Everett Chase started his 10th ESY at Camp Stepping Stone this summer. He loves the water more than anything. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
BOXFORD — Everett Chase smiles on the way to camp, smiles when camp staffers help him change into his swimming trunks, smiles as he enters the water, and smiles as he floats on the surface of Stiles Pond.
For Everett, who’s nonverbal, the beaming smile communicates pure joy; the unmistakable expression indicates temporary relief from the constant symptoms of cerebral palsy and Menkes Syndrome that he lives with every minute of every day.
“In the morning, he wakes up, watches his shows, and then we tell him he’s going to camp,” said his mother, Michele Chase. “You can see the excitement. You can see that he knows where he’s going. And none of this would be possible without the wonderful staff at Camp Stepping Stone.”
At this day camp on the Stiles Pond waterfront, hundreds of CREST Collaborative students, with diagnoses ranging from significant health impairments to emotional and behavioral challenges, get the opportunity to have a full summer camp experience.
“Our collaboratives work so hard to keep their students excelling through the summer months,” said Mass Organization of Educational Collaboratives (MOEC) Executive Director Joanne Haley Sullivan. “Camp Stepping Stone is one of the most innovative and refreshing ways our hard-working special education collaboratives succeed at their goal to keep student achievement progressing beyond the typical school year and into the next.”
This feature is part of a year-long series celebrating the 50th anniversary of special education, and recognizing MOEC and its members, who have worked for five decades to strengthen public education by supporting students with complex needs across the Commonwealth.
One-of-a-Kind Camp
Camp Stepping Stone, situated on Stiles Pond in Boxford, is operated by staff from the Andover-based CREST Collaborative, which utilizes the site to augment its extended school year (ESY) program.
“A lot of kids wouldn’t get the chance to experience summer camp without Camp Stepping Stone,” said Camp Director Helen Deranian. “When meeting new campers, the overarching goal is that every camper has total access to all activities at the waterfront; docks, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, picnic areas, and all cabins, with new and familiar staff, throughout their six weeks of summer/ESY.”
For many of the students, the camp serves as their introduction to the outdoors. Extending the collaborative’s services over the summer months helps to prevent substantial regression during a typical summer vacation.
All eight full-sized air-conditioned cabins on Stiles Pond are physically maintained by CREST, with oversight and support from the Town of Boxford’s fire, health, police and land management departments.
“Our number one goal for students coming out to camp for the first time is building rapport and making students feel safe in a new setting,” said CREST Collaborative Teacher and Camp Stepping Stone Counselor John D. Cummings Jr. “We utilize our ESY program to build relationships with our students outside of the traditional school setting. It allows them to see teachers and our staff in a different way, where we can engage in fun activities as well as traditional academics. It is hard to put a true value on the work that is done during ESY.”
Students attending summer school classrooms at CREST’s Andover Campus are transported weekly to swim and participate in recreation activities at Camp Stepping Stone. A low student-to-staff ratio ensures that the campers’ complex needs are met, and full-time American Red Cross-certified lifeguards supervise the waterfront.
“Camp Stepping Stone is the perfect summer camp experience in a peaceful environment for students who attend CREST Collaborative,” said CREST Executive Director Robert Jokela. “We are thankful to the Town of Boxford for the long standing relationship which allows CREST to provide our students a memorable summer camp retreat.”
The Experience
“Everybody’s challenge is different,” said Michele Chase. “Everett is not a one-person challenge. It takes multiple people to get him in the water, help him enjoy the water, and then get him back out of the water. The staff at CREST and Camp Stepping Stone is phenomenal.”
Everett, 21, of Tewksbury, has been attending Camp Stepping Stone for 10 years, since he first started attending classes at CREST Collaborative in 2015.
“The best surprises are observing, over the course of camp, the most reluctant swimmers not only enter the water and learn to swim, but also ask a friend to join them,” Deranian said. “New friendships, across ages, and across CREST Collaborative classrooms take shape and remain intact throughout their years at the collaborative.”
When Everett enters the water, he vocalizes sheer pleasure.
“He’s a goofball,” said his mother. “He can’t speak, but he loves to make noise.”
Everett loves to kick and splash.
