American Camp Association - Creating Positive Youth Outcomes: A Staff-Training Resource for Camps and Other Youth Development Programs

CREATING
POSITIVE YOUTH
OUTCOMES

A Staff-Training Resource for
Camps and Other Youth
Development Programs

An American Camp Association Book

2007 American Camping Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

The figures and forms in this book were intended to be helpful in creating positive youth outcomes at your camp. You may photocopy any of the forms and figures in this book or tools on the accompanying resource CD for use in your program, presentations to your board of directors, program evaluation and planning, staff training, and for other operational uses. For additional uses, please contact Healthy Learning.

All outcome questionnaires are based upon previous youth development research. These survey measures are statistically reliable and valid evaluation instruments.

Every effort has been made to give proper credit for activities and processes used in this book.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this book is to provide a set of resources and narrative to guide camp professionals through the process of creating positive youth outcomes. It should be recognized that camp directors and others who run camp operations will require further education and experience in a variety of areas covered in this book. Neither the publisher nor the author of this book undertake to verify that individuals who use this book are trained appropriately. Nor do the publishers or author assume any responsibility or liability for any consequences of the use of the information in this book. Further, the American Camping Association, Inc., and Healthy Learning hereby expressly disclaim any responsibility, liability, or duty to camp administrators, operators, or personnel or to program participants or their families for any such liability arising out of injury, illness, or loss to any person or organization, by the failure of such administrators or camp personnel to seek further training.

Throughout this book, the masculine shall be deemed to include the feminine and vice versa.

ISBN: 978-1-58518-043-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007927602

Front cover photo: Tom Sawyer Camps (Altadena, CA)

Cover design: Bean Creek Studio

Book layout: Bean Creek Studio

For all the counselors in all the camps, who contribute so much to the lives of campers; they are key to the success of it all.

Translating research efforts into educational materials for practicing professionals is a critical step in the ongoing development of any profession. For camp professionals, the ability to apply information from research efforts is particularly important as we continue to document and validate the importance of the camp experience in the development of the young people who attend our programs.

ACA would like to give a special thanks to Willis K. Bright, Jr. (director, Youth Development and Education) and to the Board and Officers of Lilly Endowment, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana, for their generous support. We hope our efforts to give back to the profession new knowledge that can lead to improved practice for the betterment of our youth is worthy of their belief in our work.

While many resources were used in this book, we would like to give a special acknowledgment to Gary Ellis, Ph.D., and Jim Sibthorp, Ph.D., from the University of Utah, and to the Not-For-Profit Council of the American Camp Association. Through their generous efforts, the Outcomes Tools used in this book were created.

We sincerely thank the group of camp professionals who gave generously of their time to react to different drafts of this book. Many improvements to the book were made based on the review by these individuals: Maggie Braun, Gabe Chernov, Nancy Frankel, Dot Maines, Lynn Moss, and Sam Steiger.

We also thank the students in the 2007 University of Georgia camp administration class, who field-tested some of the elements in the workbook. We especially thank Erin Brinson, Katherine Cash, Kyle Erickson, Heidi Hunt, Melissa Lerette, Josh Little, Molly Moore, Jessie Pollett, Hugh Rickenbaker, Nick Risner, and Drew Ward.

Lastly, we hope that the ideas shared in this book will help all of us who work with young people to find ways to challenge ourselves and our staffs to become even better than we are and to take our programs to a higher level where the camp experience is truly a capstone in the developmental outcomes of our young people.

Project Personnel

ACA Volunteer Team Members

Karla Henderson, Ph.D., North Carolina State University

Gwynn Powell, Ph.D., University of Georgia

ACA National Staff Team

Amy Katzenberger, education services director

Barry Garst, Ph.D., director of research application

Kat Shreve, director of education

Kim Brosnan, accreditation programs manager

Deb Bialeschki, Ph.D., senior researcher

Contents

INTRODUCTION

Its opening day and excitement is in the air. The grass has been cut and manicured to the point were the Yankees could easily show up for batting practice. The safety cones are out in the parking lot to direct traffic. The staff have combed their hair and donned appropriately matching shirts. Its show time. Our company is here. Given all your hard work and preparation, everything will go like clockwork. Right. This is camp.

Your staff are both mentally and physically groomed for this day. Theyve had the tour of the facility, team-building activities, mock emergency drills, review of dining-hall procedures, first aid and CPR training. It all comes to life in this very moment. The staff are ready to deliver the mission to the campers.

In that moment, have you ever wondered: Do the staff really get it? Have I done all I can to make the camp magic occur? What supports are in place to be confident that the staff really can deliver the goods that can result from a camp experience?

Soon camp will be filled with campers and their families. The crowd will include familiar faces and some first-timers. These campers, for whatever reason (their own experience, word of mouth, interaction with you and your staff, or a combination), chose your camp to attend. How can you follow through on your word and live up to your reputation?

Although every staff member may share the idea of offering campers the best experience, each staff member may have a different approach to the plan. With effective leadership and a clear plan, staff can be oriented to the same map and approach it in a unified way.

If your job is to do the advance work and make the planto mark the map, so to speakthis book is for you. Once your leadership team members are headed in the same direction, then you can effectively widen the circle to include seasonal staff. This book will help you create the positive youth outcomes you want.

So if youre ready for alignment between what you say and what you do, if youre ready to make a plan, if you want to increase your opening-day confidence, then read on.

Day camps and resident camps are powerful, positive experiences for young people. Community living away from home in an outdoor setting provides a foundation for tremendous growth. Best of all, camp is fun. Great friends, exciting activities, and an atmosphere that lets young people be themselves are just three of the reasons why camp is so much fun. And fun, of course, accelerates learning.