Notes From Summer Camp: A Photo Essay

For Maine’s young people, summer is when the state really comes to life. On the heels of the end of the school year, the long-awaited summer gives kids a chance to be with friends, learn new skills, and have fun outside. And it’s the state’s many summer camps that nurture kids’ love of outdoors and foster memories that last a lifetime.

Located among 100 acres of woods and wetlands in Readfield, The Summer Camp provides a safe space for young girls from low-income backgrounds and foster homes to build community. Pine Tree Society’s Pine Tree Camp in the Belgrade Lakes Region helps children with developmental and physical disabilities embrace their independence through outdoor activities. In Stoneham, Camp Susan Curtis provides free trauma-informed overnight experiences for campers across the state. And Camp Beech Cliff in Mount Desert offers an affordable summer day camp as a medium for nurturing kids’ personal growth and appreciation for the environment. In 2024, it added WildQuest!, a new week of camp specifically for teens of color.

At the Onion Foundation, we’re proud to support these four camps that actively remove barriers to the outdoors and enable young people to embark on adventures, stretch their comfort zones, and engage with the ecosystems that surround them, gaining both new knowledge and a sense of belonging. Showcasing excited campers, strong friendships, and environmental adventures, the following photos and captions by camp staff tell the story of powerful summer camp experiences.

Powerful Minds, Resilient Bodies

These four camps enable campers to do it all: learn to draw a bow string taut, coordinate strokes in a team-run canoe, or even spot fungi on the side of a nature trail. Summer camp helps kids exercise both their brains and their bodies, putting new skills into action alongside new friends.

Camp Susan Curtis — Located on a 130-acre conservation easement in the Western Maine Foothills, Camp Susan Curtis prioritizes outdoor equity. Many campers don’t have the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike at home, so camp is where they can learn and develop a love of healthy outdoor activities, like riding a bike through the forest on a summer day.

Camp Susan Curtis — Many of the children who attend Camp Susan Curtis hold responsibilities and worries at home that no child should carry. But at camp, they get to be kids. They get to have fun, try all kinds of new activities, and fall in love with a new outdoor hobby. Here, young campers paddle out into the middle of the lake by themselves for the first time to observe fish, loons, beavers, and eagles.

Pine Tree Camp — Staff at Pine Tree Camp remove all barriers to fun outdoor activities, ensuring no one sits on the sidelines. No matter what their disability may be, all campers have the chance to experience the life-changing freedom of trying something new, such as swimming in a nearby lake — possibly for the first time ever.

Pine Tree Camp — All activities at Pine Tree Camp are adapted and fully accessible. Campers enjoy choosing new activities, like spending time on nature trails.

The Summer Camp — In Readfield, The Summer Camp gives young girls a ten-day respite from personal challenges, offering a number of safe, inclusive opportunities for empowerment, skill-building, and physical activity.

Camp Beech Cliff — Camp Beech Cliff’s WildQuest! BIPOC Adventure Teen camp puts tools directly in campers’ hands. Here, an outdoor adventurer learns how to buck down firewood using traditional methods. The “knife splitting” technique is used to produce fire kindling as a key component of effective fire building.

Empowering Experiences That Build Confidence

A 2022 study by the American Camp Association found that high-quality summer camps play a key role in nurturing kids’ resilience and confidence. As they forge long-lasting bonds with fellow campers and try their hand at new outdoor skills alongside staff, campers get a chance to explore different parts of themselves. For the youth who participate in these four Maine organizations, camp is a place to learn what they’re capable of.

Camp Susan Curtis — Victories and milestones abound at Camp Susan Curtis. Here, a camper celebrates after hitting a home run during the camp’s annual camper-staff baseball game.

The Summer Camp — Being outside gives campers at The Summer Camp a new space to build their personal power and boost their self-esteem. Every camper is valued for who they are and encouraged to discover their interests and talents.

Camp Beech Cliff — At Camp Beech Cliff, campers take their confidence to new heights. Participants at the 2024 WildQuest! BIPOC Adventure Teen Camp learned to conquer their fears by rock climbing at the storied Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park.

