by Bill McMahon, Co-Director

Design in your mind the perfect place for boys to live, learn and grow. A place…

• Where they eat three sit down meals a day with an adult.
• Where at the end of every meal every boy willingly helps clean the table.
• Where there are no cell phones, video games, texting, sexting, or IMing. None. Instead, boys talk face-to-face. And they read at night.
• Where boys clean their room and make their bed every morning as part of their routine.
• Where college students spend all day long mentoring younger boys, and teaching them new skills.
• Where boys feel supported to try new things.
• Where pre-teens and teenagers alike willingly spend many an evening listening to the stories and wisdom of people in their forties, fifties, sixties and seventies. And they do it without any sarcastic overtones.
• Where boys of all ages chant and sing together after meals and at night.
• Where boys spend the day light hours outdoors being active.
• Where boys routinely explore and sleep in the backcountry.
• Where many a boy voluntarily get up before breakfast to swim, chant and greet the day.
• Where teenagers get the ten hours of sleep they need to be healthy and happy.

In summary, imagine a place:

• Where boys live, learn, and are mentored in a multi-generational community.
• Where honor and tradition are embraced.
• Where positive risk taking is in the air and specialization does not rule the day.
• Where a boy can be his best self.

This is what you find at great summer camps like Camp Moosilauke.

(The above is based on a piece written by the boy expert Michael Thompson who can be reached at www.michaelthompson-phd.com.)