Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Wisdom for Summer Camps*: A Guide to Evolving Through Structures Found At Your Favorite Summer Camp.

Mariah Rankine-Landers
16 min readSep 9, 2021

It’s a four-hour drive through the central part of California, turning east on highway 180 and on up into the mountains to get to summer camp. It’s a camp that I loved as a kid. When I was 12, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. My doctor recommended a diabetes camp where I could learn to manage my diabetes amongst my peers and with adults thriving and living with the condition. Camp is staffed with a medical team 24/7, so access to care is at the tip of your finger. I was nervous about going that first year. My grandmother drove me up, dropped me off, and left me alone with a sea of new faces. I was one of the first to arrive, so I had to hang out with the counselors as we waited for the arrival of other kids. I remember them taking me down to the baseball field, fresh with dry dirt, and inviting me to play ball with them. Oops. Sports weren’t my thing. I couldn’t even tell you how it was played. They figured that out quickly and opted to toss the ball back and forth with me for an hour before the other campers arrived.

When they did arrive, I knew instantly which girl was going to be my best friend. Kristy. She had brown curly hair and a massive smile on her face. We hit it off immediately, selected beds next to each other, and honestly, I can’t tell you any other campers’ names. Kristy and I spent all our time together. We made friendship bracelets for each other, sculpted clay pinch…

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Mariah Rankine-Landers

Mariah Rankine-Landers, Ed.M co-leads Studio Pathways for transformative school and organizational change that centers the cultural and contemporary arts.