Leadership Program

[Kerrbear]

HEYO everyone!

So, its looking like I'll be running the leadership program for the 13 year olds at my camp again this summer (with a few other people), and I'm looking for any new ideas or activities. Do you have similar programs at your camps? What kind of activities do you work on? How does your program work? Do you know any great books? I'd really appreciate any input you have!

[Flukie]

Kerr, one thing I tried this year that my CITs really enjoyed were case-studies published by the ACA. We had the book at the Council, so I took it too camp. I would read a scenario and then walk the girls through it - they looked at different perspectives and talked about what each individual could do differently and the effects it had. I didn't think they'd like it as much as they did!

[Smudge]

Our CIT's did ARC first aid and CPR during the time they were at camp.

[Kerrbear]

That's awesome, our kids are 13 though, they aren't quite at the CIT level, it's really a transition program between campers and staff :) Although I really liked your idea of working on Moral issues with them Flukie!

[Smudge]

our kids who did the ARC babysitters cert for their program, and our guard start kids all did ARC first aid and CPR - I had to spend a fun 2 hours sitting outside the pavilion while they did - we (that is me and the 2 baby bootcamp counsellors) all took a 2 hour block of the 6 hours doing that so that technically the person teaching it wasn't alone with the kids. The guard start kids were 13 and 14, while the baby sitter kids were even younger. Actually there may be stuff in the baby sitter's cert you could use!

[Melk]

If they are making the transition from camper to staff I would focus on team building and what it means to be a leader, when you should step back and let someone else lead, or step up and take the lead. At our camp the LIT's also spend two days shadowing staff members. One day shadowing an assigned staff member while they are teaching a skill period and another time focusing on how the staff are leaders in the cabin.

[Flukie]

Hmm... Knowing they are 13... That's about the age of our PAs. (A bit older, actually.) One thing I'm excited to have them try this year is taking them to A&C and having them make projects that would work well with younger campers. I think we'll have a lot of fun, learn how to "teach" the art projects best, and hopefully get messy in the process. (Oh, I hope we finger-paint!!!!)

My PAs also LOVE teaching songs and games to each other. I generally have to drag them away from this session to go do more "boring" ones. They have some really cool games though that I haven't seen before, so I generally love this time period also!

[Cocoa]

the leadership camp i ran for the past couple years was a two week program, the first week we covered skills and basics of leading groups - through activities that they can do with groups and supplemented with some brainstorming and notes. The second week they were placed with groups where they were expected to have the chance to apply what they (hopefully) gained over the previous week - this was generally (other than a few really disastrous placements/individuals) found to be highly valuable to the campers, and then they coordinated/planned/ran a soccer tournament for our soccer camp for the last day of the camp. Finished off with freezies and report cards that were constructive and advised them as to what age group/type of program i felt they would be able to handle the best if they were interested in volunteering.

i also had a babysitting camp which was a one week camp and that was very paper based, but i also implemented the placement idea for one day with the youngest camp in our building - test at the end of the week, if they passed (some didnt) they got a report card and babysitting certificate.

[Cocoa]

so - i just pulled out my little leadership program bible...these are the topics we covered in the program
like i said above we used notes, activities and exercises for each area...i can expand if you want, send you sample notes/schedules/report cards -- if you want that pm me your email

Day One : what is leadership, issue resolution
Day Two : what is communication, verbal & non-verbal communication
Day Three : trust and risk
Day Four : stresses and motivation
Day Five : the importance of teamwork
Day Six : first impressions, expectations for behaviour in placements
Day Seven : plan soccer tournament, wrap up program, random games they enjoyed
Day Eight and Nine : Placement
Day Ten : Run soccer tournament(or other organized activity with another camp)

[Indigo]

Hands-on experience is a must. My (leadership-training) kids have a good time planning and playing games with the younger kids, and they always get a lot out of spending a day living in units and getting some counselor practice. I have my oldest ones help with the one-week unit check-in, so they get to see first-time campers, parents, lice checks, moving in, etc.

But really, I think one of the best things is to be sure they know how to work hard. I have wranglers-in-training, rather than counselors-in-training, and I think they benefit hugely from spending half the day working hard to take care of the horses and the barn. It's a lot of hard physical work that doesn't directly relate to leadership, but it helps them cooperate, work out systems, and develop good work ethics. In my experience, it shows in their staff practices later.

[ARam_Kelp]

I did something like this back in the day, as a camper, and our camp still dedicates a week to it. The girls in the program still do a fair bit as campers but we have them work with the youngest group. They have game hours, do serenades, and usually throw a party for the younger campers. Having them help with bed time can be good too.
Also working on getting them to get used to singing and leading games by themselves or with one or two others can be helpful too.