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Every all-star camp staff we know is an excellent initiative-taker. Here’s how to learn it, and do it.

Welcome to episode 15 of First Class Counsellors!

A raised hand. Someone picking up garbage. A voice, calling out in the darkness, “what else can I do?”.

A Camp Director’s dream!

How have we not talked about this yet!?

There may not be any studies to back this up, but it definitely wouldn’t be outlandish to say that any camp staff that would be called “great”, is likely great at taking initiative.

Staff who know what needs to be done, do it, and ask what else can be done is so incredibly valuable for any organization. When you have a camp staff full of people that take initiative, it means that things are always kept clean, that camp programs are always being made better and that in general, that people are making good decisions.

For you as a counsellor, having an initiative-mindset is like having a superpower. The intuition to see and solve a problem, or better-yet anticipate a problem and get ahead of it will make you a dream employee wherever you go.

That being said, if you’re still working on this superpower, fear not! It, like many all-star qualities, takes time to develop.

Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to wait for the summer to hone your initiative skills?

Well, wait no more! This episode is for you!

Tune in to this episode of First Class Counsellors to hear Oliver and Matt discuss how to develop this critical camp staff skill. You’ll hear about:

The definition of initiative in the summer camp context

Common places at camp where all-star camp staff know to take initiative

How to be appropriately recognized for the great initiative-taking that you will do

How to positively affect your camp’s culture by encouraging others to take initiative

Many more practical ways to strengthen your initiative-taking muscles this summer

We hope you enjoy this episode, and most importantly, find it useful!

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If you have any feedback, or a suggestion for a future FCC show, send Matt an email at [email protected]

Get Ready - Counsellors, do this NOW to level up your counselling skills

Oliver:

Make a list of the behaviours you want to see from yourself this summer and make a plan on how you’ll work on those. Make an action plan 10 items per behaviour and keep that list on you in the summer. Behaviour change takes time!

Matt:

Make a personal packing list for camp. Then share it with your friends, share it with camp to give to new staff, maybe even make a video of yourself packing for your camp to share on social media!

Host Links

Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell

Matt Honsberger, Executive Producer of Podcasting at Go Camp Pro

Staffing Retention and Recruitment Success: 37 Proven Strategies for Camp Directors is a comprehensive email course designed to help you attract, retain, and develop a high-quality camp staff team. This course is packed with practical tips and strategies that you can implement right away.
Find out more at gocamp.pro/staff and use the code GOCAMPPOD10 at checkout!

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Welcome to episode 12 of First Class Counsellors! The best counsellors are the ones that take every opportunity to be intentional about the time they spend with their campers. A meal can often be one of the most overlooked chances to make connections with kids, and that sort of makes sense. At meals, there are so many things to pay attention to: are the kids eating? Did they get enough food? Are they all at the table? It’s not easy! Once you’ve got the basics down though, then it’s time for the fun to start! Meals are such a great time to have fun, make conversation and overall, make connections with our campers. These days, some kids may not have the type of home-life where they sit away from a TV or a video, so this is our opportunity to show them something awesomely different! it’s your time to shine and that’s where this show is here to help. Join Oliver and Matt for this deep-dive into how to make meals better than just normal. In this episode, you’ll learn: The basics about how dining halls work at different camps What you need to look out for while kids are eating How to help campers who are picky eaters try new foods Some strategies and games for making meaningful conversation at the table. Some games and activities that you can try to add some magic into the meal. Remember that as you listen to this episode: As we always say, make sure you’re following your camp’s policies and procedures. Don’t promise campers anything you can’t deliver on or anything would be against the way that your camp has trained you on. When in doubt about using a strategy, ask! - As usual, we hope that what we offer to your staff is incredibly useful. If you do send this along, we would be happy to hear about it. Please let us know by emailing Matt at [email protected] - Get Ready - Counsellors, do this NOW to level up your counselling skills Oliver: Find a way to have your table at your chest when you eat your next meal. When you do this, you find out real quick why campers are always spilling things or standing up or sitting in weird positions. Matt: Think about your global impact when you are eating or at the grocery store this week. When you go to the grocery store, how hard is it to buy food that isn’t in packaging or to not use reusable bags. Think about that to help shape your experiences to pass on to campers. Host Links Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell Matt Honsberger, Executive Producer of Podcasting at Go Camp Pro What is First Class Counsellors? Camp Directors, this Podcast isn’t for you. It’s time to delegate! First Class Counsellors is for your counselling staff, the ones who are on the ground, playing with kids and changing lives. Each week, we’ll cover practical and accessible tips that will level up your camp counsellor skills. These are things every counsellor should know, but that you may not have time to teach in staff training. Our two hosts, Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell and Matt Honsberger from Go Camp Pro are excited to be able to provide this resource to camp counsellors and up and coming staff, who they believe, have the most important job at camp. This is free professional development for your counsellors! We would love your feedback. Please leave your comments below, or, send Matt an email! Thank you! Bonus Content - Thanks for reading the show notes! Oliver’s list of creative m

