Junior Experience

While the programs of each group vary in their focus and activity offerings, the goals and outcomes below guide everything we do at Beyond Akeela. We firmly believe in experiential learning and give campers organic opportunities to build their social confidence, executive functioning, and independent living skills, as opposed to using a didactic classroom model.

Social Skills:
Juniors at Beyond Akeela spend their summer surrounded by a true peer group with similar experiences, interests, and post-secondary goals. This environment creates a safe space for campers to take positive social risks and navigate new peer relationships, with structure and support provided by an experienced and well-trained staff. Just like at Camp Akeela, Beyond Akeela staff provide ongoing facilitation of social interactions and ensure campers feel connected and socially successful. Each camper has a roommate at camp and gain experience navigating a roommate relationship with a new friend. Juniors get opportunities to explore cities in independent small groups on day trips and during the last few days of travel.

Self-Awareness and Self-Confidence:
Beyond Akeela teens gain increasing amounts of independence and responsibility throughout the program. Each phase of the experience – from settling into dorm life at camp, to exploring the great outdoors, to helping plan their last few days of travel – encourages campers to learn more about who they are and all that they are capable of. Campers at Beyond Akeela are pushed out of their comfort zone by a dynamic program and walk away with confidence after a having a successful independent experience on a college campus.

College and Job Readiness:
Beyond Akeela provides organic opportunities for Juniors to practice living independently in a college setting. A caring group of adult staff members provide honest and empathetic advice about post-secondary options and help campers reflect on their readiness for college. Campers engage with educational consultants who give advice about the application process and the differences between the high school and college learning environments. Community service work is supervised by volunteer coordinators and staff who share feedback and job coaching during and after service opportunities. The career services team leads interactive sessions on mock interviews and resume building to increase our teens’ confidence as they seek employment opportunities.

Executive Functioning and Life Skills:
Beyond Akeela presents countless real-world opportunities to work on planning and prioritizing, time management, organization, flexibility, and task initiation. Campers are given the tools to manage their daily routines and prepare for each day independently. Teens are empowered to plan their own social time at camp along with trip logistics. Beyond Akeela Juniors manage their own spending money and create a budget for themselves from the outset of camp. Juniors also have opportunities to plan their own menus in a small group setting, grocery shop for the appropriate ingredients, and prepare the meal with their group. Each camper is responsible for their own laundry.

Leadership and Self-advocacy:
Self-advocacy and leadership development are critical life skills that are paramount to the Beyond Akeela vision. Whether facilitated by Akeela staff or campus faculty, all activities are designed to challenge campers to step out of their comfort zones promote collaboration, problem solving, and resilience. Teens are given the space to advocate for the type of experience they’d like to have through choice-based programming.

Beyond Akeela is proud to boast 1 adult for every 3 teens on the program. More essential than the number of staff is the quality of personnel that we employ. At Beyond Akeela, every teen benefits from the care, spirit and skills of each staff member. We undertake extraordinary lengths to find the best of the best, to ensure that teens have the safest, most fun and most transformative experience possible. They approach each summer with the energy, dedication and sense of humor that make it evident how much they enjoy and truly “get” Beyond Akeela teens!

This incredible group of people includes experts in the fields of child development, psychology, special education, therapeutic interventions, and health care. All of this combined expertise helps ensure that every Beyond Akeela teen receives the individualized care and attention that he or she requires to have a successful summer.

Beyond Akeela Directors

Kevin and Kristin Trimble live in Philadelphia, PA with their twin boys, Arlo and Simon, and their dog, Laney. Kevin has worked at Akeela for eleven summers. He started in 2009 as an Accounting Intern and has spent his other summers as a Program Director, Head Counselor, and Beyond Akeela Director. In October 2013, he joined Akeela’s full-time staff and is now the year round director of Beyond Akeela. He is responsible for everything Beyond Akeela, including camper and staff recruitment, program planning, staff training, and parent communication. When he’s not working on camp, he enjoys playing basketball, golf, and traveling to see friends.

Kristin joined the Akeela team in 2015 as a counselor, and has spent every summer since engaged in the Akeela community, including several seasons as a Beyond Akeela Head Counselor. When she’s not at camp, Kristin is a school & mental health counselor at a performing arts high school in Philadelphia. She obtained her graduate degree in Counseling Psychology from Temple University, and has focused her career on high school aged students. Kristin brings her counseling expertise to camp and focuses on the social and emotional well being of our teens. During the off-season, Kristin works closely with Kevin to build the Beyond Akeela curriculum and meets with each new family. When she’s not focused on camp, Kristin enjoys playing in a local volleyball league (with Kevin!), exploring Philadelphia, and finding new recipes to try at home!

While Debbie & Eric (Camp Akeela’s Directors) spend their summers at our camp program in Vermont, they are intimately involved in all aspects of Beyond Akeela. In addition to pre-summer planning and logistical support, Debbie and Eric are in constant communication with Kevin, Kristin, and their team throughout the summer. The heart and soul of Akeela is truly infused into Beyond Akeela!

Camp Akeela Directors

Eric Sasson has over 30 years of camp experience, at some of the Northeast’s finest camps, including Camp Walt Whitman, Camp Wingate*Kirkland and Camp Mah-Kee-Nac. He has been a full time camp professional for nearly 20 years and is an active member of the American Camp Association. Eric earned a BA in Math from Haverford College and a Masters in Education from Harvard University. Outside of the camp world, he has extensive experience working with children and young adults in a variety of settings.

Debbie Sasson has been spending her summers at camp for more than 25 years. She has a BA in Psychology and a Masters in School Counseling from the University of Rochester. After 3 wonderful years as a middle school counselor in Belmont, MA, she returned to school and earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University in May 2008. She works as a full-time director of Camp Akeela, a position to which she brings extensive knowledge of the fields of child, adolescent and Family-Systems psychology.

Debbie and Eric met at a summer camp and have been partners in camping ever since. They have each held virtually every job available at camp, from bunk counselor and swim instructor to unit head and camp director. Throughout their careers, Debbie and Eric have always found themselves gravitating towards the “quirky” kids. Opening Akeela enabled them to create an empowering community for boys and girls who thrive in traditional camp setting with a little extra social support.

There is no separate application process for Beyond Akeela, as your teen has already completed a similar application for Camp Akeela. We always appreciate a phone call to chat with you about your camper’s goals for the summer to ensure we are setting them for success.

Dates & Rates

The Beyond Akeela enrollment form with session dates & rates will be posted here when they become available in early October! For your planning purposes, Beyond Akeela is a three week program with two sessions. The first session typically runs from late June through mid July and the second session runs from mid July to early August.

Campers & Staff

Day Trips & Travel

Activities& Adventure

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