As we ring in the new year, many people look for ways to answer some version of the question, ‘how can I be at my (own very) best, (all the...

With the holiday season upon us, the AYF has so much gratitude for all of the ways in which the members of our community make a positive impact in our...

By Kris Light Every campfire has a purpose. It has been an essential part of our story as a species; a thing that once adopted helped define what it meant...

By Anthony Marvullo This past January, Professor Carol Dweck saw her scholarly work get away from her, so she wrote a clarification in the Harvard Business Review. Her now-famous “growth-mindset...

By Will Shelton A few days ago, we stumbled across this article, and I was very eager to read it. We love to have teens as part of our camps...

In mid-August, the year-round summer camp teams at Merrowvista and Miniwanca each shared in countless hugs, tidied up, and waved as several hundred summer staff drove away with another incredible...

We want to hear from you! If you have experienced an AYF program, directly or indirectly, we invite you to complete this survey in order to inform AYF’s programming and planning....

By Anthony Marvullo Recent conversations on youth development and student success focus on resilience, sometimes called grit. In Paul Tough’s 2012 book How Children Succeed, resilience is defined as the...

The quest to win the Tribal Shield is a decades-old Miniwanca Tradition. When the campers arrive at camp, they are assigned to a tribal group. Each Tribe (Dunes, Draws, Ridges and Trails)...

The sun was high and hot today and Lake Michigan looked like it held scattered diamonds. Gorgeous! Last days at Miniwanca are bittersweet, holding space for every emotion: anticipation of...

WOW. You could FEEL the energy pulsing through the air this morning. The day started with the Doc Wheels Fun Run. Both Girls and Boys camps met at Graceland to kick...

Near the end of breakfast each day, a song breaks through the clatter of silverware and morning chatter. After the first notes play, the girls move to the center of...

What a beautiful, Miniwanca day! The weather here was pristine, with highs in the low 80s and cool breezes coming in off Lake Michigan. It was the perfect setting for all...

We awoke to another beautiful day at Miniwanca with blue skies and white, puffy clouds. It’s hard to believe that today marks the beginning of the last week of camp!...

Most Miniwanca mornings begin with the Polar Bear Call, inviting all campers to Dip, Dip-Dip-Dip into Lake Michigan.  The last several days the water has been warm enough that some campers...

Wednesday at Boys Camp was awesome! We again followed our typical day schedule. During Community Time the age groups divided into camp to have adventures as a smaller community. The...

Growth Our theme for the day was growth and we saw campers stretching and growing all day long! Avail Service in the Community After an early breakfast, the Avail Seniors...

Tuesday was a great day in Boys Camp! The morning was filled with Interest Groups, and the first Community Time of the 2 week session. Community Time is a chance...