Adirondack Camp Staff Handbook

Below are selected excerpts from the Adirondack Camp Staff Handbook that is given out to every staff member prior to every summer at Adirondack. Feel free to browse through it and get a sense of what we require of a staff member at Adirondack and how we incorporate our 10 commitments into every aspect of being a counselor here at camp. ... This Handbook is for your use this summer. It will also be used as a guide for pre-season training. Each section to be covered during Leadership Week @ Adirondack U.  Please bring it with you when you come to Camp.

Table of Contents

• NOONWAY ADIRONDACKEES!   LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
• IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION
• STAFF EQUIPMENT LIST
• ADIRONDACK GLOSSARY OF PLACES
• ADIRONDACK GLOSSARY OF TERMS
• OUR TEN COMMITMENTS
• SHARING & LEADERSHIP
  • SOME KEY PEOPLE AT ADIRONDACK CAMP
  • CAMP ORGANIZATION CHART
  • IT TAKES A TEAM OF LEADERS TO MAKE A GREAT CAMP WORK
  • OUTSTANDING CABIN & ACTIVITY COUNSELORS
  • GOALS, STRATEGIES, & TACTICS OF A GREAT COUNSELOR
• COURAGE, COOPERATION, & SPIRIT   
  • ARRIVAL DAY
  • DAILY SCHEDULE
  • EVENING ACTIVITIES
  • GATHERING
  • AWISKINI
  • COUPS, PATHFINDERS, & BRAVES
  • BLUE/WHITE
  • COMMUNITY SERVICE
  • WEEKENDS & SPECIAL DAYS
  • PARENTS VISIT
  • TRANSITION/DEPARTURE DAY
  • STAFF DEPARTURE DAY (END OF SEASON) 
• GROWING
  • RANGER PROGRAM
  • WILDERNESS ADVENTURE PROGRAM  
• INDEPENDENCE & RESPONSIBILITY   
  • FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
  • BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS
  • SHIFTS- TIME OFF
  • ADIRONDACK COUNSELOR COMMUNITY POLICIES
  • STAFF TIME OFF (STAFF SHIFTS) 
• CABIN LIFE
  • CABIN COMMUNITIES & BASIC SUPERVISION
  • ALL THE PARTICULARS:  FROM PROGRESS REPORTS & INSPECTION TO MAIL & MEALS
  • CABIN ISSUES - THE LINE
  • CABIN GUIDELINES   
• EFFORT & CREATIVITY
  • ACTIVITIES
  • ACTIVITY DUTIES
  • SKILL SHEETS, POINTS & AWARDS
  • POINTS BY ACTIVITY
  • AWARDS
  • LESSON PLANS
  • TEACHING TIPS
  • EXTRA INFORMATION TO KEEP IN MIND EVERYDAY IN  YOUR ACTIVITES
  • LESSON PLAN WORKSHEET
  • A LESSON PLAN "EXAMPLE:"  CANOEING
• REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE  2007 STAFF HANDBOOK

 

Noonway Adirondackees! 

Welcome to Adirondack Camp!  You have been chosen, after a highly competitive search process, to represent over 100 years of excellence in camping at Adirondack Camp.  You are a member of an elite team gathered together for 10 short weeks with a special mission: to create the summer of your lives for over 186 campers ranging in age from 7 to 16 who are entrusted to us from around the world.

To us, a camp counselor is a rare combination of teacher, surrogate parent, confidant and friend, psychologist, referee, entertainer, coach and consigliore – meaning “advisor” or “counselor.”  A counselor is a friendly guide in the middle of the night and is handy at finding lost bathing suits or patching up everything from wounded friendships to scraped knees.  An excellent counselor can cure ‘homesickness’, air out wet bedding, play 16 games of four square in succession, sing “The Fast Food Song” during a meal, put up ten mosquito nets for campers before bedtime and, then, the next morning take them down with a smile.