Pine Tree Camp — Each year, hundreds of young kids leave Pine Tree Camp feeling transformed. Having gained independence and developed a new-found sense of confidence, these campers are better equipped to carry the lessons they learned into their daily lives.

A Newfound Appreciation for Nature

Summer camps give kids opportunities to explore Maine’s rich natural landscape, learning about wildlife and finding hidden-gem locations throughout the state. Spending time in nature offers young people remarkable benefits, including improved confidence, a boost in intellectual and psychological well-being, and a sense of purpose. And at these four Maine-based organizations, camp staff facilitate outdoor experiences that nurture these benefits.

Camp Susan Curtis — At Camp Susan Curtis, campers completely disconnect from screens to explore and play outside all day, everyday. In the organization’s Science & Nature Program, campers interact with and learn about the flora and fauna of Maine. Here, a camper gently holds a frog she caught in Trout Stream while learning about different species of frogs native to the state.

Pine Tree Camp — Campers at Pine Tree Camp get a chance to discover all the small wonders around them, from worms wriggling on pavement to the native flowers nearby.

The Summer Camp — With guidance from positive role models, The Summer Camp campers exercise their curiosity by adventuring on Maine’s rocky shores. Campers learn about sea creatures and natural ecosystems, all while having fun with friends.

Camp Beech Cliff — WildQuest! BIPOC Adventure Teen participants experience the beauty and educational opportunities of the state’s shores when paddling off the coast of Mount Desert Island. Glassy waters and foggy skies make for the quintessential Maine experience.

Camp: A Place To Belong

Despite there being more than 100 summer camps in the state, many young Mainers face barriers to accessing them. In many cases, camps aren’t equipped to accommodate a child’s unique accessibility needs. In others, camp is simply too expensive. Kids who have been marginalized because of their race, ability, or income might only feel comfortable embarking on the adventure of camp if they know they’re with staff and fellow campers who can understand their experiences.

By removing barriers, these camps offer safe spaces for young folks to gain a strong sense of purpose and belonging. As the new school year begins, campers enter into their classrooms with new energy, new skills, and a sense of connection with their new friends.

Camp Susan Curtis — At Camp Susan Curtis, the goal is to remove all barriers to accessing the outdoors for underserved Maine kids. Staff provide registration support, free transportation, a trauma-informed curriculum, and access to essential items like sneakers, swimsuits, hygiene products, and more. With that care and support, campers are able to focus on building lasting relationships while participating in empowering activities.

The Summer Camp — The Summer Camp staff foster strong friendships even beyond camp. Campers can participate in a pen pal program to send letters to their bunkmates or reconnect with past camp friends at community events run by the organization.

Camp Beech Cliff — Camp offers the opportunity to connect with new friends and counselors alike. Here, Camp Beech Cliff’s director of outdoor education, Kareem A. Dieng, prepares to ascend a natural rock wall with Adventure Teen participants during rock day.

Pine Tree Camp — Campers experience the magic of first friendship at Pine Tree Camp. As one camper expressed, “This is the first time I feel like I belong somewhere.” That’s what these summer camps are all about.

The Lasting Impact of Summer Camp

Camp Beech Cliff, Camp Susan Curtis, The Summer Camp, and Pine Tree Camp collectively engage thousands of Maine youth every summer. In the 50 years since its founding, Camp Susan Curtis has supported more than 19,000 children, and The Summer Camp has helped more than 10,000 campers since 1986, with 60% of kids returning year after year.

Around 90 kids join each Pine Tree Camp session, and the organization has never in its history turned away a camper because of financial need. Camp Beech Cliff regularly serves more than 200 children at each weekly summer camp session with generous financial aid and daily transportation. It hopes to grow its new WildQuest! BIPOC Adventure Teen Camp in the years ahead.

As these photos show, these four camps give kids — regardless of their personal circumstances — a chance to enjoy all that Maine’s natural landscape has to offer in the summer, while having fun, making friends, and learning new skills. They’re welcoming, inclusive spaces for outdoor adventure, equipping campers with a new sense of confidence, new skills, and a community they can return to year after year.