Ed Walker

Director - Mt. Lebanon Camp & Retreat. TX CCCA Pres, Music, Ag, Prof., Entrepreneur, etc. Husband, Dad, Papa. Great is His Faithfulness.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Are Summer Camps Safe? Here are some facts most have never heard about licensed Texas summer camps.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

@wesvirdelltx 100%

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

My daily reminder. https://t.co/NNNJdBstuQ

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Passed this crew yesterday & pulled in. Most expensive "free" car wash we've ever had but happy to support the cause! BTW - They can't afford a licensed camp so they're heading to a campground. I'll work on them but help us out @TX_Legislature. $465▸ new $19,500 lic. fee - bad.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

It's more apparent that the political machine in Texas did great damage in passing safety laws hurriedly and without camp leader input. Laws that were 90% good had irreversible effects. "Sorry we closed your camp doesn't suffice (even though it hasn't been said at all thus far.) https://t.co/oi3zSSv4DF

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Happy victory on fiber issue, but much damage already done. Millions spent by camps to get it & long, very expensive contracts. Someone's making $$$. Some closures already. Our lic. fee $465 last year to $19,500. A lot left to fix. Camp leaders must be at table FOR safety.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

@VanceGinn 100%. The damage is done. Camps already spent millions & are locked into long, expensive fiber contracts. Our lic. fee, $465 last year to $19,500. Some closed, more will. We raised $$$ to seek relief from mistakes. They jump in at the finish line & claim they ran the marathon.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

@KRLD https://t.co/muqZ6MKCTF

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

This is NOT true, @KRLD! 1. Camps have already closed. 2. Camp license apps much lower. 3. Rep. Curry shared a tenuous option we've heard from DSHS, but Perry and Darby have pushed back. Please confirm before reporting.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

This is NOT true, @KRLD! 1. Camps have already closed. 2. Camp license apps much lower. 3. Rep. Curry shared a tenuous option we've heard from DSHS, but Perry and Darby have pushed back. Please confirm before reporting.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

@PatrickJCurry1 BTW - "discernment" comment was for TX pols and agencies as a whole, not you personally. Other states have advantage of regular session you didn't. Camp leaders do need to be at the table to make laws better, not to shirk them, as was insinuated by some. https://t.co/j98TCLVRnJ

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Are Summer Camps Safe? Here are some facts most have never heard about licensed Texas summer camps.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

@PatrickJCurry1 Hope so, Pat. Camp leaders' input would've prevented millions already spent unnecessarily on fiber & legal. Leg. & DSHS raised our camp fee from $465 to $19,500 - "camps are going to pay." Some regs LESS safe & fewer camps. No great discernment thus far-hope that changes. Thanks

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

The chart at the end is concerning. We're hoping to receive a license soon (along with hundreds of other camps). Grateful this story is now being told. https://t.co/QS1qAr173w

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

I receive camp stories from media outlets far and wide. Most look identical with a single focus. Sarah Bahari from the DMN is one of the few also reporting on the larger community—hundreds of dedicated camp leaders on the front lines of safety. Thank you!
https://t.co/HcpVNKy7CC

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

https://t.co/1MS0mAXRAp

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

We were given 120 seconds to comment to Senate. I testified laws with good intentions can lead to bad results. Dismissive @electcharles added fiber requirements (pet project) on non-profit camps, where none was available. He said camps, not Texas, would pay. They certainly are.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

This doesn't make headlines. When legislators and lobbyists become immediate experts, refuse input, assign blame & shirk their one responsibility—passing GOOD laws—this is the result. In business, the demise of the small benefits the large. In camping, it's a shame. @DanPatrick

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

@TexasTribune There are countless free YouTube videos and web resources that educate on this, not to mention friends, neighbors and farmers who mentor. A $7 million grant should be a crime for those who provided it.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Only 1 Texas camp has received a license to operate this summer. DSHS outsourced EAP reviews to an outside company that adds new requirements. Only 3-4 camps in the state have received conditional approval of their EAP. Camp leaders say deficiency notes seem AI generated. True.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Received word of 3 TX camp closures this week. A Baptist-north, a Church of Christ camp-south central, and a wilderness camp-central. Safe camps. Longstanding camps. Camps where kids and churches should be this summer. @DanPatrick, @electcharles, @DrewDarbyTX - no comment. Sad.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

Though the Likert scale (rate 1-5 - strongly disagree to strongly agree, or always to never, etc.) wasn't introduced until 1932, these longitudinal camp observations (1925-28) used similar methods to quantify needs in boys. Developing programs to improve these areas followed.

[Ed Walker @EdWalkEdD]

The positive impact of summer camp was recognized anecdotally from the very beginning. Kids had a great time at camp and parents noticed them changed for the better when they returned, thus the rapid early boom. But academic studies of camp outcomes followed almost immediately.