And the Oscar...oops... Distinguished Service Award...Goes to...JANE SANBORN!

by Ariella Rogge on February 13

Copyjane.jpg?ixlib=rails 2.1
Donate Today in Jane's Honor
Img 9360.jpg?ixlib=rails 2.1

We are SO excited to share with our Sanborn community that Jane Sanborn received the National Distinguished Service Award from the American Camp Association on Tuesday at the ACA National Conference in New Orleans.

This is the ACA’s most significant award (think Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe all wrapped up into one enormous Lifetime Achievement Award) and Jane MORE than deserves it after her multiple decades of volunteer work at both the local, regional and national level.

Img 0878.jpeg?ixlib=rails 2.1

Jane was the longest serving National Conference Program chair for the American Camp Association. Over her decade-plus long tenure, Jane fundamentally changed the import and intention of our work as youth development professionals. By consistently recruiting some of the biggest names in business (Chip and Dan Heath, Adam Bryant, Adam Grant), education (Madeline Levine, Sonja Whittaker), and youth development (Dr. Debbie Gilboa, Wendy Mogel) while curating breakout sessions from leading experts in myriad fields, Jane helped summer camp professionals recognize their importance as a key part of a child’s education. She and the conference teams oversaw the creation of session “tracks” including the DEI “Camp Includes Me” track, a robust Executive Leadership Forum and a full ACA Research Forum, which now showcases the work of 35-50 select researchers who are demonstrating the true value of the camp experience through quantitative and qualitative data.

Img 8784.jpeg?ixlib=rails 2.1
Donate Today in Jane's Honor

At the end of the day though, Jane continues to do and to love this work because of the kids. Many of us ARE her kids in many ways–she is one of the supportive adults of our childhoods, adolescence and emerging adulthoods who truly knew us, truly cared about us and truly celebrated our accomplishments (and failures) with us.

In honor of Jane, her impact and this tremendous award, please consider making a donation to the Sanborn 70 Scholarship Endowment fund. Thanks to generous alums in the past, there is an endowed scholarship in Jane’s name–but we would love to increase that endowment to help even more kids come to camp. You can make a donation online via PayPal or visit our website for additional donation methods.

We are excited that you can share in this amazing opportunity to celebrate Jane Sanborn and her incredible hard-work, committment and long-standing “bermuda shorts on the tennis courts” legacy!

Back to Blog
Tags
Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two teenage sons, Lairden and Karsten.