A great children’s camp depends upon it traditions, a solid set of values, and ultimately – the leadership of its staff.  Adirondack Camp has been dedicated to building strong hearts and individual character since 1904 and the traditions we enjoy have been developed and reinforced by generations of staff who, in turn, have passed them on to our campers.  Hopefully, you will believe in what we believe and play a vital role in affirming these values and traditions over the course of this summer and create a positively enhanced personal growth experience that our campers will remember for a lifetime.  

In Committing your passion and drive to us for the next 10 weeks, hopefully your life will be changed for the better and as a former staff member aptly wrote… 

“After my summer at Adirondack, I began to look forward to each day’s special promise of a new experience.  Adirondack let “me be me” and I began to express my new found confidence and energy to others.  I truly know what it is to “be” with others and “help” them enjoy the “simple things in life.”  Thank you.  “Mitch” Mitchell

This Handbook has been designed to introduce you to Adirondack Camp and to help you begin your thought processes for the upcoming summer.  If you are a returning staff member, be rest-assured that we have added some new words into the Handbook just for you and you will have the opportunity to revisit familiar sections with the advantage of a veteran’s insight.  

We will use this handbook every day during Leadership Training and have included a short “Questions” section at the end for review and conversation.  The content of this Handbook in combination with your thoughts will to  you before, during, and after the summer season.  Again, congratulations on your appointment to Adirondack Camp and I am looking forward to working with you this summer. 
 

Matt Basinet-

Director, Dad, Former Counselor and Camper

 

Our Ten Commitments 

*Responsibility *Creativity *Cooperation *Growing *Effort *Courage *Sharing *Leadership *Independence *Spirit 

Adirondack Camp is not just a collection of wonderful children, scenic beauty, athletic fields – it is also a safe place that seeks to inspire the twin values of individualism and community in all of its campers and we do this by providing young people with a sense of purpose, freedom of selection, simple pleasures, and respect for one’s beliefs and all things living.  

10 plaques hang in our Mess Hall to visually remind us of the specifics of “who” we collectively are and “what” we collectively seek to inspire and draw out of each of our campers.   These plaques represent “Ten Commitments” we will each undertake when we accept the responsibility of being an Adirondack counselor.  They will guide your decisions and daily actions. 

This handbook has been designed around the spirit of these 10 commitments with each section highlighting relevant duties, responsibilities, and fun at Adirondack Camp. 

 

Sharing & Leadership

Sharing is the participation and experiencing of life with others  
Leadership is encouraging others through positive behavior 

Relationships are built upon shared experiences and parents place their trust in us to in order to build personal relationships with their children while, at the same time, helping them build strong relationships with peers.  

You have been selected to join our staff due to your love of children, the out of doors, and the passion for your activity.  Your leadership skills will encourage and motivate children to reach their greatest potentials by doing fun activities that will motivate and interest them the most. 

Please realize that every day of a 4-week session is 3.5% of a camper’s entire stay with us and that a full week is 25%. Every moment counts!  Your leadership skills, flexibility, and critical judgment will make all the difference in the experiences of the campers, so you will have to quickly figure out when a tactic is not working the way you want it to and effectively change it. 

Your number one mission this summer is to ensure that every child has the summer of his life and, as a leader, your overarching purpose is to provide a safe, positive, and fun environment where campers will find and act out their true selves.  This process can only be achieved through your positive attitude towards the position, the activities you develop to teach, and the “community” you help create with others.  
 

