Educator, nonoprofit leader and author named executive director of Horsham camps

            Motivational speaker, educational consultant and author Roger Jackson, says you can either talk about “green” careers, being stewards of the earth and caretakers of the environmental or you can live it.

            Jackson, a former teacher, decided to live it when he accepted the position of executive director of the College Settlement Camp, The Henry J. & Willemina B. Kuhn Day Camp, and The Outdoor School in Horsham.

            The Philadelphia native, who now lives in Douglassville, Berks County, takes the reins of the camps, located on 235 acres off Witmer Road, June 1 upon the retirement of long-time executive director Frank Jerome.

            The residential College Settlement Camp and The Kuhn Day Camp, which operate June through August, serve financially disadvantaged youth from Philadelphia and surrounding counties. The Outdoor School is a three-day residential, environmental education program offered in the spring and fall for 5^th through 8^th  grade classes from area public and private schools. All three are nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organizations.

Jackson, who is completing a doctorate in educational leadership, is president and CEO of R. Jackson & Associates, an educational consulting firm, and most recently was executive director of the Columbia North YMCA in Philadelphia. A graduate and Wall of Fame inductee of John Bartram High School in Philadelphia, he holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Kutztown University, a master’s degree in elementary education from Temple University, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Lehigh University.

A former middle school math and science teacher and varsity basketball and track coach in the Philadelphia and Norristown school districts, Jackson’s expertise is in program design and development, leadership, strategic planning and youth development. He was chief executive officer of the Arise Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia; vice president and chief operating officer of the Educational Advancement Alliance, Inc., Philadelphia; principal of the Paul Robeson High School for Human Services; and director of the Office of College and Career Awareness for the Philadelphia School District. He also was an adjunct professor and administrator at Kutztown and Lincoln universities, and senior program director with the YMCAs in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Jackson is the author of “I Ain’t Scared To Say It,” a compilation of editorials he wrote meant to spark debate and “healthy discussion” on a variety of topics, including political and social issues. He’s working on a second book, “Hope Is Not A Test Score,” which explores, through inspirational stories from his time as a coach and teacher, the premise that “standardized tests don’t measure everything.”

Jackson, who is married and the father of two daughters, said his new position continues his life’s work of “elevating, educating, and empowering people – especially young people.”  His joy, he said, comes from “creating opportunities and experiences to help them become successful. Anytime you can expand young peoples’ experiences and horizons  -  their ‘cultural conversational capital’ -  you give them the opportunity to compete in many arenas.”

 A camp experience, Jackson said, boosts confidence and gives the kids “universal” things to talk about as they navigate life. It crosses racial and economic lines. “Relationships, he said, “are based on common experiences.” With the experience the Horsham camps provide, the kids “don’t have to be left out of the conversation. It gives them an opportunity to get in the game.”

Jackson said he will be “working hard to ensure that we have a really dynamic program that is both contemporary and timeless, creating experiences the kids can enjoy by melding the “new” with the “old.”

The camps have a long, rich history and have done “wonderful things,” Jackson said. The College Settlement Camp was founded in 1922, The Kuhn Day Camp in 1950, and The Outdoor School in 1973. Jackson said his “jaw dropped” when he toured the expansive, lush property on which they are located, which now is home to more than 35 structures, a lake, two swimming pools, adventure challenge courses, an environmental center, and a community-based farm.

For additional information about the camps, see www.collegesettlement.org and www.outdoorschoolinhorsham.org or call 215-542-7974.