Director Jud's Blog

Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp.

What: A Teen Summer Camp Fair hosted by Tips on Trips and Camps

Where: The Chapin School, 100 East End Ave, New York City, NY

When: Thursday, January 8, 2015: 4pm to 6.30pm, 

This winter Director Jud will be traveling throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast attending camp fairs and meeting with families who have expressed interest in Stone Mountain Adventures Summer Camp. 

Happy New Year from Stone Mountain Adventures!

This is Jud Millar from Stone Mountain Adventures.  I can hardly believe that 2014 is coming to an end.  As I take a moment to look back and reflect on the past 12 months, I am overwhelmed by the amount of love and positive energy that was created in and around Stone Mountain Adventures.

2014 was a banner year from SMA Teen Summer Camp as we made some minor, but meaningful, changes while keeping the core values of SMA. The mission of Stone Mountain Adventures continues to be “To provide growth experiences for teenagers through outdoor adventure activities and the cooperative group experience while having fun every day.”

Happy Holidays from to everyone in our Stone Mountain Adventures Summer Camp family. We hope that your holiday has been safe and fun! 

The holidays tend to be the time of year for gift giving and time spent with family and friends.  The time of year when we make our lists and check them twice.  Finding that perfect gift for the  kids, tweens and teens in your life who seem to have everything can be a real challenge.  This year you should consider giving the gift of overnight summer camp.

Overnight teen summer camps mean many things to many people.  Here at Stone Mountain Adventures we know camp to be an incredible, life-shaping place where kids get to disconnect from their smartphones and tablets and connect with friends in real life. 

An interview with SMA Teen Summer Camp Director Jud Millar is featured on a new website www.TeamBuildingWithTeens.com

Gabe Jaffe was a camper st SMA Teen Summer camp for the summers of 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Gabe grew and matured during his time at SMA and when he aged out of SMA we were sad to see him go.  Gabe's older brother Dan Jaffe was also a camper at SMA in 2003, 2004 and 2005.  Gabe recently wrote the following essay as a part of his application for the university of Maryland.  In this essay Gabe had to answer the question:

Describe a time when you were a fearless leader.

Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp (SMA), my close-knit overnight camp in rural Pennsylvania, had given me unparalleled experiences, life-long friends, and the best four summers of my life.  Sadly, because I was 15, this would be my last year at camp; the culmination of the session would be the dance and as a veteran camper, I would help organize it.

Independence. 

Self-confidence. 

Director Jud will be representing Stone Mountain Adventures (SMA) 2 Week Summer camp at the Scarsdale High School Summer Camp Fair.

Learn about a variety of summer activity programs at this fair hosted by the Scarsdale High School PTA. The Scarsdale High School PTA presents its annual Summer Activities Fair ... of exciting summer programs, including sports, teen travel, outdoor adventure, and more.

The Scarsdale Summer Camp Fair is always the 1st camp fair of the season and helps kick off the recruiting season for summer camps.  SMA summer camp for teens has had many campers from the Scarsdale High School and Middle School that we met at this camp fair.  

Camp Fair at Scarsdale H.S. is Wed Nov 28 in the cafeteria from 7:30-9:30, 1057 White Plains Road Scarsdale, NY 10583.

This week Director Jud is attending the American Camp Association Keystone Conference at Bear Creek Mountain Resort & Conference Center.  Attending ACA Conference is an incredible professional development opportunity.  It's a fantastic chance to learn from summer camp industry professionals, network with our camp directors and attend informative workshops.  The Keystone Retreat offers three content tracks running concurrently: PROGRAMMING, LEADERSHIP, and MAINTENANCE as well as many others - Core Competencies included - vital to a successful camp operation.

The Fourth Session Slideshow is live on our website!

The Fourth and final Session of Stone Mountain Adventures horseback riding teen summer camp began on Tuesday, August 5th.  After 6 weeks of hands on experience our staff were ready for the final 2 week session of the summer!  

All session we took pictures of campers and staff on activities (horseback riding, white water rafting, wakeboarding, art studio, etc.), doing creative art activities, participating in evening activities (Jud Games, yea!) and hanging around camp with friends. We gather the best of these photos, add a summer soundtrack, and put together a slideshow that really captures the crazy, silly, amazing, magical moments of each session.

The Wait is Over: the Third Session Slideshow is finally here!

Third Session of Stone Mountain Adventures wakeboarding teen summer camp began on Monday, July 21st after much anticipation by parents and campers. Everyone was excited to have third session finally here!  

All session we took pictures of campers and staff on activities (white water rafting, wakeboarding, art studio, etc.), doing creative art activities, participating in evening activities (Jud Games, yea!) and hanging around camp with friends. We gathered the best of these photos, added a summer soundtrack, and put together a slideshow that really captures the crazy, silly, amazing, magical moments of each session.

Session 4 slideshow will be uploaded in the days to come! 

