Ideas to Improve Day Camp

[Eagle92]

Thanks all for the suggestions, and please keep them coming. I just finished up, doing some last minute after camp cleaning up and bringing home supplies. Will be inventorying this week and returning to camp to finish up one clean up item that we couldn't do today.

 

Long story short we are in rebuilding mode. Although the CD has been doing this for awhile, it's been in automode with her. Our current DE with major CS experience brought about some minor changes, he was too new to a lot of changes, and I've picked up the torch since he's been at summer camp the past two years.

 

As I said we are growing fast. To answer the safety question, we have two building at camp that we would use, splitting the camp in half. But I see a point in the future that we may outgrow the camp.

 

In reference to notebooks, I actually gave each Cub a Guide Book. not many parents or Cubs looked at the book, including my own son.

 

Biggest challenge I see is that the CD is very set in her ways, and doesn't like change.

[tdk101]

We have been going to our district day camp for 6 years. About 3 weeks before camp there is a training for all adult volunteers where they do Youth Protection training, safe swim, etc. They go over what the responsiblities of the den leader will be. They go over buddy system and schedules. We do have a theme each year. Our day camp is from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday through Friday. On Monday, every camper must go through the registration line to make sure that all paperwork is complete and medical forms are complete. You are told which den number you are with. It goes pretty quick if all paperwork is turned in. Each camper must have a pick up form filled out saying who is picking up the camper each day. You go to your den table and get a t-shirt, cup, and totem. Everything is labeled with a name and den number. There are nametags for everyone for the first day.

 

A camper must be signed in each morning by whoever brought them and also signed out each night with whoever is picking up. This is done with the den leaders. On Monday afternoon, we get a list of who is picking up each day. Each camper and adult for the week MUST wear the camp t-shirt or they have to wear a special wrist band so we know who is supposed to be there. We get a pallet under a dining canopy so the kids have somewhere to store their gear when they don't need it.

 

A couple of port a potty's are rented for the week so that the plumbing isn't taxed too much. There is 1 bathroom for men and 1 for women and the adults get to use those. There are also a few latrines in some of the program areas. We use a scout reservation for our camp so we do a lot of walking around.

 

Siblings are allowed to attend but they must be with their parents. Our day camp cost $155 for the week if a parent does not attend at all. If a parent can attend for at least 1 day, the cost is $105. If you are on staff for the week, it is $55. They charge $5 per day for the tag-a-longs or $20 for the whole week to cover supplies. The tags do everything that the cubs do but they don't earn belt loops and such.

 

We have 8 periods that are 45 minutes long and 10 minutes in between to get to the stations. We have archery, fishing, sports, swimming, crafts, scout skills, nature and den time. They are always in that order but you rotate periods each day. Water jugs are at each station and boys are asked to drink at each area. Lunch and break are from 11:45 to 12:45 each day. Each camper brings their own lunch and we all eat in the dining hall together. Bug juice and coffee is provided each day. Each den is given a snack for the afternoon. Pretzels or cookies.

 

They get a colored a bead at each station for their totems and they can earn special beads by doing the bobcat requirements with certain people in the camp. During den time we work on a skit for the Friday night family picnic and award campfire. We also work on coming up with a den name and den cheer.

 

It is an awesome experience. Each year it is like a family reunion - most of the same staff return and they remember the kids and the adults. They really make it fun for the kids. When we first went with our son there were like 2-3 kids from our pack. Before that none attended. Now our pack routinely has 10 or more kids. My son's den had 10 boys in it and 6 were from our pack. Distance prevents some of the other boys from attending. It takes about 45 minutes to get there. We do carpool as much as possible.

 

 

[Eagle92]

Again please keep the ideas coming, especially now. I am in the process of closing 2011 CSDC: finalizing the budget, contacting folks with lost and found items, returning borrowed equipment, doing after action reports, etc, etc. My goal is to pass along as much information as possible to the CD, DE, and to my successor as PD. Got my eye on one, but there are some minor reservations, mostly dealing with his job.

 

Something that most places do, but not here for whatever reason, is an after camp report. Trying to take in the Cubs surveys, Parents surveys if I get any back, and the staff surveys ( giving them some time to decompress and then email). had a very good debriefing Friday, and the info here combined with the surveys should make some good improvements.

 

What's interesting is that when I have told several folks what I plan to do, i.e. create a plan for next year giving every idea and minutia on camp operations to both the current CD and whomever replaces me, I was told either not to do it or don't give away all my secrets as "no one gave you any information and why should they get all the credit for your hard work."

 

But the thing of the matter is, day camp is too big a deal for it to be a one man show. One person cannot do everything. Information, ideas, and responsibilities need to be shared amongst the staff so that if something happens to one member, it can be picked up by others. It needs to be collaborative, not dictatorial.

 

Sorry for the ramble, just keep those ideas coming.

[SSScout]

>>" Don't give all your secrets away..."

 

Now, I find that truly bizarre. Sounds almost like someone is afraid you WILL stop being the Camp Person.

What egocentric non-scout person is that? The idea is to have a daycamp for the BOYS. What better thing than to help the next fellow along the trail? Passing along the great ideas (and the not so great. "Don't do this...") is a true Scout tradition. How else would I have known to rub soap on the outside of my cookpots to aid later cleanup? The passing on of "How to do it Better" is why we are communicating by keyboard rather than smoke signal (another Meritbadge?). The first CSDC was an experiment. What we do is the culmination of many years of "doing it better", and the smiles on the Cub faces are why we keep on , despite the nay sayers. One more square knot, one more recognition of Poison Ivy, and civilization as we know it progresses.