Staffing Retention and Recruitment Success: 37 Proven Strategies for Camp Directors is a comprehensive email course designed to help you attract, retain, and develop a high-quality camp staff team. This course is packed with practical tips and strategies that you can implement right away.
Find out more at gocamp.pro/staff and use the code GOCAMPPOD10 at checkout!

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Find full show notes and links at: https://camphacker.tv/first-class-counsellors/meet-your-camp-director-1

Part 1 - What we got wrong...

Just who is that person walking around with a clipboard all day?

To most Camp Counselors, the Camp Director is a strange and mythical creature. They’re like a teacher...but completely different. They’re like a boss...but definitely not in the traditional sense.

So who are they?

In this first of a series of episodes, we break down some of the assumptions we had about our Camp Directors growing up, and now, 15(ish) years later, what was (and mostly wasn’t) correct about those assumptions.

Here are some of the assumptions we cover:

• Is my Director judging every singly thing I do? Are they going to fire me for messing up?
• I bet they are too busy to help me.
• All they think about is camp. They definitely don’t have a life outside of camp.
• All they care about is money!
• They are the WORST communicators

Have you ever had any of those thoughts about your Camp Director? Then this episode is for you!

E.G.E.L - Ever Growing Ever Learning

Level up your Camp Counselor skills with these resources!

• Oliver: 3 tips for all camp schedule making -
  1. Timely- give it out early
  2. 1-page story
  3. Delivery dress up
• Matt: Trust Tube from Ultimate Camp Resource https://ultimatecampresource.com/team-building-activities/trust-activities/trust-tube/

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Thanks to our sponsor!

Ultimate Camp Resource

Visit UltimateCampResource.com for 1,000+ free camp games, songs, skits, activities, and more! Follow us on social at fb: ulticamp | IG: ultimatecampresource | TT: ultimatecampresource | YT: ultimatecampresource.

Download a free games e-book here: https://itsacampthing.com/collections/e-books/products/40-camp-games-pdf

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

If this is your first time seeing First Class Counsellors in your CampHacker feed, welcome! You can find our first episode here.

On our second episode, we are joined by Isabelle “Zukes” Paradis to discuss how we can best serve our Generation Z staff and campers. Oliver, Matt and Isabelle cover a ton of practical, ready-to-implement ideas that camp counsellors can use to benefit this exciting generation of campers and camp staff.

In this short, episode, we cover

How to capture and retain campers with short attention spans when explaining things at camp

What you can do when campers and staff are open to sharing about their mental health

3 ways to give campers and staff the face-to-face connection that Gen Z craves

Easy ways to help our campers and staff begin to take on independence and take healthy risks

Embracing Gen Z’s entrepreneurial spirit and giving them autonomy over their camp experience

As usual, what we’re getting at here is fast, furious, and it’s incredibly useful for your counselling staff

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Get Ready - Counsellors, do this NOW to level up your counselling skills

Oliver: Call a friend who has no connection to camp. Talk to them about what working at camp is really like. Share your ideas, share your stories so they can really understand something this important in your life.

