Hear the interview on VPR: "Saying Goodbye to Summer Camp"
Watch the interview with BPR on YouTube - start at the 2 hr mark!
Farm & Wilderness made waves in regional media this summer, with outgoing Executive Director Frances McLaughlin and former camper/staff member Ollie Muz sharing insights about the transformative power of summer camp on both Vermont Public Radio and Boston Public Radio.
The interviews highlighted how F&W's approach to youth development remains remarkably consistent with its 1939 founding principles, while evolving to meet modern challenges. As evidenced in our recently published Impact Report, "Decoding the Magic of Camp," F&W cultivates three key areas of growth in young people: self-efficacy, community-mindedness, and authentic identity development.
Ollie offered a unique perspective as both a former camper and staff member. After spending five years as a full-summer camper and three years on staff, he reflected on discovering the intentional craft behind what campers experience as "camp magic." "You don't know how intentionally crafted the experience is as a camper," Muz shared. "Switching to a staff role, you're creating that camp magic and putting in a ton of work—facilitating the magic of camp."
McLaughlin emphasized F&W's commitment to accessibility through initiatives like Affordable for All, which ensures camp is truly welcoming to children from all socioeconomic backgrounds. She also highlighted F&W's partnerships with organizations like the Vermont Migrant Education Program and SEIU 1199's Anne Shore program, which help introduce the uniquely American concept of summer camp to refugee families and provide scholarships to union members' children.
The interviews also explored F&W's distinctive practices, like silent meeting—a Quaker tradition that helps build reverence for nature through mindful breathing and stillness. This practice exemplifies how F&W's traditional elements continue to serve modern needs, offering young people a rare opportunity to unplug and connect deeply with nature and community.
For Ollie, this unplugged, community-focused environment felt like "the right way to live" compared to our increasingly individualistic world. His testimony reinforces what many families discover at F&W: the profound impact of experiencing a different way of living, even if just for a few weeks each summer.
Jarod “W” Wunneburger, Director of Camps, says that this kind of research-backed storytelling is key to both showcasing and deepening our impact. “What’s exciting is that this feeling we’ve always had – that a summer at F&W is magical – can be backed up by research. With that research basis we can now tell the story in a way more people will hear it, and, in turn, help amplify our impact – through sending their kids to us, working for us, donating, or connecting us to others making an impact. It really feels in some ways like a coming out party. We’re taking our place in the education ecosystem among the network of other institutions working to make the world a better place at such a critical time.”