Goals, Strategies & Tactics of a Great Counselor

Goals	Strategies	Tactics
	Totally immerse yourself and campers in the Camp community through personal and team challenges.	Provide specific, tailored opportunities for campers to learn via direct involvement, problem solving and peer-to-peer.
	Challenge campers in every aspect of their life at Adirondack to strive for excellence.	Accept nothing less than the best in yourself, your campers, & your community.
	Set and meet high moral and civil behavioral expectations.	Live by and embrace the community’s inviolable rules.
Goals	Strategies	Tactics
Create a physically safe place for children to grow.	Provide opportunities for campers to build self-esteem and self-respect.	Be honest and respectful to yourself and others at all times.
Create and foster emotionally safe environment.	Make everything fun!  Be pied pipers.	Recognize, promptly and publicly, individual efforts, accomplishments, and overall contribution to the community.
Facilitate a summer of accomplishments for each individual camper.	Reinforce positive behavior, attitude, and achievements at all times.	Be diligent, every child you see is your own.
Tailor program to camper’s individual needs and goals.	Stress the importance of family living	Always be flexible and positive, never rigid or negative.
	Help each child create personal activity plans and challenges.	Embrace the “teachable moments” and ad hoc activities.
	Encourage campers, by example, to participate in community service.	Know and use the first names of all the campers
		Keep everything fresh – new!

 

Courage & Cooperation & Spirit

Courage is not being afraid to stand alone in one’s position 

Cooperation is coming together towards a common goal 

Spirit is a mysterious flame from within that requires oxygen. 

Arrival Day

So, now, you are beginning to understand what Adirondack Camp is about and how you fit into the scheme of things.  The only thing missing are the campers!  You will spend the next nine days (prior to campers arriving) setting up the facilities, your activities, and training in all the various areas of Camp.  On opening day – around 9 am - we grow exponentially as most campers arrive with their parents in personal cars or on the bus from Tarrytown and New York City.  We even pick us campers at the airports.  It’s a very exciting time! 

Regardless of how they come to Camp, all campers deserve our warmest welcome. Staff will have moved into their cabins several days earlier and have created welcome posters and be waiting to meet and greet their summer families with staff shirts and name buttons on.  First impressions are everything and despite the festive air, many campers (and parents) will be seeing Camp for the first time and may be apprehensive or even scared!  You will have to ease a camper’s transition to us by being friendly, welcoming, and re-assuring.  Decorate your cabin and/or make it a welcome place to enter.  Introduce yourself and what activity you’re teaching, help with the luggage, smile, and share in their excitement as you direct them to the Infirmary first before unpacking any personal belongings.

If it’s your first year at Adirondack Camp, you can offer your initial excitement and experience with your campers rather than focus on the fact that you’ve “never done this before.”  Make the time to learn your camper’s names and use them often as you get them settled into cabins.  Introduce yourself and to listen to the parents and if you have to take notes – take notes!  Some parents will have a lot to tell you about the needs of their most precious possessions.  Reassure them that their children are in kind and competent hands and if they have something to discuss of a sensitive nature, be sure to find a private place away from others to chat about it without fear of embarrassing the child or breaching confidentiality. 

Its very important for you to introduce your campers to each other as they arrive and will be very instrumental in setting up a positive cabin environment and preventing cliques.  Many campers will know each other from prior summers or have come together from home, but remind them to all be open and accommodating to new people.  Encourage returning campers to help new campers to feel welcome and assimilate. We must be diligent from the first day of Camp forward to ensure that all campers will feel safe both physically, psychologically, and emotionally.  Don’t allow inappropriate behaviors, attitudes, or comments from the get-go or it will be exceedingly difficult to set a firmer tone later.  If you have any questions about this material – please see your Line Heads for discussion. 

Once your campers have set up their bunks and sorted out their trunks, gently encourage parents to say farewell.  Saying goodbye to children is never easy and often hard, but lingering-on will only make it worse.  Ensure parents that we will be in touch with them not to worry.  If there is any conflict over a camper’s cabin assignment please see your Line Head who will immediately take it from there to consult with Administration and the parents.  

Unless you are scheduled to help somewhere – please stay near your cabins prior to bus arrivals.  Help your campers get settled, do a mini-tour, and enjoy your time together.  If they bond with you right away their transition to Camp will be a lot easier.  Do not lie on your bed or listen to IPODS.  You need to be up, awake, and alert in your cabins on Opening Day!  When the busses arrive at the top of the hill, everyone will move onto the basketball court and welcome the rest of the campers who will come down the hill to Camp in one large mass.  The bus campers have had a long trip and are anxious to move in and meet their cabin mates.  When you have everyone, head back to your cabin to finish unpacking. 

