Take Advantage Of Christian Summer Jobs

A Successful Summer Camp Director

Article by Lynda Fishman

Having spent almost twenty five years as a summer camp director, I’ve often been asked about what makes some camp directors so much better than others. Just as there are differences in the quality of all professionals, there are big differences in the way people run camps.A summer camp director has the ultimate responsibility for the physical and emotional safety and well-being of children and teens.

He/she is a role model and a mentor, whose focus should be on nurturing kids and teens, fostering self-esteem, building teamwork, and encouraging honest and open communication. He/she is a leader in the community, who has committed to playing an important role in impacting the lives of others.

Few jobs will give you the kind of intense experience and opportunity to influence young people as that of a camp director’s job. Day in and day out, his/her role is to be working closely with young leaders and children, ensuring that their needs are being met and that problems are being solved.

A successful camp director will work hard to build a strong, united team – a team that will happily work together as a truly committed and effective team, sharing, cooperating, energizing and helping one another. Diversity enriches the team, as each team member brings individual characteristics and skills that complement those of other team members.

A camp director will be likely to succeed in creating an all-star team by actively listening, setting clear expectations, encouraging, helping, solving problems, and behaving in a genuine and respectful manner. There is no place in the camp director’s role for insults and put-downs.

And of course, the most important part of being a camp director is building trust – trust that is not questioned by any members of the camp community.

In my experience, the camp directors with the worst reputations are described as control freaks who dominate, manipulate and control the team. They will challenge, disagree, argue, oppose and resist ideas and suggestions from others. They are self-absorbed, recognition seekers, who boast and talk excessively about their own ideas and accomplishments. And last but not least, they actually believe that they are the ones who come up with the best ideas, and play the most roles.

A genuine and respectful camp director will treat people in a kind and sincere manner, and would never make a statement that demeans others on the basis of their intelligence, race, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other dimension of diversity.

Summer camp is notorious for changing lives. It’s a unique environment offering children and young leaders an amazing and authentic social, recreational and active experience where they can and should be relaxed and comfortable. Camp means more than just a place where activities happen all day; it’s where all children and young leaders have fun and learn to be sensitive and caring people.

The important thing to know is that everyone deserves an opportunity to be successful. It is the camp director’s responsibility to ensure that there’s enough flexibility and capability to provide specific understanding in order to ensure the success of all the members of the camp community.

The campers and staff members are there to learn new skills, make new friends and build self-confidence. No matter who they are, they have ideas, opinions, fears, hopes and dreams. Every single person at camp deserves to be respected and supported in a positive manner. NOBODY is perfect. They won’t give up on themselves if others don’t give up on them.

It’s taken many years, but we can finally say that camps have come a long way in their ability to understand and appreciate diversity. We’ve become pretty good at integrating children with physical and emotional challenges into mainstream camps, and we watch with pride as children look after others who are less capable.

People with physical, emotional or intellectual disabilities or challenges have far more opportunities now than they ever had. They can thrive in respectful and welcoming environments.

We’ve taken serious steps to eradicate, or at least control bullying.

Children have two moms or two dads, and no one finds that strange or unusual. Finally.

As a huge believer in inclusion, I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to welcome diversity – diversity in race, abilities, intelligence, etc. My job as a camp director was to embrace, encourage and empower people. All kinds of people. I worked hard to make sure that the people in my camp community felt valued and appreciated, despite their differences. Or maybe it was because of the differences.

About the Author

Lynda Fishman is a trained clinical social worker who has spent almost twenty five years as a camp director. In the early 90s, Lynda was one of the first camp directors in the Toronto area to incorporate children with special needs into mainstream camp life. Lynda has devoted a lifetime to organized camping and is passionate about the positive role of camping in a person’s life. She is the former owner and director of Adventure Valley Day Camp.

Lynda is the author of ‘Repairing Rainbows’, and a motivational and inspirational speaker and facilitator. She has published articles and training manuals on leadership, teamwork, bullying, trust, childhood health and wellness, communication and customer service.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.