Camp Mah-Kee-Nac

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Camp Mah-Kee-Nac is located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts on three mile long Stockbridge Bowl. Founded in 1929, Camp Mah-Kee-Nac for boys is the summer home for 350 campers and over 170 staff. The program is sports based, supplemented by well-balanced, traditional options. Campers participate in a wide variety of team and individual sports as well as lake and pool activities, a full arts program and adventure opportunities. The camp’s 6-week program combines the traditions of New England summer camping with the best of current sports and activities instruction and exceptional facilities.

Mah-Kee-Nac campers work to achieve personal goals throughout their years at camp. Teamwork, leadership and friendship are core elements of a camp program that encourages healthy risk taking. There is a thoroughness and camp know-how that flows from almost 80 years of Mah-Kee-Nac tradition rooted in the understanding of young people, their needs, and their current interests.

Program Description

Camp Mah-Kee-Nac is divided into three separate camps: Junior Camp (boys finishing 1st through 4th grade), Lower Senior Camp (campers finishing 5th and 6th grades), and Upper Senior Camp, (boys completing 7th, 8th & 9th grades). An experienced Head and Assistant Head Counselor supervise each of these smaller camps. In addition, each age group has a group leader in charge. Camp activities are scheduled so that boys play and compete with only boys in their age group.

Each Mah-Kee-Nac camper has choice in their daily schedule. Younger boys (finishing 1st through 4th grade) have a limited amount of choice, as they are guided to take advantage of everything the camp has to offer. Senior campers (finishing 5th through 9th grade) have an individual choice-based program. All boys are required to have a full schedule, but choice gives them the opportunity to focus on and enjoy their favorite activities. The program provides boys with diverse abilities and interests the opportunity to thrive.

Campers can also participate in non-sporting activities such as art, wood shop, rocketry, camp radio and newspaper. Hiking, overnight camping and nature are other important parts of a Mah-Kee-Nac summer.

Staff Overview

The leaders of Mah-Kee-Nac’s programs are either high school or college coaches, and they are assisted by more than 100 counselors, many of them teachers or students majoring in education.

Mah-Kee-Nac recruits staff members from colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Each counselor must go through a rigorous application process, which includes a personal interview and reference check. The average staff age is 21 years old, and counselors must have completed at least their freshman year in college.

Setting & Accommodations

Camp Mah-Kee-Nac is located in the Western part of Massachusetts in the small New England town of Lenox. The camp is set in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains, on Stockbridge Bowl, across from Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony. We are just three hours from the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area, and two hours from Boston.

Campers live in traditional camp cabins, all of which have been renovated since 2006. All bunks have full shower and bathroom facilities. Mah-Kee-Nac bunks average ten campers and three counselors.

Mah-Kee-Nac's menu is designed to appeal to boys and provide a large variety of nutritious and well-prepared meal selections. A full salad bar along with hamburger, hotdog or pasta entrees cooked to order are offered at both lunch and dinner. Snacks during the day and at bedtime include fresh fruit, homemade cookies and ice-cream novelties.

Safety Standards

Mah-Kee-Nac's health care staff consists of five nurses and a physician that cover the camp’s health center seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Children receive routine medications at mealtime and bedtime according to the documentation on the health history. Local physicians attend to campers who need to see a specialist. These doctors are affiliated with the Berkshire Medical Center, 15 minutes from camp, which is a teaching hospital of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Camp Mah-Kee-Nac is accredited by the American Camp Association and meets more than 300 safety standards set forth by the organization.

Camp Mah-Kee-Nac Session Dates

Session Name	Dates	Ages	Tuition
Full Session	6/26/10-8/7/10	7-16	$8,200
Three Week Session # 1	6/26/10-7/17/10	7-16	$4,950
Three Week Session # 2	7/18/10-8/7/10	7-16	$4,950
Specialty Week	8/7/10-8/13/10	7-16	$1,400
Mini Camp	7/7/10-7/23/10	6-11	$1,000