Matt & Isabelle (It’s like they work together!): Buy yourself GOOD camp gear. A GOOD raincoat (not a poncho), a GOOD headlamp (almost any headlamp with good reviews on amazon), a GOOD pair of sandals (Matt’s go to’s are Chacos) and a GOOD water bottle (something that will last and where the mouthpiece won’t get dirty) and a GOOD waterproof watch.

Host Links

Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell

Matt Honsberger, Camp Director at Pearce Williams Summer Camp & Retreat Facility

Isabelle Paradis, Counsellor & Programmer at Pearce Williams Summer Camp & Retreat Facility

What is First Class Counsellors?

Camp Directors, this Podcast won’t be for you. It’s time to delegate! First Class Counsellors will be for your counselling staff, or, the staff who are on the ground, playing with kids and changing lives.

Each week, we will hear from young camp directors and leaders to draw out practical and accessible tips that will level up their counsellor skills.

Our two hosts, Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell and Matt Honsberger - Camp Director at Pearce Williams Summer Camp are excited to be able to provide this resource to camp counsellors, who they believe, have the most important job at camp.

This is free professional development for your counsellors! We woul

Staffing Retention and Recruitment Success: 37 Proven Strategies for Camp Directors is a comprehensive email course designed to help you attract, retain, and develop a high-quality camp staff team. This course is packed with practical tips and strategies that you can implement right away.
Find out more at gocamp.pro/staff and use the code GOCAMPPOD10 at checkout!

Have some feedback? A topic suggestion? Text us!

Get your campers from A to B in style!

Welcome to episode 8 of First Class Counsellors!

In our quest to give Counsellors the skills they need to be all-stars, we bring you one show entirely dedicated to transitions. Seriously, 45 minutes on making sure campers are where they need to be at point A, getting them to point B and what to do if you have trouble getting to point B.

It’s one of those parts of camp that you can do poorly, easily, or well, fairly easily, you just need some ideas and inspiration to NOT BE BORING!

To help you not be a boring transitioner, Oliver and Matt touch on:

Creative ways to make sure all your campers are in one place

Games and techniques for getting your campers from point A to point B

The importance of knowing and working with the camp schedule

What to do when transitions aren’t as fresh and clean as you’d hope

Matt’s tangent and rant on why you need to be a good co-worker this summer (how’s he get there? Even he doesn’t know!)

As usual, we hope that what we offer to your staff is incredibly useful. If you do send this along, we would be happy to hear about it. Please let us know by emailing Matt at [email protected]

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Get Ready - Counsellors, do this NOW to level up your counselling skills

Oliver: Go on to your camp’s social media, website and google location and like, review and comment on something positive. It helps their scores and helps get more campers to camp. Positive ratings online really do help in the algorithms of the internet.

Matt: Interview prep!

Predict some interview questions and prepare answers:

Where will you need the most help in the job where you’re applying

Tell me about something you’re proud of

Why do you want to work at camp?

You better say something about the kids.

Host Links

Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell

Matt Honsberger, Executive Producer of Podcasting at Go Camp Pro

What is First Class Counsellors?

Camp Directors, this Podcast it’s for you. It’s time to delegate! First Class Counsellors will be for your counselling staff, or, the staff who are on the ground, playing with kids and changing lives.

Each week, we will hear from young camp directors and leaders to draw out practical and accessible tips that will level up their counsellor skills.

Our two hosts, Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell and Matt Honsberger from Go Camp Pro are excited to be able to provide this resource to camp counsellors and up and coming staff, who they believe, have the most important job at camp.

This is free professional development for your counsellors! We would love your feedback. Please leave your comments below, or, send Matt an email! Thank you!

Staffing Retention and Recruitment Success: 37 Proven Strategies for Camp Directors is a comprehensive email course designed to help you attract, retain, and develop a high-quality camp staff team. This course is packed with practical tips and strategies that you can implement right away.
Find out more at gocamp.pro/staff and use the code GOCAMPPOD10 at checkout!