2026 Winter Workshop - Wednesday February 4, 2026

Leading with Confidence: Managing Emotions, Behaviors, and Well-Being in Today’s Camp Environment

Experts in the field Nick Teich and Emily Golinsky are teaming up to help Maine camp leaders, directors and key staff get ahead of the emotional, behavioral, and mental-health curveballs that inevitably show up at camp from campers and staff. If you’ve ever heard “This doesn’t feel safe for me,” “I need a mental health break,” “They’re having a panic attack,” or the summertime classic, “This wasn’t on any of their camper information forms,” then this session will meet you exactly where you are.

With the recognition and understanding that each camp is unique, Emily and Nick’s goal is to help you lead with confidence while reducing stress and building a culture that can actually withstand the emotional load of a real summer season at your specific program. After this interactive workshop, you’ll have practical, implementable tools to strengthen your systems, support your people, and handle both everyday challenges and the bigger, messier moments that require a steady hand.

Following the main session, we’ll move into smaller breakout conversations, each focusing on a topic related to the session’s central themes, including: pre-, during-, and post-incident planning, evaluating your camp’s risk tolerance, defining camper eligibility, and more.

If current socio-emotional buzzwords like “burned out,” “feeling unsafe,” “triggered,” and more have you and your staff wondering how best to respond, you won’t want to miss this event!

Location:

DoubleTree by Hilton-Portland
363 Maine Mall Rd, South Portland, ME 04106

$89 Room Rate at DoubleTree

Schedule:

Wednesday February 4, 2026
Snow Date: Feb 5

8:30 am – Coffee
9 am to 12 pm – Workshop
12:00 pm – Lunch for Camps
12:15 pm – Extravaganza Begins
2:45 pm – Raffle Winners Announced

Breakout Groups: (Click on the + for descriptions of the groups)

Assessing Risk in Real Time: Mental and Emotional Health Decisions During the Camp Session

In this facilitated breakout, participants will explore how to assess their camp’s risk tolerance related to mental and emotional health issues once camp is already in session. The discussion will focus on key decision points, including when a camper or staff member can safely remain at camp, when leaving camp may be necessary, what outside support to involve, and how assessment responsibilities are shared between camp leadership and any mental health professionals on staff.

Camps With a Mental Health Provider: Lessons Learned and Ongoing Questions

Designed for camps that currently work with a mental or wellness professional, this peer conversation focuses on what’s working, what’s been challenging, and what participants wish they had known earlier. The goal is shared learning, not best practice prescriptions.

Enrolling for Success: Aligning Camper Enrollment With Mission and Capacity

In this facilitated breakout, participants will examine key considerations that support enrolling a mission-consistent population of campers. The session will explore how to communicate clearly with prospective families about who is likely to be successful at camp, essential elements of registration and paperwork processes, and the policies that help camps respond thoughtfully and consistently to emotional, behavioral, and mental health concerns.

Leading With Transparency: Responding to Questions and Disagreement

In this facilitated breakout, participants will explore how camps can build transparency and support open communication—especially when staff question or disagree with decisions related to MESH or other sensitive issues. Through guided discussion and examples, this session will focus on responding in ways that are clear, respectful, and supportive of both individual concerns and organizational integrity.

MESH Tips & Tools for Staff: Training and Beyond

In this facilitated breakout, participants will explore practical mental, emotional, and social health (MESH) tips and tools that can be used during staff training and reinforced throughout the camp season. The session will focus on realistic strategies for supporting staff well-being, maintaining clear role boundaries, and integrating MESH tools into daily camp life without adding unnecessary burden.

Reflection and Processing Frameworks: Helping People Make Sense of Their Experience

This breakout examines simple reflection and processing frameworks that support well-being without becoming therapeutic. Participants will discuss when reflection is helpful, how to guide it safely, and how to build it into camp culture for campers and staff.

Mindfulness and Well-Being at Camp: Simple Practices That Fit a Busy Day

This session focuses on approachable mindfulness and well-being strategies that can realistically be woven into camp routines. Participants will share ideas, experiences, and questions about what works—and what doesn’t—when introducing mindfulness to campers and staff.

Where Are We Unintentionally Setting Staff Up to Fail?

This breakout creates space for honest reflection about expectations, training, communication, and support. Participants will examine where well-intentioned practices may unintentionally overwhelm staff and identify ways leadership can better align expectations with real-world camp conditions.

Presenters:

Emily is an international keynote speaker and presenter whose sessions get called many things, some of her favorites being: “tremendously helpful,” “definitely not the same-old-same-old,” “fun and informative,” and “not to be missed – a reason to come to the conference!” With 25+ years of experience in camp leadership, and following her retirement from a 15-year role as Executive Director at the therapeutically-based Camp Starfish (NH), Emily founded Bright Moose, LLC (www.brightmoosetraining.com) to provide training, coaching, consultation, and professional development to camps, schools, towns, and youth organizations, guided by the motto “Help Others Shine Bright!” Emily is an Education Advocate for youth with special needs and a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and is honored to be the recipient of the Peter Kerns Award for the Advancement of Professional Development. She holds a BS (Health Psychology) and MS (Camp Administration & Leadership), and recently completed her Higher Education Teaching Certificate through Harvard. She is President of the New Hampshire state association for camps (NHCamps), where she also sits on the legislative and DHHS committees, and she is active as an accreditation visitor and Board Stewardship committee member for ACA, New England. You can find her in Camping Magazine, ParentingNH, on the Project Real Job blog, and on multiple podcasts. Fair warning: she is also a member of the National Sarcasm Society and an avid collector of terribly awesome puns.

Dr. Nick Teich is the owner of Fairwinds Camp Consulting, where he specializes in executive coaching for camp directors as well as helping camps with the business aspects of their operations. He is a social worker by training and enjoys bringing mental and emotional health expertise into camps. Nick has worked in the camp industry since 2000, and was a longtime Maine camper before that. He is the founder and now the director emeritus of an overnight camp in New Hampshire, and also founded a small family camp in Maine. Nick is on the Board of Directors for ACA New England and an active member of Maine Summer Camps. He lives in the Boston area with his wife and two children.

2026 Winter Workshop – Wednesday February 4, 2026