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@goturnstone

Looking In The Mirror: How to Reflect, Process and Better Understand

Your Summer Camp Steve Maguire, M.Ed.

1) Take what you want and leave the rest!

2) Participation –“Voluntarily Mandatory”

3) The absence of your phone will offend no one. Thanks.

4) Be happy

Look at 5 areas to get better…

• Infrastructure… Why are ‘things’ the way they are? Flow patterns, organization

• Staffing… How is your staff with kids and with each other?

• Physical Plant… Landscaping, conditions of areas, safety, beautification?

Look at 5 areas to get better…

• Customer Service… How do you follow up with everyone? Who and What is the voice of your camp? How’s your word of mouth?

• Campers… How’s enrollment? How’s retention? How many new campers? How are you meeting diverse needs?

For the next 6 minutes please…Please make groups of 2 and talk/write

about how you think your camp can

improve in one of the following areas…

• Infrastructure – Flow patterns, organization

• Staffing – How is staff with kids and each other?

• Physical Plant – landscaping, safety, buildings

• Customer service – Follow up, word on mouth

• Campers – enrollment, retention,

Real Reflective Organizational Health Practices Require EVERYONE to …

• Be Honest

• Be Transparent

• Be Emotionally Vulnerable

• Accept Flaws

• Have a Willingness to get better

With Reflective Practice think about…

•How did we get here? (It’s finding out the why and how, not the blame game!)

• With both positive/successful areas as well as around areas that need improvement!

Infrastructure… Can we do this faster, more efficiently, smoother? – hear from you!

Sometimes the answer is no. However, try to avoid “It is what it is.”

Infrastructure…Salad Bar and Music

Staffing... Let’s hear from you!

• Great staff create the heart and soul of a great summer camp!

• “How was your counselor?” “What was your counselor like?”

“Staff may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you

make them feel.”

The ever changing 4 Kinds of staff –Admin Self-evaluation

• 100%er

• Foundationer

• Along for the rider

• Anchor

“When it comes to reflecting on staff behavior and

expectations, camps are as successful as what they

tolerate”

Mid-summer booze!

Physical Plant – Let’s hear

from you!• EVERYONE CAN AFFORD TO…

* PAINT

* CUT THE GRASS

* IMPROVE YOUR SIGNAGE

* PICK UP AND MAKE TRASH INVSISIBLE

We need to look for opportunities to create

more shade and provide more water in/on the

physical plant!

How much of this do you have, but

don’t see?

This

process

is going

to take

TIME!

Drone your camp

(Literally if you want!)

“Little things are BIG things”

Customer Service – Let’s hear from you!

Open the box… thousands of dollars

Let’s not take ourselves too seriously

“Sorry about that! It’s

wasn’t the flight

attendant’s fault. It

wasn’t the pilot’s fault. It

must’ve been the

asphalt.”

John O’Keefe Rules

1) Return everyone’s

correspondence

2) Keep your job site clean

The kids – Let’s hear from you!• Is your staff kid centered? Is ANY staff kid

centered?

• Interview question # 1: “What do you think of kids?”

• What are we offering from a program perspective that kids will love?

• How can we be more camper centered?

Traits of a camper centered staff…

•Go!