Success at Beyond Akeela

Beyond Akeela is designed to be a challenging environment that is structured in a way that promotes successful experiences, building confidence in the teen’s we support. Everyone coming to camp has similar yet unique goals, and success may look different for individual teens and their families. Below we share how we partner with you to set your family up for a successful experience before and during their camp session:

Before Camp

Success for Beyond Akeela teens starts with an honest and open dialogue with families and professionals about how the Beyond Akeela team can best support them. Through our thorough application process and extended conversations with all of our camp families, we do our best to ensure that each teen is set up to thrive in our camp community. We encourage families to reach out and discuss any changes in a camper’s life between enrollment and the start of camp that may affect their time at camp.

We also encourage all families to engage in conversations at home about Beyond Akeela prior to camp. Going through the Family Handbook, looking through our website, or discussing goals for the summer, will spark interesting conversations about a teen’s upcoming experience. We find that these conversations help teens feel more prepared for the new journey they are about to embark on over the summer.

It is normal for teens to feel some level of anxiety prior to coming to camp. In these moments, it is most helpful to validate their concerns and provide positive encouragement. If you are concerned about your teen’s anxiety about camp as it approaches, please reach out to us discuss. Please DO NOT tell them you will come get them if they are not enjoying camp after a “X” number of days. It is hard for teen’s to let go of that thought and allow themselves to enjoy camp.

During Camp

Our work with families is not done once teens arrive at camp. We continue our partnership with parents/guardians by providing updates of the successes and challenges each camper is experiencing. Our goal in these conversations is to brainstorm with parents how we can continue to make camp a successful experience and help teens overcome any challenges they are facing.

You may receive reports of challenges or concerns your teen is having at camp. These are great opportunities for you to encourage them to practice advocating for themselves by speaking to Beyond Akeela staff members about their concerns. In the majority of cases, we will already be aware of and working with your teen on their challenges or concerns already. Of course, if you have any concerns from their notes that you’d like to discuss with us, please contact either your teen’s Head Advisor or the Directors.