Oops! Photo Credit: Camp . Virtual Camp - Volunteer's Role. Any of us who have gone to campor managed oneknows what a difference that individual counselor can make in a young life. Relevant questions to weed out those that arent a great fit, and even integrate background checks and Clientlink for hiring international staff. YouTube RESOURCES CAMP DIRECTOR RESOURCES Camp Director Resources Page This page is meant to have a place for directors of local council camps to access a variety of resources that may help your camp operation. You can accomplish this through a comprehensive manual that outlines all of the camp information. Dont forget to make sure your manual has a clearly labeled table of contents so that you and your staffers can easily navigate the text. Martinsville, IN 46151-7902Phone: 800-428-2267 Once your staff completes their training, they should feel ready to tackle the first week of camp with confidence. With more than 50 evidence-based tools and resources drawn from the work of five urban school districts and their partners, and aligned with research from RANDthe Summer Learning Toolkit helps educators deliver programs that make a real difference. It takes a village. When it comes to your summer camp staff training agenda, there are a few important elements to include. HAPPY CAMPER LIVE provides FUN, adventure and activities that motivate kids to LEARN, DO and SPARK life changing moments everyday. Continue until all facts have successfully been matched to a staffer. 5000 State Road 67 North Campminder Camp 10: Oct 18-20 Register Today. Facilitation can be challenging to teach, but when your counselors "get it," the results are phenomenal. When parents send their children to summer camp, they are entrusting the staff with the health and safety of their children. Through your training process, your staff-in-training should not only become aware of staff expectations and responsibilities but also fully understand the underlying mission of your camp. An inclusive weekly fee of $180* covers . . Drawing from what we are learning through the ACA Research Initiative, we've gathered some tools that could help you and your staff. is a series of 4 webinars and companion guides that you can use to: This series Includes 4 webinars and companion guides you can use to plan an inclusive summer camp experience and train your staff to support the diverse needs of children and youth. The same principles apply to training camp staff. Grundfast - Tuesday, March 14 at 2:30-1:30 PM - Room 402. Instruct your staffers to write three facts about themselves onto their notecard. Welcome to summer camp, potentially the most rewarding job youll ever have! They will need access to: You must put power into the hands of your staffers by equipping them with the right software tools. The bottom of the page has tons of free staff training resources I think you will love. By wrapping and "rapping" at the same time, the speech center becomes less inhibited, and more information is typically shared. Take a look to see if you need to update some of your outreach languages. You may want to consider tailoring around some core goals. By Sawyer on March 30, 2023 A successful summer camp is a safe summer camp. This will include ensuring payment and tax information is completed as well as any signing required forms. Get creative here! Camp management software with staffing functionality can automatically organize incoming submissions for you, post. Offer customized positions electronically and have them accept digitally. . Ensuring the health and safety of children is an extremely important matter, so we wanted to outline camp counselor training activities and agenda items to help you prepare for summer. Welcome to the family! Always high on that list: a stellar camp counselor team. One activity for building your summer camp leadership team comes from the book Rules of the Red Rubber Ball by author Kevin Carroll Katalyst. So, what are you waiting for? Youll be keeping that sense of community alive and well, and helping to create deeper bonds with campers and staff. Giving your staff some freedom to manage their own responsibilities will give them the experience they need to become leaders in their community and help them gain the confidence to do so. have been trained to the highest standards of quality. Let KIT help you train your staff and ensure your summer camp program is welcoming and inclusive for ALL kids! Act as a companion, encourager, and message board moderator. You have the opportunity to help foster leadership qualities in your staff that will better equip them to continue their education or career. Each staffer will take turns holding the string. Your summer camp training manual should have clearly labeled emergency procedures for the staffers to follow to protect the safety of the campers. A place where the group who cooks the best outdoor meal wins a metal spoon that has been spray-painted gold (the golden spoon Each year, the May/June issue of Camping Magazine is devoted to staff training perfect for Staff Orientation! Career Technical opportunities offered through the CDS Counselor in Training program . Instantly turn your camp or after-school classroom into a thrilling escape room challenge for kids of all ages. Throughout the season, did you focus more attention on the rewarding moments or the challenging ones? The American Camp Association is a community of