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Odyssey Teen Camp Blog | Recent Posts

The Gift of Being A Non Profit Summer Camp
I asked my wife while we were walking our dogs the other day, why I didn’t make OTC a non-profit years ago, and she said “you were always so busy planning for summer.” I thought, “oh, yeah, I remember that,” but if I knew then what I know now, I would have focused...

Our Summers Save Lives
20 years ago, when I started Odyssey Teen Camp, I could not have imagined the impact this camp would have on my life as well as thousands of other people's lives. A safe space The concept was simple - create a summer camp for teenagers where they were safe from...

From a Feeling of Malice to Hope. One Camper’s Odyssey. A Personal Letter From Kendall.
Odyssey Teen Camp means different things to different campers, but one thing they all can agree on is that OTC changed their life. Kendall was a camper at OTC starting in 2014. His life was transformed as he built friendships, discovered a new sense of belonging, and...

Finding New Hope in Virtual Camp
Call it whatever you want, our virtual camp is helping teens through these times. Like a lot of other businesses, this pandemic has been tough on summer camp people. Most of us spent the first two months of the pandemic worrying whether we would be allowed to open,...

How Housing Works at OTC for Transgender Campers
Just as gender identity can feel complicated, housing at camp for transgender and gender diverse teens can feel that way as well. I remember ten years ago when the first openly transgender kids starting coming to camp everyone's big question was, “where are we going...

How My Twice Exceptional Teen Became a Happy Camper
A mom recently wrote about her son Fen's experience at camp. He's been coming to OTC for the past five years. Fen is one of the most original, interesting and hilarious campers who has come to camp. He's not always the easiest and when he first came to camp he seemed...

Top Ten Things I’ve Learned About 2e (Twice Exceptional) Teens
I’ve been learning about twice exceptionality (2e) from some moms whose 2e teens come to camp. They are great advocates for their own children and for all 2e kids. I’m particularly grateful to Kim Pine who wrote an informative post about her 2e son's camp experience...

The Dark Tunnel of Adolescent Evolution (Part 2): What Does “Staying in The Game” Look Like For Parents?
As I continue my discussion in video 2 with therapist Amy Frisch, who has been leading groups for teenage girls for twenty years, Amy offers some great advice for parents (none of which will necessarily be easy to follow). [click_to_tweet tweet="All the...