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Notes from 7-8-2025 Zoom for Parents Re: Risk Management
On Tuesday, July 8, 2025, Eagle’s Nest Foundation hosted a virtual session with parents and caregivers of 2025 camp season participants. After waking Saturday, July 5th to the news from the Guadalupe Valley in Texas, the goal was to offer an opportunity for parents to talk with Eagle’s Nest leaders about our approach to risk management, handling tough circumstances in the past year, and how to talk to children of different ages about safety at camp. We know not everyone who wanted to join was able to, so to support you in your curiosities and concerns, here are many of the points that were addressed. ● Eagle’s Nest Foundation has a Risk Management Committee that includes all leadership and staff from all programs. We discussed regular actions we take related to risk management like tracking accidents and “near misses,” regular meetings throughout the year to reflect on and refine our policies, and how we share this information Foundation-wide in our Policy Manual. ● We shared information about resources we rely upon daily, as well as resources we use circumstantially to stay current with information needed to manage risk and wellbeing tailored to our specific environment. This included an overview of the private weather service we use, Perry Weather. ● Perry Weather is both the bane of campers’ need for freedom and critical for their safety. It shows a local radar, and sends us push notifications when large storms are moving in the path of campus, and sends specific, detailed emails to us days before major weather events. An alarm rings on campus if lightning strikes within 0-3 miles. When that happens, staff are trained to move to a shelter with a roof and four walls, and wait until they are retrieved/moved by Admin or they hear the “all’s safe” alarm. We train young people within their first few hours on campus to expect thunderstorms and how to respond when they hear the alarms. With The Outdoor Academy, we have students on campus year round. Jesse, our Outdoor Academy Director, and Beth, our Executive Director, shared examples of how we applied our policies during Hurricane Helene and Spring wildfires in the region. ● We acknowledge that policies only get you about 75% of the way before the subjectivity of judgement comes into play for exceptional circumstances. ● Jesse described the additional resource we leverage of our local community and authorities, as well as the extended community of our peer camps and schools in the region. These include the American Camp Association (ACA) and a local affiliate for