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After a fun-filled summer, Trees Atlanta is celebrating the bittersweet close of another fantastic Junior TreeKeeper Summer Camp! Join us as we look back on two months of curious exploration, forged friendships, and unforgettable memories.

This was the 13th annual Junior TreeKeeper Camp at Trees Atlanta, and it was a blast. Over 8 weeks, nearly 400 campers came out to discover the wonders of Atlanta’s urban forest firsthand. With the help of our amazing camp counselors and assistants, and our volunteer Junior Interns, campers set off on all kinds of exciting adventures: biking the Atlanta Beltline to beautiful parks, discovering the wonders hidden inside owls pellets, identifying trees through leaf tracings in handmade nature journals, sparking friendly competition with games that brought real-life ecosystem services to live, building environmental stewardship through up-cycled arts and crafts, and learning fun and practical ways to shrink our carbon footprint.

Every camper, no matter their age group — Sassafras, Quercus, or Acer — was fully immersed in Atlanta’s urban forest for each day they spent with us. Here at Trees Atlanta, we love our city and its trees, and we’re so grateful we got to share that love with all of our budding naturalists. Thank you for joining us this summer, and we hope to see you again next year!

Traditional metrics don’t fully capture the spirit of summer camp at Trees Atlanta, so we’ve come up with a few unconventional measurements that better reflect the fun and growth our campers experienced.

Camp All-Stars

These campers showed up week after week…

• Alexandra Link (Acer) – 4 weeks
• Maxwell Link (Quercus) – 4 weeks
• Julian Jacob (Sassafras) – 5 weeks

Junior Interns

Whether it’s tying shoes, applying bandages, leading field games, reading at storytime, sanitizing spaces, or serving food, Junior Interns play a vital role in creating safe and fun experiences for the campers we serve. Each of the 40 middle and high school volunteers selected for this year’s Junior Intern program brought real empathy, positivity, and responsibility to their work with our campers.

This year we expanded the leadership development opportunities within the program by hosting guest presenters from six different organizations who spoke with our Junior Interns about preparing for green-collar careers and building skills in environmental leadership. Each week at camp, Junior Interns used custom Trees Atlanta journals made from recycled materials to write and reflect on what they learned, and sported tie-dye bandana of their own design to stand out as leaders among their peers.

Where We Explored

Field Trips (Acer Campers – Rising 4th – 6th graders): Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Sweetwater Creek State Park, Chattahoochee Nature Center, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (Island Ford Unit), Newman Wetlands Center, and Dunwoody Nature Center.

City of Atlanta Parks: Rose Circle Park, Gordon White Park, Adair Park I and II, Washington Park, and D.H. Stanton Park.

Guest Presenters (Sassafras and Quercus campers): Fulton County Water and Community Farmer’s Market.

Hear From Our Staff

“Being able to observe the campers gain a deeper understanding of the world around them and an intrinsic sense of environmental stewardship made my entire summer! Actively seeing those lightbulb moments will forever stick with me and give me motivation to continue my passion for environmental education.” — Ella Grindle, Camp Counselor

“Being an Environmental Educator at Junior TreeKeeper camp these past few months made for a summer of fun. It was such a joy to help these kids cultivate a passion for environmental science in so many ways… I found that I learned just as much as the kids did…  I loved working with these campers because they were so bright and funny, and while they taught me a lot, we also just had a lot of great experiences together. One highlight was when we found a giant banded fishing spider — the chaos and curiosity that followed was priceless, and some of the kids worked up the bravery to hold it! Summer camp was an incredibly rewarding experience.” — Sydney Anderson, Camp Counselor

“It is truly an honor and a privilege to work alongside so many fantastic people as we endeavor to provide meaningful and equitable environmental education opportunities to the youth of Atlanta… There is magic that exists at the confluence of the passion of educators and the wide-eyed wonder of children, and given enough proper planning— and plenty of sunscreen, bandaids, and popsicles— we’re able to create some truly magical moments throughout the course of camp… With each passing summer, we strive to become better stewards of these experienes, and this summer proved to be yet another high-water mark for us. Personally, I feel unbelievably lucky to get to play a part in creating This Big Ole Crazy Thing with my team, and I’m looking forward to some exciting additions to camp in the coming summers. Thank you all for a real good time.” — Starr Whitten, Camp Lead

Hear From the Parents of Our Campers

“Our son was so bummed to wrap up camp this week! He came home with so much information to share each day and truly connected with his group and many of the counselors. He can’t wait for next year!” 

“My son had the best time and has already asked to come back next year! Thanks so much to all for creating such a great experience for him!” 

“Most comprehensive info packet of any camp she’s ever been to!”

Published on: September 1, 2026