camp professionals who, for over 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. If you dont have a set curriculum or training program that you use to develop all of your summer camp staff, youll spend all your time in ad hoc problem solving, and will face the same challenge every summer. Camp Staff are seasonally employed by the Gulf Stream Council. If you can put yourself in the shoes of the children and families you are asked to care for, you will show the ability to change lives. Money is tight, resources are slim and there never seems to be enough time. Build Skills Working on camp staff offers you the opportunity to learn new skills outside of a classroom. Their summer camp is unique. But, you may be wondering: how do I successfully complete summer camp staff training? Originally published in the 2009 March/April issue ofCamping Magazine. When preparing to embark on your summer camp staff training journey, you may ask yourself: This guide will answer your top 5 summer camp staff training questions and give you all the information you need to get started preparing your team for success! Camp Management | The Ultimate Toolkit for Summer Camps. American Camp Association Paid or unpaid, provide quality training, experiences, and stellar references through time at your camp can be the jump-start needed for a young person to get their professional career going once summer is over. You should make an effort to get to know your staffers and encourage them to get to know each other. Since every program is different, we dig in to discover what makes yours unique, then design effective advertising and social media campaigns to achieve your goals. It's that easy. Your summer camp staff training needs to provide a robust educational experience that reinforces their understanding of camp emergency and safety policies. A place where the group who cooks the best outdoor meal wins a metal spoon that has been spray-painted gold (the golden spoon. We do not endorse any [] Some of us are named after another member of our family, or perhaps even someone famous. Summer camp staff training is an incredibly important part of managing your summer camp and cannot be overlooked or ignored. Or, maybe you are behind on getting your staff trained. Make sure to include a section that provides a detailed description of your camp's basic information and policies. The Summer Way page is the official Kidventure Summer Camp Staff webpage with endless resources to prepare you for camp. How to foster diversity and inclusion in the classroom, Why teaching kid's classes outside could be a game-changer, 4 ways to personalize your digital classroom, After school program activities (with editable lesson plan), ultimate guide to starting and running a kids camp. Anytime you are working with children, you must have a strict set of rules to protect the child, the staffer, and your camp. For our campers, it's the chance to be part of a team, explore their interests, develop new skills, and make lasting friendships. Get creative! The. Make sure to include a section that provides a detailed description of your camp's basic information and policies. What do I highlight in my summer camp staff training manual? The final person continues to chat until the first person can link to her. Looking to recruit new camp staffers? The answer is simple: CircuiTree's summer camp staffing software tools can help manage the difficulties you may encounter as you train your staffers and manage your summer camp. For more information on summer camp management, check out these resources: For CIRCUITREE Support: support@circuitree.com, Summer Camp Staff Training: A Complete Guide. This is your first step after hiring. The losing opponent then becomes the cheering section for the champion, standing behind the winner with his or her hands on the winner's shoulders chanting the winner's name as he or she takes on other opponents. 2023 Staff Training Issue of Camping Magazine Mon, 02/20/2023 - 15:12 When HR specialists tell you what their least favorite part of the job is youre bound to hear firing mentioned a few times. Questions can be directed to Barbara. Creating lasting relationships when camp is in-session comes naturally. Responsible problem solvers, expert communicators, team players, and those who are energetic and flexiblehow do you find them and how do you train them effectively? Your camp is already contributing to the broader community and surroundings. Specify the dates of each camping session as well as the incremental breakdown of each day within the session. Facebook The ADL has compiled anti-bias and bullying prevention resources with strategies and information that can help camps realize their potential in providing a rich, harmonious and respectful camp experience for all. During this time off, it is essential to stay in touch with your leadership team. This guarantees that no one will find themselves in a situation that could be compromising for themselves or the camp. This guide will walk you through all the best ways to navigate your summer camp staff training with ease. The highest quality of program design, fiscal management and self care are hallmarks of a great leader. As you start thinking about your camp counselor training process, researching best practices is a great way to start. We want to be in that with you as you strive for cultivating growth. communities. The staff that you