The Sci-Tech Camper Care and Inclusion Team is led by Director Jayme Dale Mallindine. This team includes teachers, clinical social workers, school guidance counselors, special education professionals, psychologists, grad students, and other incredible youth and inclusion professionals. Jayme is supported throughout the year, especially during the camper application process, by Dr. Rachel Schein. Rachel Schein is a part-time inclusion consultant who has been partnering with Sci-Tech since its pioneer summer back in 2014. In her work with us, she reviews all background questionnaires completed before the summer by families who indicate their camper would benefit from additional support, and she advises the full-time team on inclusion and helps ensure we can best meet the needs of all our campers. During the summer, Dr. Schein supports the team remotely and does not live at camp, while our summer inclusion/camper care specialists live at camp during the camp season to work in person with our campers and staff to ensure we are supporting your child in the best way possible all summer long. 

Our talented Inclusion and Community Care team works with all staff to create and facilitate resources that are available to all campers. Programs are intentionally designed through the lens of differentiated learning and camper choice. Grounded in the theory of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our project-based and curiosity-led approach to STEM learning and community-building helps motivate and excite campers, allowing campers to discover new information in ways that resonate for them. ALL staff receives training on inclusion, and how to support the variety of emotional needs our campers bring with them to camp, including our dorm counselors and workshop instructors! 

Universal Design Elements available to all campers: 

• • Dorms allow for children who need privacy to have alone/downtime  in a safe and supervised environment 
  • Campers already have shared interests with other campers based on workshops and choice-based activities 
  • Meal service allows children with food sensitivities, picky eaters, and children with allergies to have options, and all foods are labeled with allergens (i.e., GF, contains soy, Vegan, etc.) 
  • Pocket/Mini Schedules are distributed daily to any camper who wants one 
  • Break spaces throughout camp 
  • Fidgets 
  • Disposable Earplugs 
  • Staff are trained in transition supports (I.e., telling kids ahead of time when a transition is about to happen), social skills supports, and conflict resolution 
  • Posted visual reminders for morning and bedtime routines 
  • Instructors are trained in multi-modal instruction and provide written, visual, and verbal instructions 
  • New campers come every year due to the unique nature of specialty camping, so staff are trained to help integrate new folks into the camp community 

In addition to the universal elements available to everyone, each camper is carefully considered as soon as a family submits a camper application, with input from parents, guardians, teachers, and other professionals on an individualized basis to determine the types of accommodations needed and appropriateness for our program. Families work in partnership with our inclusion professionals to ensure the camper’s success for the summer. This may include a more comprehensive intake, collaboration with professionals who work with your child, and maintaining regular communication throughout the off-season as we prepare for the summer. 

Sci-Tech has successfully integrated children with various support needs into the community since we began in 2014! We have found that with the proper support, campers with various diagnoses or support needs can be very successful at camp, including but not limited to: 

• • Autism Spectrum Disorders 
  • ADHD 
  • Cognitive delays 
  • Executive functioning delays 
  • Mental health diagnoses, such as depression and anxiety 
  • Learning disabilities 
  • RFID 
  • As well as many, many others! 

The sharing of pronouns is an easy way to establish that we are a community that values people’s gender identities, and we do not take for granted that someone’s pronouns are not always clear to the observer.  Most youth spaces now ask this question, and while we don’t force anyone to share, we find that it is often much appreciated and helps everyone start out on a level playing field. Campers are never required to share their pronouns out loud at camp and are not required to wear the optional pronoun bracelets available at check-in. 

Sci-Tech is a camp that affirms gender identity through living arrangements.  Campers can choose where they are most comfortable living, with their parents’ support and in collaboration with camp professionals.  Staff members are trained to manage privacy for all campers. During the camper application process, there is a place to indicate housing needs and questions as it relates to gender.