 

Independence & Responsibility 

Independence is being there  

Responsibility is making a difference while you're there      

You have decided to be an Adirondack Camp counselor because you want to make a difference in the lives of our campers.  Without you - we would not be a successful camp and we consider you to be one of our most important resources.  You are the primary caretakers for our campers and should be committed to making a difference their lives. With this said, it is your responsibility to try and be the best you can be at all times because you will assume the role of teacher, surrogate parent, and friend to these children and as a result, you will need to be ever-watchful, sensitive, and diligent in your care of them at all times.  

Your job will not be an easy one, but we are here to help you all the way through it.  Throughout your busy day, please keep in mind that we have hired you to give each camper the summer of his or her life by providing a safe, positive, and fun environment that fosters independence and individual success through personal achievements.   We do not tolerate teasing, bullying, hazing, discrimination, gossip, or disrespect of any kind and you will need to keep your eyes open around the children to make sure they are not doing it to each other and if they do - you need to quickly put a stop to it. 

Every child is entitled to a great experience at Adirondack Camp and this kind of behavior from staff or fellow campers is unacceptable.  As with most things, your strongest tool is prevention.  If you are providing a warm and safe environment and have established firm limits against unacceptable behavior then the chances of a camper being bullied, for example, are drastically reduced.  Know when to get help and alert at least two people: Your Cabin or Activity Head, Line Head, Camper Advocate, or Director as soon as you notice a camper bullying or be bullied.  Be proactive.

First Aid and Emergency Procedures

All cabin staff should be First aid and CPR certified and many hold advanced certifications such as W.F.R.'s, Lifeguarding, or EMT's.  We always have two Registered Nurses at Camp and pay specific attention to safety precautions in order to keep accidents at a minimum. If someone is in need of first aid beyond a Band-Aid” - secure the scene and send for help.  In the event you experience a serious safety hazard where a child has been injured, remain at the scene and send someone to get help.

Behavioral Expectations

ampers are given a great deal of independence, freedom, and responsibility to make choices within our structured environment.  Our behavioral expectations of both staff and campers include these main goals: 

• Assure the safety and well being of all campers.
• Offer opportunities for all campers to succeed.
• Enable campers to build cooperative frameworks with each other. 
  

If a camper’s attitude or behavior contradicts one of the above goals, or the spirit of our core philosophy as set forth in the ten commitments is not met then we feel it is your first responsibility to help them to recognize that negative choice and then help them to change it or do it differently.  Do not mistreat, try to embarrass, or humiliate a camper.  Be honest, firm, and consistent.  Lead by example because mimicry is the greatest form of flattery, and these campers are prepared to idolize no one as much as they will you.

All choices have consequences.  If a camper is making poor choices, there needs to be prompt, non-physical, and non-hostile consequences.  That does not mean “punishment.”  It simply means recognizing, and working to prevent further unacceptable behavior.  First, talk with the camper and be sure he or she understands what exactly is unacceptable.  Restate the acceptable behavior (or attitude).  Decide together what the next logical consequence will be if your camper chooses to repeat the behavior.  Move on, but follow through.  Your words are only as effective as your actions. 

Always ask for help when trying to resolve an issue because we are a team and no one works alone.  Enlist the help of your Activity or Cabin Head, Line Head, and/or the Camper Advocate.  If your chain of command is are not able to resolve the issue, then use your judgment and move on to the next person or go to the Assistant Director or Director who may ultimately reach out to the camper’s parents along with you.  Our goal is to do what we can to ensure that each child has the summer of his/her life.  Do not give up or become angry with a camper.  Know when to get help – especially when you feel you might lose your temper and turning a “blind-eye” is not an acceptable solution.

Behavior (of campers, staff, or visitors) that will require the immediate attention of Administration includes: any violence, discovery of drugs or alcohol, fire, theft, or destruction of property, sexual abuse, or harassment. 