hire will be working closely with a wide range of children. The string provides a controllable time frame for the staffers introduction and helps lessen their anxiety all while you get to hear a fun story or personal information about your team member! Icebreaker games and other orientation activities help staff to meet one another, form connections, and practice teamwork. Access your registered online courses and recorded webinars through ACA's Learning Center. Patchwork is an online marketplace where camp and recreation professionals The American Camp Association (ACA) is a community of camp professionals who share knowledge to ensure the quality and safety of camp programs. There are a variety of ways to approach summer camp staff training. Staff members have the opportunity to come up with three red rubber balls of their own. Make sure you have specified the order of the tasks and activities each staffer must complete. What passions do they want to help students chase? Leave a Comment. After all, you want them to be able to put their summer camp staff training to work! This process continues until everyone in the group is connected together. An excellent summer camp staff will propel your camp toward greatness with lightning speed. At many camps, counselors and staff use nicknames rather than their own names. Put parents at ease with a software tool designed to manage the camper's health. I am Greg Golf, camp trainer, consultant, former director, and founder/owner of a music production company. While enjoying a game of HORSE or four-square, the counselors-in-training will have a chance to discuss their goals for camp and let loose a little. This guarantees that no one will find themselves in a situation that could be compromising for themselves or the camp. This tool provides four checklists and a resources list that camp and youth program administrators can use to operate camps while preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting campers, their families, staff, and This will ensure each member is aware of and values the work done by their peers. Take a moment to start your free subscription. Once you have your team selected, the real work starts. At its best, summer camp is a silly, spirited place. After using this activity, I believe it. Give staffers an outline that is divided into 15-30 minute increments for maximum effectiveness. After camp, however, the fire starts to wane. You have a reputation among locals that can serve you in finding new camp staff. Maybe they get first dibs on the best housing? This browser is no longer supported and some key features will not work. The focus in all activities is on safety, making friends, and positive memories. Within any group of campers and staff comes a great deal of diversity and difference. Throughout the training process, you should highlight the importance of camper safety and outline the steps that staffers can take to ensure the camp maintains a safe environment. At Sawyer, our goal is make administrative tasks easier for childrens camps and activity businesses so that they can spend more time doing what matters: working with children and sharing their love of learning. With our suite of tools, like custom forms to record allergies and t-shirt sizes, flexible payment options like gift cards and installment plans, and seamless registration on any device, Sawyer saves camp owners 28 hours per month. No, you are not training a bunch of con artists or encouraging identity theft, but this activity will allow you to get to know your staffers as well as promote team building. On-Demand Webinar Series for you and your staff, Content available March 15 September 15, 2023. Change Lives Welcome to the 2021 Summer Camp Season Camp is a special time of year for all of us at Kids in the Game. They make contact with the tape on their noses, and as they pull away, one person will win' the round by capturing both pieces of masking tape. When you come together for a team meeting, you can read each fact aloud and listen as people try to match a staffer with the fact they sent in. These positions could include: Regardless of what position each person holds, they should be able to see the list of responsibilities and expectations for each position. 1. As you plan your agenda, follow these steps: Your summer camp staff training agenda will guarantee that you cover everything you need to in order to facilitate an easy on-boarding transition for your staffers. A suitable discussion then occurs reminding bigs that they cannot force or speed through the trust-building stage with littles. Make sure you are as clear and specific as possible to ensure the success of your camp. These types of activities are needed to bring the group into a one band, one sound mindset while not forcing them to give up all individuality. The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is the leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to building strong, healthy and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation. Equipped with the right tools and knowledge, your staff will be prepared to overcome any camp challenge. Heres how to do it: Feeling unappreciated isnt fun. Phone: 765-342-8456. Already signed up? Educational videos for youth development professionals. This page is meant to have a place for directors of local council camps to access a variety of resources that may help your camp operation.