new name for IB.  We are still planning to present a new name to the Board of Trustees in January, but our path to get from here to there will look a little different than we’d originally communicated.

Please join me in thanking Theresa and wishing her well as she embarks on her next chapter and in welcoming (back) Polly Williams to IB.

Warmly,

Frances McLaughlin
Executive Director