Let’s pre-learn from our pre-mistakes. No, seriously.
We all make mistakes. It’s okay.
In fact, camp is built to make sure people can make mistakes to learn and grow from. As a community that fosters growth, it is like a petri dish of mistakes. And like Fleming discovering penicillin great things can come from mistakes. Some things however are just mistakes, we have seen or tried and failed ourselves. Here are the 8 simple mistakes we see counselors make that cause camp directors to shake their heads and go, “why!?”.
As Camp Directors, we don’t take mistakes personally, but we do take them seriously - in everything but something that is fireable, mistakes are opportunities to grow, learn and get better. The other thing about most of these mistakes is that they impact the community. Whether it’s the paperwork that has to be filled out, the camper parents that need to be called or the staff community that needs some healing, it’s a hard way to learn that camp is bigger than just one person. We’re all in this together, folks, so let’s head some of these mistakes off at the pass and get right to the growing.
What is a mistake that you’ve learned from? Please share!
E.G.E.L - Ever Growing Ever Learning
Oliver - Using behaviour-based questions to really get down to the bottom of why people are the way they are.
Matt - Learn some basic yoga and physio stretches. Specifically your ankles and hips. Your knees will thank you. - Check out Yoga with Adrienne
Host Links
Oliver Gregan, Summer Camp Professional
Matt Honsberger, Executive Producer of Podcasting at Go Camp Pro
What is First Class Counselors?
Camp Directors, this Podcast isn’t for you. It’s time to delegate! First Class Counsellors is for your counselling staff, the ones who are on the ground, playing with kids and changing lives.
Each week, we’ll cover practical and accessible tips that will level up your camp counsellor skills. These are things every counsellor should know, but that you may not have time to teach in staff training.
Our two hosts, Oliver Gregan, Summer and Families Camp Director at YMCA Camp Jewell and Matt Honsberger from Go Camp Pro are excited to be able to provide this resource to camp counsellors and up and coming staff, who they believe, have the most important job at camp.