Adam Langbart: It's All About The Kids

It takes a special kind of person to help shape the future of a child. For Adam Langbart, it’s not just a calling – it’s his job.

Langbart, 47, married with three daughters, is a former president and current member of the New York State Camp Director's Association, an organization that has existed for 56 years and boasts a membership of 125 children's camps.

"We're basically legislative watchdogs of the camping industry," he said. "What NYSCDA does is go up to Albany and talk about issues affecting the industry, both on a local and state-wide level. We also combat legislation issues that we feel are harmful to children and camps in general. We basically just are trying to maintain a positive working environment for camps."

Some of the biggest changes affected by NYSCDA are the ones that typically no one hears about.

"Right now, there's a big push in New York State to raise revenue," he said. "One of the issues that has been on the table in recent years is eliminating property tax exemption for not-for-profit camps, such as the Fresh Air Fund or the Boy and Girls Scouts. Some legislators are looking to remove that benefit, and we've been fighting it for years successfully. However, in the past two years it's become quite the challenge, but we've been able to maintain the property tax exemption for hundreds of camps in New York. Without it, a lot of these camps would go under."

Other NYSCDA achievements include cracking down on unregulated, unlicensed camps and having indoor organizations officially designated as camps to reap the property tax benefits they're entitled to, whereas before only outdoor camps were considered for such treatment.

"What we've done is basically raise the level of safety for thousands of kids state-wide," Langbart said. "That's the result of NYSCDA and other organizations working with the Department of Health."

NYSCDA is member-driven and works hard to make certain its constituents’ best interests are watched out for.

"Any camp out there can join us," he said. "I think that camps that are smart join us. We have a lot of camps that appreciate what we do, and they support us by being members.”

However, that’s not the extent of Langbart’s association with kids. By day, he’s the co-owner and director of the Merrick Woods Country Day School, located on Merrick Avenue.

“It’s a family business. It’s been around since 1956,” he said. “I work here with my brother and my parents worked here before us.”

Merrick Woods is a private school ten months out of the year, serving children kindergarten age and younger. During the school break, they operate a full-service summer program for kids ages three to 13.

“We have three heated swimming pools, basketball courts and baseball fields, and lots of arts and crafts,” he said. “We employ about 30 people during the school year and about 80 during the summer.”

Before he started working with kids back in 1993, Langbart was a chef. But soon, he found himself involved with the family business and has been with it ever since. But while some people might assume there is a great deal of stress associated with working with kids all day, Langbart said that’s the furthest from the truth.

“Dealing with the kids is the easy part of the job, the fun part,” he said. “When you’re able to work with children and introduce them to new experiences, new opportunities that they wouldn’t normally have, and just to watch them grow up, I think there’s nothing better.”

“When I get to bang out a softball or sit down and tie-dye a shirt, that’s the best half-hour of my day.”