Summer Camp Staff Training – Email Roundtable and Contest

We are excited to partner with Curt “Moose” Jackson from Summer Camp Program Director on a new project just in time for your summer camp staff training preparations.

Summer Camp Staff Training E-Mail Roundtable and Contest

(The last day to submit ideas is Wednesday, May 9)

We invite all readers of this blog to send us in your best ever staff training sessions. We’re looking for ideas of training sessions that rocked the socks off of your staff.

Think of the sessions where everyone left happy and energized and excited. Those times when you knew that they understood exactly what you needed them to, and they still had a great time. Send us those!

People who participate in this roundtable (ideas must be submitted to: camp.roundtable@gmail.com) will receive a copy of the PDF booklet of all all of our collected ideas.

Please note: You need to be signed up for the CampHacker and Summer Camp Program Director newsletters to participate. Please click on the link above to sign up for our newsletter and go to Moose’s website to sign up for his.

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Details from Curt’s amazing summer camp resource: Summer Camp Program Director

What is your best staff training idea?

We have all been a part of staff trainings and many of us have led staff trainings. What principles, techniques or ah-ha moments have you done or observed that was amazing? Or perhaps you have created a new idea for this summer’s staff training. Maybe you need a reminder on topics to spur your memory or imagination. So, here is a list of staff training areas. Of course, there are more, but this should help you out if you are struggling with this roundtable. Please keep in mind that you can submit more than one idea.

  • Supervising Staff
  • Camper Behavior and Discipline
  • Working With Varying Age Groups
  • Camp Counselor Tips, Tricks and Best Practices
  • Emergency Procedures
  • Anti-Bullying
  • Communications
  • Policies and Procedures
  • Staff Icebreakers
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Field Trip Procedures
  • Teachable Moments with Campers
  • Working with Co-Workers
  • Debriefing Techniques
  • Working with Children with Disabilities (Physical, Learning, etc.)
  • Dealing with Homesickness

The Prizes

Everyone who participates will receive the final compilation which will also include a few favorite staff training ideas from some experts that have agreed to contribute as well.

Our judges include:

1st Place will receive:

  • One year of Premium Access advertising package ($1080 value) provided by CampEasy.com
  • Online Marketing EVO (Evaluating Your Vision Online) Consultation ($500 value) provided by Travis Allison of CampHacker.org
  • 1 Icebreaker Thumball and 1 Move Your Body Thumball provided by Michelle Cummings of Training Wheels
  • 5 Hip Pocket Activity booklets provided by Curt “Moose” Jackson of Recreation Pros
  • 5 Play Pens provided by Chris Pallatto of  Ultimate Camp Resource

2nd Place will receive:

2 Honorable Mentions will receive:

If you have any questions or comments please email me.

Does Your Summer Camp Staff Have Excess Baggage?

Now is the time to plan your camp staff training sessions

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It is that time of year again (hooray!) when we begin to plan sessions for our leadership trainings.  Finding new and creative ways to discuss the same topics each year can be a bit difficult - especially when we have so many returning staff members.

Here is a session starter we used at our May Orientation Weekend that we then revisited at the end of June during our pre-camp training period to discuss camper issues.  
Read More

Things I Wouldn’t Know If I Didn’t Go To Camp: Part 6

I am Approachable because of Summer Camp

Summer camp counsellor practice being approachable.

Summer camp counsellor practice being approachable.

A camp is a business.  The camp organization may not always visually look like a business that operates out of a tall office tower, but there are some similarities between the two.

In any business, there are junior employees, mid-level employees, and senior employees (who are sometimes business owners or camp directors).  One common problem felt by the junior employees is that they want to do good work for their bosses without looking like they need too much coaching.  Not only do they want to look good (perhaps it is more so avoiding looking “stupid”), they are also sometimes afraid of the senior employees, who have lots of experience and knowledge that make them experts in their field.

In staff evaluations at camp, the area staff (senior staff) would regularly hear feedback that encouraged them to be a little more approachable and open to the CITs.  This was sometimes strange to hear as we thought we were always open, friendly, and available for all staff to approach us. I’ll ask this question then:  Were we, as senior staff, not as approachable as we should have been, or were the junior staff just too shy and scared to approach us?

At the time I always thought the correct answer was the latter.  I do believe both senior and junior employees need to work together to create an environment that is safe and accommodating for everyone.  When the junior employee can feel more confident knowing the senior person is available and open to listen and support, they are more likely to approach that person.

Camp taught me this lesson about the employee hierarchy and the communication challenges that sometimes exist.  I am still confident that camp is the friendliest place on earth, yet I do recognize, from my own experiences as a young counsellor, that it can be scary to talk to a more experienced and popular senior counsellor. We sometimes get tricked into thinking the senior staff will ask us to do stuff for them, when really they are looking for us junior folks to show initiative and volunteer to help out or ask if anything needs to be done.

It might only take a quick interaction, initiated by the senior staff while entering the dining hall to say “Hey, anytime you have something on your mind or any question, come talk to me”.

Lead by example.  Become approachable by approaching.

