Staff Training

Staff training ended yesterday and I flopped down on the couch, unwilling to move, talk or think almost immediately. Time to breath, gather my thoughts and get some much needed rest.

Training ran Friday-Friday, 7:30am-9:30pm every day with little time to pause. The goal is to prepare staff for the intense schedule they will have this summer so that they can learn how to remain upbeat, focused and professional, even when they're tired, frustrated and have had little personal time. Training is a great time to see their real personality and see how they react under pressure. It's not uncommon to lose a staff or two during training week because they realize it is just too demanding for them.

On Friday, we kicked off the week with a full 2 hours of name games, icebreakers, silly group games and team building activities. I wanted them to get comfortable with each other quickly, and there's no better way to do that then making them be goofy. I spend all year preparing for camp and have talked about little else besides my undying passionate love for camp for nearly ten years now, but I still somehow forget from one year to the next just how fabulous and purely joyful it is to be standing in the middle of a group, singing a ridiculous song about a moose or a princess at the top of your lungs while doing the accompanying hand motions. I am convinced that there is nothing better in the entire world. Leading the staff though songs and games is like an avalanche of fun- it starts off fun and exciting and builds and builds until it becomes bigger than yourself and you are standing there enveloped in the most intensely positive energy you can imagine. I often can't believe this is my job and they are paying me to be here.

The week was filled with instruction on how to teach activities, manage behavior, prevent (and/or respond to) emergencies, lessons about why we do what we do and how to do it well, team building and learning to work together (and helping them bond as a group), and many other things to help prepare them for the summer ahead. This is my tenth training (7th that I have lead or helped lead in some way) and I think it is the best yet. It was the most interactive, most practical, most activity based training ever. I think I taught the staff a lot, but I did so 99% through activities and only 1% explaining/lecturing. I am very proud of this training and feel like it was really useful.

They staff was exceptional and may be one of the best groups I have ever worked with. Other than my three lead staff, they are an entirely new group, which allowed me to start over and move past any mistakes from last year. This is the first year since becoming a Camp Director that I haven't been "new" (2006 I ran a camp-like program for the first time, 2007- first time Camp Director, 2008- first year here) and I didn't have to re-establish or prove myself as knowing what I am doing. I could confidently stand up and say, "here's how it works, this is my way, this is the way we do it." without hearing, "that's not how we did it last year." It was fabulous. I personally chose each person who is on staff this year and I am so proud of my hiring ability (which has taken years to hone). This is a group of interesting, creative, hilarious, dedicated people who have a variety of strengths and come together as a beautiful mosaic of talent. They surprised me and made me proud day after day in each activity we did.

Also for the first time, I have truly felt a difference in my age compared to my staff. I have a VERY young staff this year (other than my dad, the next oldest staff to me is 22). Being close in age to my past staff members was the greatest challenge over the last few years. It has been a difficult balance between wanting to fit in with them and be included in the group, not knowing the boundary of how to be a leader versus a friend, struggling to be an authority figure and have my staff have confidence in me while being so close in age and overall just feeling lonely and separated because I wasn't a peer. This year, as I met staff for the first time, something just felt different and I definitely felt older than them. For the first time, I could see them as my staff (the people I am here to lead, teach, guide, supervise) and not the people who would become my new friends. It is a good feeling because I finally feel comfortable in my position and in my relationship with them. During training, I was able to tell them, "I'm not here to be your friend, I am here to help you through this summer, so come to me when you need guidance." I didn't feel like a faker and I could tell they took me seriously. I feel more secure and in control as we go into the summer because I know this group of people respects me and will listen to me as their leader.

I am very excited to begin the summer and put all of the training into action. I think it is going to be a wonderful 10 weeks.