February 26, 2010

The Camp World Goes to Denver

As you probably know, the Campus Kids staff is active in our professional association -- the American Camp Association -- and I am currently the president (volunteer position) of the ACA's New Jersey Section.  In that role, I recently traveled to Denver for the annual ACA national conference.  The first couple of days was spent in governance sessions (not so much fun), but the rest of the time I was able to attend the educational workshops (much more fun and very informative).

Most inspirational was the keynote address given by Mawi Asgedom.  If you haven't read any of his books or seen his videos, you should do so: www.mawispeaks.com .  When Mawi was a young boy, his family had to flee Ethiopia and settle in a Sudanese refugee.  He was picked by a relief agency to come to the U.S., where he made a new life and has become a prominent educator, author and speaker.  One of the thoughts I took away from Mawi's speech was the fact that camp is a place where every child can be seen.  So many times certain kids are practically invisible to the people in their communities, schools, or even sometimes families.  They aren't noticed as much as other kids.  Camp, however, is one place where this should never happen.  I made some good notes on ways to help our staff understand this and to be certain that we never have an "invisible child" at our camp.

I attended a number of helpful workshops.  One was about "training staff for wellness" and focused on helping counselors be sensitive to the emotional/mental health needs of campers.  Another was about helping girls develop healthy friendships -- titled "BFF! (Except When We're Not)" -- and provided a lot of research information and training ideas to help our staff work even more supportively with our female campers.  Another session provided ideas for helping our supervisory staff (our "leadership team") to be "brilliant builders of high-performing staff teams".  Yet another workshop was about creating and supporting more diversity in our camp communities.  And I attended a workshop on nature activities (because I'm hoping we can build a nature program at CK-NJ now that we have the wonderful forest and lake at Blair Academy).  I also attended a research forum during which we heard papers on how camp affects the self-esteem of campers.  (We know that camp boosts self-esteem, but we are always trying to understand better what factors are most important.)

The only frustrating part of the conference was that I couldn't attend many more sessions.  But I also enjoyed meeting with camp colleagues from across the nation (and other countries) because the exchange of ideas is one of the best ways to learn more about improving our camps.

Also, at this conference I was one of the recipients of ACA's "National Service Award" for "continued and increasing service beyond the section (local) level."  In addition to being a section president, I also serve on the ACA's National Standards Commission (camp accreditation).  The final event I attended was the 100th birthday celebration of ACA.  The cake was delicious!

Denver is a wonderful city, so I made certain to find time every day (usually in the early morning) to take walks and explore various neighborhoods.  And even though I didn't have time to travel into the mountains, I really enjoyed looking out at the magnificent Rockies every day.

Oh, by the way, the theme of the conference was "Because of Camp", which refers to a new campaign by ACA to spread the word about how camp impacts people's lives.  I think you will enjoy this Facebook page from the campaign: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/becauseofcamp .  Be sure to click on the "video" tab and watch the public service announcement.

Tom

February 18, 2010

Winter Scenes of Summer Camp

Most of you see camp just in the summer, but the Blair Academy campus is beautiful in every season, including winter.  Here are some photos (below) I took after last Sunday's tours.  It sure is interesting to take new camp families around the campus while trying to explain summer camp.  Fortunately, everyone has a good imagination and, despite that we are all wearing our coats and gloves and hats and that everything is covered in white, I think we end up giving a pretty good idea of what happens at camp.  You should come up and join us for one of our winter tours!  We'd love to have you.

This week I've been in Denver attending the national conference of the American Camp Association while Teri and Jeremy have kept things going back at the CK-NJ office.  They tell me that it's been a busy week for camper inquiries, tour appointments and new enrollments.  Teri's been working on the upcoming "Sundial" while Jeremy is finalizing details for our 2010 Weekend Adventures.  I'll be back in the office Friday morning and I'll blog soon to let you know what happened out here in Denver.

Enjoy these winter camp pics, but don't forget to think summer!
Tom
 

 East/Davies dorm.
Snowballs at bunk time?

 Step out of the cold for some
ceramics or a talent show.

Anybody hungry for an afternoon snack?

 Would you catch anything today?