From what I've read in this thread, your District would benefit greatly by your present CSDC Director becoming the District Camp Chair and YOU becoming the CSDCD.

I always like the idea of a post mortem or event report. Doesn't mean the next folks will read it, or use it, but that isn't your problem then.

And Camp Guidebooks are never a bad thing. Again, all you can do is offer and point your finger, folks don't have to utilize them, they can always stub their toe on the rock you point out if they choose to.

But that is why you REQUIRE the Denwalkers to come to the "Camp Orientation Training" , because many will not read the book, or forget it, or think it doesn't apply to them, or try to 'wing it' or not want to even walk their progeny thru the camp (listen to "Cat's in the Cradle " again).

 

[momof2cubs]

In regards to a large day camp. Like I said, our district regularly has over 200 scouts, with about 40 or so more kids as siblings and tots. They divide the top jobs like this:

 

Camp Director: head honcho. She/he sets policies, schedules, secures sites, probably sets theme for the year, etc. Also trains the den leaders and makes sure all volunteers are up to date with YPT.

 

Program Director: in charge of activities. She/he comes up with the specific activities the scouts will be rotating through each day. Such as owl pellet dissection, playing basketball, obstacle course, what have you. Gathers all materials and trains the volunteers that will be running the activities.

 

Registrar: mainly in charge of paperwork. Handles all registrations, assigns volunteers to all the tasks (i.e. den leader, activity leader, security, range, etc), dismissal procedures, etc.

[SSScout]

Almost forgot...

Now, one idea I like, but really takes some time on someones part (the DE? The CSDCD? The DistCampChair?) is this:

 

Produce a template letter, addressed to the volunteer staffer's boss. By Staffer, you can include the DenWalkers or any adult that helps at the camp. The volunteer staffer fills out a short form: their Name, employer/company, boss' name, address. Template letter thanks the company for the "loan" of their employee , commending one of their employees (associates?) for volunteering a week of their vacation time, serving at the XYZ Cub Scout Day Camp, helping our children experience the Cub Scout program, that such service reflects admirably on the Staffer and on the employer or whatever you feel is appropriate.

It should, of course, be on BSA/Council letter head. The letter I received (some years ago) noted that "everyone in our community has been enriched because he cared enough to help our children grow into better persons".

And it did make an impact in my office, few there knew how much time I spent at Scouting. It may even have had an effect on my next evaluation, since it was counted as a "compliment" in my work file.

But that can be alot of letters, if done right!

[Eagle92]

Actually the "District Cub Scout Day Camp Chairman" is me . That was done so I could get the invite to the CD's meetings. Our CD hasn't gone to one in years because of scheduling conflicts with her church. One time we changed nights and I offered to drive her to the meeting, she said yes, then the night before changed her mind.

 

As much as I would love to be the CD, heck I'm already doing the bulk of the work already, there are family concerns. As we all know there is a lot of stress with the job, and it can affect the family. My mom-in-law has some major health issues, and those issues, combined with CSDC stress have caused major problems at home. June was not fun for me. Plus middle son will be a TC, and I will need to be with him next year as the other half will be home with youngest.

 

As for the don't share the secrets comment, I know where that 30+ year veteran scouter is coming from to a degree. I've seen the CD take all the credit for things that she had little to no part in. She's not one to say "thank you," or ask, but rather dictate and command. Heck I had a fight with her last year about giving the staff t-shirts as a thank you b/c she said the t-shirts should be for the kids, not the adults! Luckily A) I did the budget last year and had staff t-shirts in it, and B) I was finally able to convince her it's a security feature to know who is in camp since we had 38 cubs and more staff than we ever had (and we still needed more). Luckily the T-shirts were not an issue this year, now was the staff dominoe lanyards. Heck I even had folks who were not on staff asking for them!

 

Anyway please keep the ideas coming.

 

 

(This message has been edited by eagle92)

[Nike]

On not writing down everything you can think of: this is why the military has SOPs. If a unit is decimated, someone can come in and literally pick up the pieces and move forward. Holding out on information is detrimental to the program over the long run.

 

Now, what are staff dominoe lanyards?

[Eagle92]

Nike,

I agree, having SOPs helps continuity. CD doesn't do it, and in developing the program last year, was little to no help. Heck I couldn't even get an inventory of what we had and did not have, resulting in me pruchasing about $300 worth of stuff that we didn't need to get. Luckily it was returnable, and we only went over budget $3.76.

 

This year's program was based upon the surveys done last year. Again little to no input from CD. Program side was good, learned that more detailed back up plans need to be thought out in advance of camp, putting out to many fires, but the admistrative side was a challenge. Some of the forms I created were not used, and information was not diseminated. Good news is that almost all of it is on computer and uptodate, and what isn't uptodate onthe computer can be in a few short minutes.

 

As for the Staff Domino Lanyards, it is something I picked up from my home summer camp, and have modified for CSDC use. If you spend all 5 days at camp, you get one. Long story short, it is to remind the staff that Scouting is a "game with a purpose" and shouldn't be taken to seriously or corrupted into an advancement factory, staff are the foundation that holds camp together, and if one member breaks, the entire camp can fall apart (seen it happen with a summer camp), and to recognize the staff's service, I modified it to include both weeklong events ( WB staff, CSDC, NYLT staff, etc) and summer long staffing,i.e. summer camp, HA staff, etc.