The Second Session Slideshow is finally here!

Second Session of Stone Mountain Adventures teen summer camp began on Sunday, July 6th after much anticipation by parents and campers. And, for the first time, we did not have an intersession day between sessions. Our staff had two weeks of real teen summer camp experience under their belts and they were super excited to have second session finally here!  

All session we took pictures of campers and staff on activities (rock climbing, wakeboarding, art studio, etc.), doing community service, participating in evening activities (Jud Games, yea!) and hanging around camp with friends. We gather the best of these photos, add a summer soundtrack, and put together a slideshow that really captures the crazy, silly, amazing, magical moments of each session.

Session 3 and 4 slideshows will be uploaded in the days to come! 

The First Session Slideshow is finally here!

First Session of Stone Mountain Adventures 2 week summer camp began on Sunday, June 22nd. After much anticipation by parents and campers and a 10 day staff training, it was safe to say that we were all extremely excited that the summer of 2014 was finally off and running.  

In the ensuing two weeks we took photos and captured special moments at activities (think rock climbing, horseback riding, and soccer), service learning projects, camping overnights and evening activities (Disco Roller Skating, yea!) and while hanging around camp with friends. We collected these photos and created a slideshow!

More 2014 Session Slideshows to be uploaded in the days to come!

In today's society we have become dependent upon technology to the point that we find ourselves in a place where we take for granted the beauty around us if we notice it at all. Not only does the natural world offer us the ability to feel relaxed and rejuvenated, but it also provides us with a sense of serenity and happiness. At adventure summer camps, teenagers are exposed to the wonders of nature in ways they may not have experienced before. Some benefits may include developing an appreciation for the environment, humanity and each other. At Stone Mountain Adventures Teen Summer Camp we focus on the powerful connections between our campers and their experiences in the great outdoors. This connection is not just limited to the natural environment around campers; it also includes the culture that is created here at camp and the people around them, and how to be a leader with the goal of acquiring a responsible appreciation for the natural wonders of our awesome planet. 

Here's a Recap of the Dirtfest Kids and Teen Ride hosted by Stone Mountain Adventures (SMA) Teen Mountain Biking Summer Camp... Better Late than Never!

All of us here at SMA Teen Mountain Biking Camp are excited to let you know that recently volunteers worked to improve the Allegrippis Trail System.  Over 2 days 10 volunteers installed boardwalk over a particularly wet and rocky section of the fawn trail.

The following is an article that recently appeared in the Huntingdon Daily News written by Candy E. Price.

Volunteers work to improve bike trail

By Candy E. Price

Daily News Staff Writer

The popularity of a local trail system will likely grow with some recent improvements.

The Raystown Mountain Bike Association (RMBA) and the Friends of Raystown Lake nave added a new boardwalk to the Fawn Trail portion of the Allegrippis Trail near Seven Points.

Allen Gwinn, park ranger at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Raystown Lake, and Evan Gross, president of RMBA, said the work will only enhance the safety of the trail.

Zoe

Third session was really fun! This was my first time at SMA and I made lots of friends. I met Mia and Phoebe on the first day and we became really good friends. Something from camp I will always remember is the canoe trip with Mia and Daniel. Every time we went towards a tree she would start screaming. Near the middle of the river we headed straight into a tree and Mia threw her paddle away, stood up, and jumped onto me. She screamed and started crying and Daniel and I almost peed ourselves from laughing so hard! Another memory was the Yough White Water Rafting trip; I was in a boat with Hot Sauce, Olivia B, Emily and Stevie. Some fun activities were Canoeing, Wind Surfing and the Rock Climbing overnight. I liked these activities because they were really thrilling! I also did all of them with some awesome counselors like Hot Sauce, Chase, Melissa, Fish, Brenna, Tom, Roy, Lindsay, Ali, Alyna, James, Josh, Lucy, Tim and Katie. I was sad that I only stayed for one session. It was really fun and I wish I stayed for longer but I know that I will cherish my memories from SMA forever!

Eduardo

This was my first year at SMA and it was great. I had an awesome time here, and the two weeks passed so quickly. I made lots of new friends and I tried lots of different and cool activities that I wouldn’t normally try. The counselors here are awesome! They are so crazy and funny and I’m going to miss them a lot: Immature Lucy, Cool Hot Sauce, Hippie Chase, Crazy Roy, British Tom, Tim: that laugh, Football Katie, Hipster Ali, Dancing Alyna, Rock Climber Melissa, Secret Friend James and Tube Lindsay.  Van rides were awesome, but there were some weird ones and of course some funny ones. I will remember Colombe’s dance, Mirena’s hugs, nights with Trevor, Ian with the horsehead mask, Hot Sauce playing the electric guitar really awesomely and me doing ‘Eduardo the Pretty Fairy’. I don’t know if I’ll be back next year, but I’m sure that I will remember everyone and all the memories that I have made here forever.