We work closely with campers, parents, clinicians, and other professionals to determine readiness after a mental health struggle that may have resulted in hospitalization.  We know that with time and the right supports, children can return to camp and have a very successful experience.  We hope to be a supportive and nurturing environment for kids on their mental health journeys, recognizing that while Sci-Tech is not a therapeutic camp, camp can be therapeutic.  We also talk with families about helping their child be able to “tell their story” in a way that does not put any pressure on their peers to do more than be a listening ear and a supportive presence. 

We strongly believe that if you wish for your child to be part of our camp community and believe they can meet the expectations, we can be creative and innovative in providing accommodations to help them succeed.  We know that navigating a neurotypical world often means children bump up against many closed doors.  We don’t want Sci-Tech to be one of those places.  If it is a no, it is for a very good reason, usually because we do not feel we can adequately keep your child safe, given their ability to manage their behavior or the resources we have available at camp. We know that what defines a “successful” summer varies from child to child, and we work with each family both before and during the summer to support each family’s goals.

Each camper has their own room at camp, which they share with one to three other campers, depending on the room size. They are told from the beginning that it is okay to close the door and ask their roommate(s) to step outside while they are changing. Campers who attend camp should be prepared to provide that privacy for others. Though we know that camp can be a place where kids change freely in front of each other and feel free in their bodies, we also understand that this is not comfortable for everyone. We ask that kids be discreet and maintain privacy in the bathrooms, halls, and their rooms. The showers at camp are individual stalls, and shower time is facilitated by counselors who ensure everyone feels safe and has the privacy they need during those vulnerable moments. Campers are not allowed in any room but their own, and all camper hangouts take place in our dorm common rooms, where they have access to comfortable seating, staff support, and ample board games.

That being said, due to our dedication to safety and security, campers are never truly “alone”. We have an open-door policy in the dorms, meaning campers should keep their doors open unless they are changing or sleeping. Campers are not able to wander freely throughout campus and are always supervised by adult staff. Campers cannot be in the dorms alone and cannot return throughout the day on their own. While campers can access break spaces during the day, they do so under our staff’s supervision. While it is always possible to “step away” within eyesight of the group leaders, it is important for campers to stay with the group for their own safety and well-being and to communicate with staff if they need to leave the group for any reason. 

We recognize that children who have a different gender expression than their biological sex assigned at birth may feel more comfortable bunking with other children who express themselves in a similar manner to themselves, but this is not always 100% true.  We know that 39% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year — including 46% of transgender and nonbinary young people. Camp and the sense of belonging it provides can be a powerful protective factor for these children. 

We help campers understand that at overnight camp, campers get to be the best version of themselves – and sometimes camp gives you the freedom to explore parts of your identity that might be different than those in prior summers, or from those at home.  We respect a camper’s desire to go by different names or pronouns at camp as a way of honoring that choice and demonstrating respect.  We also honor a camper’s decision to share that with their parents/family or with their peers, if they choose and when they are ready.  We recognize that campers who are exploring gender are on a journey, and we see camp as a place that affirms identity.  

Our staff are trained not to assume anything about a camper’s home life unless explained in the letter to staff that families write.  We teach our staff that our campers come from a variety of backgrounds – LGBTQ+ parent households, living with grandparents or other guardians, and single-parent homes are just as common as two-parent households.  When talking about home or encouraging campers to write home, staff will say something like “Write home to your grownup,” or “Send a letter to someone at home who loves you and will be happy to hear from you,” or “time to write home to your family.” 

Diagnoses can be a private thing for many campers and families. While our full-time professional staff, inclusion consultants, health center staff, and camper care leadership team will know the diagnoses based on the intake forms you submit, we do not share that information with staff by default. Every camper is unique, even if they have the same diagnosis as another camper, and we want our summer staff to treat everyone as an individual. Rather than sharing diagnoses, our leadership team shares behaviors and support strategies to help make camp a successful experience for your child! That being said, you and your camper are welcome to share their diagnoses as much as you want! Some campers are proud or excited to share aspects of their identity, and we 100% support campers openly sharing aspects of themselves that they find meaningful. There’s also a chance for parents to share that directly in the “Letter to Camp Staff”, one of the many camper forms we utilize to prepare ourselves and our staff for your camper’s arrival.