Summer Camp Super Powers- Part I

Here we are. Another summer camp season upon us. Even though I have worked for KIT for the past 7 years, and haven’t been in the thick of summer camp, I am still very attuned to it. Kind of like when you are in your mid-late 20’s, your school days long past, but every August you get the urge to buy some new binders, pencils and a new pair of school shoes.

On June 5th I was honored to give the keynote presentation for the American Camping Association Southern California/Hawaii Chapter’s Staff Training Day. Their theme was “Be a Camp Super Hero” and I tailored my presentation to reflect their theme. It gave me a chance to spend some time thinking about what makes someone instinctively good at including all children. I’ve seen, and I am sure you have too, some people who are just naturals. Their ability doesn’t come from any training or education they’ve had, although learning new skills is absolutely a plus. These super heroes of inclusion bring with them personality traits that serve them well in this business.

So, what are these traits? Here are my Top 4 Super Powers for inclusion in summer camp. I am going to go through them individually in the next four blog posts. I invite you to personally reflect on these. What are your super powers? Could you work on strengthening any of these areas in order to provide better service to children and families this summer?

The first one is….FLEXIBILITY. The ability to bend, stretch and contort to meet the needs of the children and families in the program, while still maintaining consistency and order.

It’s true that structure and boundaries are good for kids, and without policies your program would have a hard time functioning. But, in summer camp you also need to be able to loosen your grip on the structure so that you can see the big picture. Let’s say that after lunch each day your campers have a restful, quiet time. However, this particular day there has been an assembly in the morning where the kids were sitting for an hour or more. By lunch they have a lot of energy they need to burn off. Can you change gears and instead of more restful, quiet time can you throw in some gross motor activities? If you firmly held to the established schedule of quiet time after lunch, you may end up spending the afternoon trying to manage behavior because the kids are not getting what they needed at that moment. Make sense?

Remember to use flexibility this summer. See if you can follow the needs of the children in your care just a little bit more and see what benefits that brings to your campers, their families and to you.

On the Road Again!

Today I am packing up and getting ready for a couple of trainings on the east coast next week. I think I can speak for Nili and Alissa also when I say that we love nothing more than getting out of the office, hitting the road and talking inclusion with people. Presenting a KIT training is a wonderful give and take with the participants. We learn a lot of them, and we hope they learn a lot from us. Our trainings are designed to make people think about inclusion in both large ways and small everyday, simple ways. We want people to take their new perspectives out of the classroom and into their lives. We also want them to commit to being flexible and willing to adapt some of their ingrained practices, if it will better support a child in their care. Changing practices is very difficult, takes sustained effort and constant reminders. Knowing this, KIT staff is always there to prompt, nudge and remind. We have developed online resources and tools for people to help them on the journey. We let people at our trainings know that we are just an email or phone call away. We don’t want our trainings to be a one-shot deal. “I came, I learned about inclusion, then I went back to doing what I have always done.” No, no, no, no, no. It’s a process and we are there to support each of our learners along the way.

That’s why it is so exciting to be preparing for a trip. There will be new people to meet and invite to join us on this beautiful path of inclusion.

June 10th, The Art of Inclusion in the Theater Arts Classroom, VSA International Conference, Washington DC. Co-presenting with Imagination Stage, Inc. Our 2009 Leadership Award winners!

June 11th- Success with Challenging Behavior: ADHD and Make & Take Accommodations, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Washington DC.

Safe and happy travels wherever you are headed this summer!

Don't forget to register for the KIT National Conference on Inclusion! We want to see you at the Bahia Resort in San Diego, September 29-October 1, 2010!