“Each and every summer, when a camper begins to feel more capable — no matter their physical, emotional, developmental or learning challenges — their lives are changed,” Deranian said. “Campers’ outdoor experiences, whether swimming, boating or entering cabins of learning, become shared, successful, outdoor experiences that remain a highlight of their educational careers.”
Teacher and Stepping Stone Camp Counselor Michelle Cole has worked with Everett for years.
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Everett for eight years, including being the teacher at camp with him, as well as bringing him for day trips there,” Cole said. “Most people know Everett as the student who will spend the whole day in the water in his raft, with his signature bucket hat and sunglasses, and loving every moment with a smile on his face. It is a pure joy to see his happiness being at Camp Stepping Stone while maintaining his progress across his educational programming.”
Summer Transformations
Every summer, Cummings encounters new surprises throughout the ESY camp experience.
He remembers an 18-year-old student who had never gone fishing.
“We had to coax him to come out onto the dock and give it a try,” Cummings recalled. “He was initially hesitant and didn’t even want to put a worm on the hook, but he was able to do it. He caught a small sunfish, and if you had seen his reaction and face, you would have thought he had hooked a 500lb tuna! He was so excited and was asking the staff to take a picture so he could show his mom and siblings.”
This year’s 2025 ESY program spans six consecutive weeks, Monday through Thursday, July 7 to Aug. 14, for five hours per day, for all enrolled students, ages 3-22.
“We have had several students over the more than 12 years that CREST has been coming to Camp Stepping Stone whose lives have been changed,” Cummings said. “We have had students who have attended ESY that have gone on to get jobs working for their towns’ recreational departments’ summer programs, due to their experiences here.”
Over the years, Cummings has been reunited with his former students and campers, now fully grown and living their best lives.
“We have had several students who have attended that would have otherwise remained in unsafe situations in the community and engaged in unsafe behaviors and or decisions,” Cummings said. “This camp has allowed them to remain on the right track for their education and life. Some of these students have gone on to become full-time firefighters, become Marines, and enroll in college.”
And the transformations don’t stop with the students.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t share the positive impact the camp has on our staff,” Cummings added. “It allows our staff to interact with the students in a different way and allows for true and meaningful connections that likely would not happen in the traditional school setting.”
CREST Collaborative is a public-school collaborative dedicated to collaborating with other public-school districts to provide comprehensive services to students who require additional support beyond what their home school district can offer. CREST students may face a diverse range of challenges that impact their academic success, including behavioral, emotional, physical, cognitive, and medical issues. The specialized services and expertise of CREST Collaborative are tailored to address these unique and often complex challenges, ensuring that each student receives the education they deserve. CREST collaborates directly with school districts across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine to provide resources in their home school, or facilitate student placement at the CREST campus in Andover. For more information about CREST Collaborative, visit their website.
In 2025, the Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives (MOEC) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of special education with a series of feature stories that will help to tell the untold stories of collaboratives to help educate the public about what collaboratives do and how they have evolved to serve the needs of our most vulnerable students over the past five decades.In 1975, Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public education. Congress changed the name of the law to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), in a 1990 reauthorization — and IDEA was again reauthorized in 2004.MOEC is the professional organization representing the Commonwealth’s educational collaboratives. Massachusetts Collaboratives are a statewide network of educational service agencies that work together with school districts and schools to implement direct educational services and programs to students and adults, develop programs and services to enhance school districts’ operating efficiency, and provide high-quality professional development and technical assistance.
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The staff at Camp Stepping Stone posed for a group shot on the first day of this summer’s CREST Collaborative ESY program. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
Everett Chase, 21, of Tewksbury, loves to kick and splash in the water of Stiles Pond. He’s been attending Camp Stepping Stone since 2015. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
The CREST Collaborative staffs Camp Stepping Stone each summer, providing its students with a unique camp experience. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
A CREST Collaborative student enjoys a swim in Stiles Pond. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
One of eight air-conditioned cabins at Camp Stepping Stone. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
Some campers at Camp Stepping Stone get the chance to fish for the first time during the CREST Collaborative ESY program. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
Some campers at Camp Stepping Stone get the chance to fish for the first time during the CREST Collaborative ESY program. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
Every camper at Camp Stepping Stone has total access to all activities at the Stiles Pond waterfront; docks, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, fishing and picnic areas. (Photo Courtesy Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives)
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