Sophomore 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:
Teens 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 gains experience navigating a roommate relationship with a new friend.

Self-Awareness and Self-Confidence:
Beyond Akeela teens earn 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 – 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:
The focus for Sophomores is to get them reflecting on their goals for after high school. A caring group of adult staff members provide honest and empathetic advice about post-secondary options to Beyond Akeela Sophmores as they begin to explore post-secondary options. Their program provides organic opportunities to practice their independence on a college campus setting. Sophomores also have meaningful staff led workshops that encourage campers to reflect on potential jobs and careers.

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, and have staff present to provide support and reminders as needed. Campers manage their own spending money and create a budget for themselves from the outset of camp. Sophomores are responsible for doing their own laundry.

Leadership and Self-advocacy:
Self-advocacy and leadership development are critical life skills that are paramount to the Beyond Akeela vision. Facilitated activities are designed to challenge campers to step out of their comfort zones while advancing their collaboration, problem solving, and resilience. Sophomore Community Leadership projects challenge teens to work closely with their peers and take initiative in the projects they select. 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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