Last weekend I launched my book “The Cabin Path: Leadership Lessons Learned At Camp” and I invite you to grab a copy for yourself at www.cabinpath.ca!

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Things I Wouldn't Know If I Didn't Go To Camp - Part 5

Becoming a role model

I have to say that yes, if I didn’t go to camp, I’m sure I would have found other ways to learn about the various topics in my “If I Didn’t Go To Camp” posts.  However, I will acknowledge that because I did go to camp, it was the first place I learned many of these lessons and my camp experiences helped me accelerate my growth in many areas of leadership.

One area is being a role model.  Becoming a role model doesn’t only happen once you join staff.  Oh no, it happens much before.  When you’re a camper, you influence campers who are younger than you.  Maybe it’s your perfect swish from the foul line on the basketball court that grabs an interested camper’s attention.  Maybe it’s your bulls-eye count on the Bob’s Bullseye tracking sheet at the Trip Hut.  Whatever it might be, you lead before you’re in a leadership role.

On the first night of each camp session after the opening campfire, the campers would be sent to begin their bedtime routine.  The camp director asked the oldest boys and oldest girls cabins to stay back though.  In her three minute speech, the director empowered the oldest cabin groups to be leaders and role models.  She asked these campers to lend a hand to the younger campers, especially when they needed help.  Maybe it was helping to lift a canoe or kayak back onto its rack, maybe it was to walk with them to the dining hall and make conversation, or maybe it was to cheer them up when they could sense a camper was homesick.

When you do join staff, your role modeling continues.  The campers follow your lead.  You are the coolest person they know.  What I thought role modeling was at first, was setting a good example for my campers.  What I learned later on though, was how powerful I was as a leader, and the way I found out was one I never could have predicted.

In an earlier post (Things I Wouldn’t Know If I Didn’t Go To Camp: Part 1) I talked about the role of night nurse at Camp Huronda.  When the camp sessions changed over, the two counsellors who were selected to become the night nurses would need to reverse their daily pattern to become nocturnal.  This included staying up all night during “changeover” (the night between sessions with no campers on site) and going to bed around 8am the next day, or as late as the counsellor could stay awake.

There are three small cabins tucked away behind the trip hut field where area staff and night nurses usually reside.  These were my absolute FAVOURITE cabins.  One afternoon, I was sound asleep after a full night awake when I was awoken by banging on the door to my little cabin.  I heard someone yelling outside “Gilby, Gilby, Gilby!”  I was aware of what was going on and said “come in”.  I had a feeling I knew who it was, even from my subconscious awakening.

It was my previous camper Adam!  As soon as he got to camp, he asked if I had returned and he found out where I was so he could come say hello immediately.  WOW.  I will never forget that moment.  I realized then that I truly had become a role model for Adam.  I too was very happy that he came back to camp.  So, I gave him a hug, and told him we could catch up at dinner because I would sit with his table.

I went back to sleep until my alarm went off at 5:00pm knowing it was going to be a great two weeks.  It was quite a humbling feeling having a camper so excitedly return to camp looking for me.  I learned this lesson many times, but I think this was one of the most memorable ones.  I had the pleasure of working on staff with Adam a couple years later when he joined staff as a counsellor in training and could be the leader to others that I was to him.​

Things I Wouldn't Know If I Didn't Go To Camp - Part 4

Breaking Down Challenges Into Smaller, More Manageable Pieces

Three whistles, a siren, and a foghorn.  The three signals of a waterfront emergency at camp (when I worked there).  As a staff member, when the signals sounded, it was our job to find the missing camper as quickly as possible.  

A missing camper is a terrifying thing.  And it is at this time, when a camper may need us most, that we have to overcome our fear and anxiety for the situation, and perform out best search as a team, on land, and in the water.

With a heavy load of responsibility on our shoulders, we learn a critical lesson for leaders.  Finding a missing camper is challenging, and the protocol we deploy as a team of staff members is one of the most tactical and strategic out of all of camp’s protocols.

I’ve already used the word team in this blog post twice.  That too, like the search procedure was tactical.  As a staff, we would not be effective at all if we just started yelling and running around camp looking for the missing person.  We also wouldn’t be working as a team either.

The emergency search protocol is a team event, where the big challenge of finding a missing camper as quickly as possible is broken down into more manageable chunks (or roles).

There are a few major divisions of responsibility that help us act more quickly and increase our effectiveness.

The first is identifying who on staff, in the event of an emergency, would be a runner (ground search) and who would be a diver (water search).  The runners would be further split across three land routes, and deployed in a beginning-end or end-beginning fashion in order to have the most coverage of the surface area of camp’s property.

The divers would also be split.  The swimming area was divided into four lanes, and each lane had a different depth at the bottom of the lake.  The divers would always be in the same lane, with their own team for lane 1, lane 2, lane 3, and lane 4.  There would also be divers who covered the boating docks, the shallow end, and the shoreline.

No single person was responsible for finding the missing camper.  By splitting up the staff across the various roles, we acted as a team.  Acting as a team made the bigger challenge much more manageable.​