  Soccer time with mittens and scarves.

 We need some hot cocoa
at the tennis courts.

 The boys of Mason
can go sledding in the bowl.

 Our sundial will be back in front of
Annie Hall in just four months!

February 13, 2010

Ultimate Becomes More Ultimate

This is a quick blog to let you know that it's official: we're offering a new "Ultimate Specialty" option at CK-NJ beginning this summer.  Under the direction of Ryan Belline (of course!), campers who are 12 and older can sign up for a super concentration that teaches Ultimate Frisbee skills and strategies.  Read all about it at this special web page, and watch this website and the "Sundial" for more information.

Tom

February 9, 2010

The Phone Game

Rinnnnng.  Rin…  “Campus Kids, hello this is Jeremy.”
 

Rinnnnng. Rinnnnng. Ri… “Campus Kids, hello this is Teri.”
 

Rinnnnng. Rinnnnng. Rinnnn… “Campus Kids, hello this is Tom.”
 

Can you guess what I’m writing about?

Tom recently noticed that Jeremy picks up the phone the fastest out of the three of us.    “It’s ‘cause I don’t like to hear the ringing!” said Jeremy.  Tom doesn’t mind letting the phone ring three times.  So now, as soon as the phone rings, and it gets past the ringing duration that Jeremy would usually pick up by, we all grab our phones, look around at each other and chuckle as Jeremy picks up the phone, talks, and as soon as he hangs up, he says “I’m not answering the phone anymore!” and it just happens all over again the next time someone calls.



 

It is almost as if we are playing a game!  Who’s it gonna be this time?  Usually, I pick up when Tom and Jeremy are busy having a conversation on another line, or I can tell they are doing something and would prefer not to be interrupted.  But I am getting used to it, and learning more about what parents and other folks who call the office want to know about.  At first, I kept deferring to Tom or Jeremy, but now I feel much more confident that I know what to say since lots of different people, even the annoying phone scammers, call on a daily basis.
 

As a teacher, I rarely had to talk on the phone – I would sometimes have to call a parent, but usually I was initiating it and knew the “script” of what I wanted to say and get out of the conversation.   Now, I may be the first person from CK that someone has ever talked to; I could be the “voice of Campus Kids” to a new family.  It’s really important to give them factual information, but also not to rush them and also to truly listen to them.   I always thought both Tom and Jeremy were good listeners, and now I know how they’ve practiced.   I don’t mean this in a negative way (I’m not saying that folks who call talk too much!!), I just know there are so many different things that could be the reason why they call to talk to us, and it is important to listen.   It is quite fun to be representing our camp over the phone, and I want to be helpful to the caller in every way I know how.  

So, the next time you call the office, count how many rings go by ‘til we pick up and maybe you’ll be able to tell who’s answering!

Teri

February 1, 2010

Camp in the news!

Sometimes people ask what we do year-round at the CK office.  One of our important activities is publicizing camp.  Most often that means spreading the word about Campus Kids in as many ways possible.  But we also help publicize ALL summer camps because we believe so strongly in the value of the camp experience.  Through our participation in the American Camp Association (ACA), we do our part to help bring the camp experience to as many kids as possible.  All of us here -- Jeremy, Teri and me -- are active members of the American Camp Association.  Currently, I am president of the board for the ACA's New Jersey Section, and in this role I was one of the people interviewed recently for a story on the educational value of camp.  That article was just published and you can read it here:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/83226232_The_quasi_classroom_that_is_summer_camp.html
 

Campus Kids was also featured in another article this year, which you might have read last summer:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1250081112203020.xml&coll=1

We have spent the past three weekends attending camp fairs throughout New Jersey, meeting families who are looking for the right summer camp for their sons and daughters.  It's fascinating to see all the different points of views and experiences people bring to these fairs.  Some are looking for day camps, others for resident camps.  All are hoping for a fun, adventurous and safe experience for their children.  I love watching the faces of the kids as they look at pictures, hear about camp and ask questions.  They are really excited.

One of my favorite slogans of the ACA is "Camp Gives Kids a World of Good."  I think everyone at Campus Kids would respond by saying, "Fact!"

Tom