Adirondack Counselor Community Policies

These guidelines have been established for the wellbeing of our Camp community to function at an optimum level.  We have high expectations of our staff in regards to their personal comportment and ethics of behavior and will expect everyone to adhere to the following set of policies over the course of this summer:  

Cabin Issues on the Line

Living in close quarters with many people for extended periods of time cabin can cause situations or issues will arise.  How you address them, handle them, and then resolve them will be very important in determining how well a camper does at Adirondack.  Much of this Handbook has already mentioned some issues and situations that campers will experience while at camp and here are a few  more pertaining to Cabin Life: 

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Missing Home:  Prevention of Camper “Home-Sickness”

Preparation is primary!  Read the Confidential Questionnaires in order to determine first time campers who may be susceptible to homesickness.  Expect all of your campers to miss home.  “Home-sick” feelings are normal.  Treat your campers with respect and use the Line Head and other cabin Staff to get through it.  Remind campers that parents want them to have a good time and would be sad too if they knew how upset they were.  Do not dismiss these feelings, but do try and keep campers busy – the hardest times of day where campers miss home is in-between activities and bed-times.

Pay attention to the actions and body language of your campers – even older campers and teenagers can miss home, but won’t cry or openly discuss it.  Utilize their friends as a support group and offer support and empathy.  

Try not to label these feelings as “home-sickness.”  This often leads kids to think they are ill and need to be in the infirmary.  Nurses can’t cure “home-sickness,” but they can also give hugs and band-aids to campers who may need a little extra tlc.  Oftentimes, we find out a camper is missing home because they have visited the nurse first.  

If you have a camper that seems inconsolable or does not seem to get over their home sickness we can arrange for a call home to parents who may be able to offer help and insight in helping the camper and every few years, a child ends up going home because they cannot get past it.  Camp is a very independent environment and not every child is ready for it or excited about it.  

Social Issues:  Peer Pressure & Teasing 

No one likes to be picked on or to feel excluded from a group and we must all do our best to prevent that from happening.  Many children love Camp because it gives them an opportunity to make new friends that they might normally hang out with in a school setting.  We have campers with all different interests ranging from sports to the arts – jocks to not-athletes and one of our greatest challenges as counselors is to help them all befriend each other and have fun doing it. 

Adirondack Camp is very fortunate to have campers and counselors from all around the world who come from different backgrounds and who may even speak different languages and it is just that diversity that makes us so special.  

Don’t allow your campers to exclude a person from the group.  Pay attention to the group dynamics and listen to what and how they talk to each other.  Girls are notorious for the silent treatment – find out why and then do your best to remediate it.  If you need help with this feel free to solicit the help of your Cabin and Line Heads and at all costs ensure the safety of the campers.  Never allow hazing or abuse and be mindful of those in-between times when exclusion and teasing can occur. 

When setting up your cabin bunk assignments – be sure to mix new campers in with old campers to avoid clustering and cliques.  New campers need to feel welcomed and if you do games and icebreakers with everyone – they will soon feel part of the cabin.  It only takes one friend to make a new camper feel welcome.  

Effort & Creativity

Effort is grit

Creativity is turning the grit into gravy

Activities

ne of Adirondack Camp’s greatest strength is its diversity of activity offerings and that campers can choose or change them at will.  We are a “traditional” camp in that we philosophically believe in providing a summer experience to a child that integrates family style living with the great outdoors and a broad array of skilled activities. 

Our daily program is designed to reinforce the building of an integrated worldview within our campers along with the idea that broad individual growth can also be attained even though we are all linked to each other as a group.  Camp is a very structured environment under the guise of having fun and is a program that builds upon itself day-by-day and week-by-week to help our campers grow and develop through our ten commitments of leadership, creativity, cooperation, growing, effort, courage, independence, sprit, sharing, and responsibility.  Through your good counsel and guidance campers will make their own selections from a broad array of scheduled activities in any of our four core disciplines:  

Activity Duties

You, as an Adirondack Camp counselor, will be directly involved in the skill development of your campers and to become an outstanding counselor it will require you to be flexible during the day in juggling your often dual role of cabin counselor with your role as an activity counselor while at the same time, always being sensitive to the individual needs and abilities of each child.  This will not be an easy task, but is one that we feel confident you will be able to achieve successfully. 

