Preparing for its fourth summer at its Middle Grove location, Camp Stomping Ground is celebrating new cabins that will let more students explore nature and social justice.
Just east of Saratoga Springs, a sleepaway camp in Middle Grove is hoping to help raise the next generation of engaged and thoughtful community members.
Sitting on the stoop of the camp’s main house, Lisa Glazer says she knew this was the right place to send her daughter when she got a call from camp organizers.
“We just had a conversation and it was great because I felt like I was sending her to a place where they were gonna know who she was a little bit ahead of time, what some of the possible struggles might be, but also they were willing to accept her, and love her, and have her be in this place for all of that. And that was really exciting, and I think made the transition for the first time she went away to a summer camp—made us, for our part, we didn’t worry about it at all. Also, because when we first dropped her off she was like, ‘OK, bye,’” said Glazer.
Her daughter Elleria Vecsey jumps in.
“You knew just by looking at everybody’s faces that nobody was going to judge you, nobody didn’t want to be your friend and everybody—you just feel so included, you feel overjoyed to be in a community that understands you and shares some of the same hardships that you do,” said Vecsey.
The camp wears its values on its sleeves: “Black Lives Matter” is written in huge, colorful block letters on the side of the barn at the center of the camp. Inside is a pride flag.
Co-founders Laura Kreigel and Jack Schott spent three years traveling to 250 sleepaway camps to see what worked and what didn’t.
Walking past “Blueberry Village,” where campers ages six through nine stay, Kreigel says the real power of the camp comes from the passion and diversity of their staff and students.
“Having camp be a reflection of the world that we want to see, it just really makes the most sense that we build all of those perspectives into the programming and try to figure out— our four core values are restorative justice, humble curiosity, personal responsibility, and unbounded creativity. And so with those four things we are trying to help kids build a sense of belonging and empower them to make decisions that they can see their power in the world and the impact that those decisions have,” said Kreigel.
Some of that impact is in plain sight — camp director Maddy Linder says a camper board helped design the bathhouse and four cabins that will be completed before this summer’s session begins June 30th.
“Kids are the ones who are using this space day in and day out when they’re at camp. So, they know the ins-and-outs of what little things are going to make it that much better like what little upgrades can we have. And so we did a fun activity where Laura projected the blueprint on the wall and they were able to draw and kind of add-in their ides and change things and tell us what they liked and what they didn’t like. They’ve got a lot of opinions and they’re all very useful,” said Linder.
Stomping Ground raised more than $400,000 to get the construction project off the ground, and once complete, they’ll be able to host more than 160 campers per two-week session.
Accessibility is important, too—payment plans, a sliding trust scale, and numerous sponsors allow all families to send their kids for a session.
Kreigel says it’s important for camp to be accessible.
“Giving kids freedom of choice and space to make mistakes is like a huge part of childhood and that in sending your kid to Stomping Ground you are essentially believing in them and allowing them to have some of those childhood experiences. Not snowplowing the path for them or helicoptering over them or whatever the new term is,” said Kreigel.