The leadership, planning, and execution involved in making an activity special is the responsibility of each and every activity staff member who works directly and in coordination with the relevant area director (Waterfront, Land, Wilderness trips, or Unified Arts).  “The teacher makes the activity” is a relevant statement in regards to the education of campers.  If you are always excited about your activity and your lesson plans are well prepared and fun – your campers will reward you with continued interest, success, and a full roster! 

 

Skill Sheets, Points, & Awards

Skill Sheets 

A good and systematic way to measure a camper’s success in any given activity is through the use of the activity Skill Sheets in conjunction with your corresponding attendance rosters.  Skill Sheets are snapshots in time of where each camper is skill-wise in your activity. 

As your campers learn skills – they will also earn “points” and when they have mastered it you will mark it down on the Skill Sheet.  Campers will work towards mastering a level in the activity, claiming Coup, or achieving an Emblem.  A coup is an award for earning points a particular activity and the Emblem (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) is a patch award for the overall accumulation of points at the end of a Camp session.  We will help you fine-tune your Skill Sheets during this training session so that you are prepared for your activities. 

A skill is the mastery of a specific task.  For example:  Getting up on water skis is not a mastery of the skill, but doing it three or four times is.  Points would then be awarded to that camper for having successfully gotten up on water-skis.  Please do not randomly give out your points – help your campers to establish clear and reasonable goals for activity success.  

Points 

There are a maximum number of points allowed that can be earned in any activity and these amounts have been determined by the length of time allocated for that activity.  This “cap” on an activity is also in place to encourage campers to try new activities, many will still return to you week after week because they love it!  This is OK, but make sure the camper understands that they may not be able to earn points at some point in your activity.   

Lesson Plans:

Your lesson plans are created, reviewed, and updated by you and your Activity Heads on an ongoing basis over the course of the summer and Area Directors (Land, Waterfront, Unified Arts, and Trips) will then, in turn, review them with you to ensure:  

Remember, we hired you to teach your activity because your told us you were passionate about it!  You love to paddle a canoe, a kick a soccer ball, sculpt a masterpiece, or climb a mountain – so let that passion and excitement come across to your campers!  Activities with exciting staff are always full with campers waiting to get in to them.  Those activities that are not well prepared or exciting and fun – are not.   

Camp goes by very quickly and remember that one week is 25 or 50% of a camper’s entire stay with us, so if things are not working smoothly you will need to be flexible and adjust quickly.  We are here to help you every step of the way and if you need ideas – just ask! 

Teaching Tips

Teaching an activity is an easy task if you are well prepared and excited to do it!  Every day is a busy one and you must take the time to have your activity set up well in advance of campers attending it.  Your first responsibility, as in all aspects of Camp, is safety first and then the second is the formal outline of your plans for exciting times and personal achievements that can be attained by campers in your activity.  Have fun, be organized, and remember, campers always come first before your own needs.

Try and remember your favorite childhood teachers.  What traits or characteristics about them helped you to learn or feel important?  What made them terrific in your eyes?  Think about it, jot them down, and then model that behavior around your campers and they will feel the same way about you. 

Being an excellent activity counselor requires you to be involved in all areas of your activity.  Don’t sit down in your activity – always be up and about and playing with and teaching your campers new skills.  Your actions and enthusiasm will speak volumes and you must always strive to keep your lesson plans, fun, fresh, and occasionally - even surprising.

“Your Activity will be a true reflection of yourself – so present it in the best light possible!”

• Learn all campers on a first name basis.
• Maintain consistent eye contact at all times to understand a camper’s frame of mind and emotions.  Ask questions.
• listen attentively for words and/or signals from your campers.
• Be patient!  All children learn at different paces and in different ways.  Always have several different ways of approaching a new skill.
• Be enthusiastic and positive!
• Praise often & never yell at campers (Unless for safety reasons).
• Assess prior knowledge and activity experience from each camper before beginning your class.
• Bend down and communicate on an equal level to all campers.  Show them that you are willing to work with them on a one-on-one basis.
• Don’t show favorites and utilize your support staff well.

Extra Information to Keep In Mind Every Day in Your Activities:

• Pay attention to changing weather patterns and look for lightning in the clouds.  If you feel the weather has changed and it is no longer safe to run your activity – bring the campers in.  Due to our peninsula layout it is sometimes hard to see the weather conditions on a non-visible side and we would rather you lean on the side of caution than not.  Be prepared in your lesson plans to switch to a Rainy Day alternative activity if necessary.

• Take attendance first, go over safety procedures second, determine skills to be worked on, and that all of your equipment is in good working order (including walkie-talkies) before you begin your activity or leave the dock.
  

• Watch for dehydration in campers in your activities and make sure they are always in appropriate clothing and that footwear is worn at all times (except in the water ski boats).
  

• Waterfront: Remind everyone to put buddy tags up on the “Buddy Board.”  This is critical for proper attendance taking.
  

• “Sell” your activity to others every day and every week in order to get campers to try it if they have never done it before.  Be creative and you will see your campers back again & again!
  

• Anticipate the possibility of all skill levels in the same activity period.  (Skill Sheets for beginners, intermediates, and Advanced levels as well as 2,4,6, and 8 week sessions) and encourage your campers to attain them.
  

• Make fun, accomplishment, and confidence a part of each activity period.
  

• Think of daily, weekly, and 4 or 8-week awards and keep track camper points on the skill sheets and post them on the Master Points Board near the office on Fridays. 
  

• Announce significant accomplishments of campers in the Mess Hall after meals as often as possible.  Remember – this is not about “grade inflation.”  This is about the real effort and skill accomplishments of the campers and your recognition of it.  Campers love it!
  

• Always have a sense of closure at the end of each week and encourage your campers to return the next week. 

Class Planning Made Easy! 

Feel free to use the next worksheet page to help you and your fellow activity staff plan and cover all important areas of your activities including Rainy Day alternatives, Skill Sheets, Lesson Plans, Safety Rules, Relevant Equipment, and anything else you think might be important for your Activity.  You may even want to include how you (all your activity staff) may be impacted by shifting  and alternate leadership in absence of Activity Head on their day off.

Lesson Plan Primer 

• Introduction: Introduce Yourself, Take Attendance, Discuss Safety Rules

• Attention Getter:
  

• The quick Class Organizer (5-10 minutes)
  Who is taking attendance?  (Assign for notebook attendance and point maintenance) 
  What are you going to do to get your class interested? 
  Are you going to reinforce yesterday's material? 
  What are you going to do to keep their interest? 
  What are you going to teach them today?

• Materials Needed: 
  

• Procedure: Assess Prior Knowledge & Teach New Skills (40-45 minutes)
  How will you teach today's activity?  (Don't forget about your Skills Sheet!) 
  How are you going to reach every camper on all skill levels? 
  Write down exactly how you are going to do it.  Step-By-Step-By Step…  
  What about bad weather (Wind or Rain)? 
  

• Closure and Clean-Up:
  Did campers remove their Buddy Tags from the Buddy Board or put life jackets away?
  Were all the Tennis balls picked up? 
  DId you tally every camper’s points in the Activity Notebook and make notes on them for skills and/or awards for next time you will see them? 
  Did you thank them for coming to your activity and say, “Goodbye?”  
  What closure or clean-up is relevant to your activity?

• Before letting your class leave go…(5-10 minutes)
  Ask them to reiterate what they learned in class while you fill in the Skill Sheet  
  Did you hear from every camper?  Did they enjoy your class? 
  Tell your campers what they will be learning tomorrow… 
  Reflect on your teaching- could you have done anything differently?  If yes – change it for next time… 
  Is it Friday?  Does someone need to go to the Master Points Board and post the points?