New Director

[CAMPFRIEND]

I am just wondering how many of you have gotten the chance to work with a new director who has come into your camp? I know that when I was a counselor, we would have a change about every other year. I know that some we like and some we did not. What was it like for you?

[speedx5xracer]

I havent gotten a new resident or executive director since i was a camper but I have gone through a few assistant directors. It really didnt change much. The returning directors and staff showed them teh ropes and basically every thing was similar to the years before. THis past summer one of the new assistant directors wanted specialist to work more saturdays (normal day off shops are closed on shabbat). This was great except lake staff already did that and we ended up having too few days off by his plan so our resident director vetoed that for water front and athletic staff

[ocean]

We got a new director last summer and I really liked her because the director we had before wasnt so great

[CAMPFRIEND]

Ok I have another question. Would a new director keep you from going back to your camp or would you want to find out what they are like?

[speedx5xracer]

I would probably try them out for one session (4 weeks) if they were good i would probably extend my contract for the entire summer.

[camper]

usually when we get a new director it's because eventually will or already buy into or own the camp. the transitions are usually very slow. for example, the last time it happened, the director who had run girls side for years and years left, but the owners of the camp (husband and wife) who had mostly done the day to day running of boys side just reorganized so that the husband continued working on boys side and the wife shifted her focus over to girls side, and my mom stepped into the girls head counselor position. the transition was fairly subtle and it works even better than before, b/c now it's consistent between girls side and boys side. before the owners/directors do anything major, they consult my mom and vice versa, they make a great team. i feel like as long as 1 person remains the same to speak for how camp has been in the past but the new person can bring great ideas as well, there won't be any problems. i'd definitely give it a couple of years to see how it turned out, but in most cases at my camp, the transtion would be pretty subtle.

[Fleur]

My old camp changed directors. A lot of staff left when the old director left, but a handful of us (myself included) did go back. The new directors changed the camp completely though. As much as the returning staff asked for certain things from previous summers to be brought back, the new directors didn't seem to really listen to us. I hated camp that year, and didn't return after that summer.

[rockinsmiles]

To answer the first question i have worked under the same director for all of my camp staff life. However ive worked under different CIT directors when i was a CIT. the last year of me being a CIT i didnt work closely with the director at all and it made me worry at first. but the AD who was incharge of us cits was sooooo much than i thought (though i learned latter a lot of the staff thought she was a bitch).

As far as the second question goes...no doubt i would come back to my camp even if the director left. He was actually going to leave this upcoming year but thank god he found a way around it and is coming back! that makes me more than happy. yet, before i knew he was returning i already was planning on coming back.

[Flukie]

I've been through many directors! In my 4 summers as a camper and CIT, we had three directors. However, all three had been actively involved with the camp or the Council - so they had an idea of how things worked and what went on. The biggest change came my first year on staff when they hired a new director from outside the Council (way outiside - like, West Coast!).

In retrospect, some of what she did was great. She pushed for graces to be non-denomenational so that campers and staff felt comfortable in camp. She helped shape the waterfront program a little bit more so it was more effective and easily understood. She got some incredible programming in and made older girl programming come alive. In the process though, she forced change on the final campfire. She upset a lot of staff with changes to traditions. She told the best CIT class we'd had in years that they were irresponsible and never should be hired as staff members (they were heartbroken - ironically, our of those 8, 4 are still working at camps - 3 for the next counselor over and one there). And the very first year, there were tons of miserable staff - both returners and new staff.

Was it all her fault? Not at all. Some of it was difficulty accepting change from the staff. Some of it was the fact her AD had to quit due to a family emergency the first day of pre-camp. Some of it was just staff issues. But some of it definitely could have been handled better.

The director I'm with now is entering her third year directing our camp. Each year gets easier - and changes are easier to implement because she's been there already and staff know her. Our AD from last year told me this summer will be so much easier for me programming-wise because the staff that is their has already seen me in action and hopefully realizes I'm not out to "ruin" camp. (I really hope this is true, cause I'm pushing some big programming changes that will make it easier for them to program with the cameprs!)

So I think that while it can be eally hard to go in and take over a new camp, especially with a returning staff and strong traditions, it can also be done. The best advice I got from a director was to go in the first year and change nothing. Do it their way (unless you have to change something for safety or sanity!). Then, evaluate and begin to make the important change the next summer - because now, they already know you. Explain WHY youa re making changes. Try to keep their traditions and feelings in mind. She was a great director and I would have loved to have worked for her - but she jumped ship to work for ACA New Englad! :)

[Trees]

I think the only problem with going in as a new director and planning to change nothing is that it's IMPOSSIBLE. That would be my ideal, too, both from a director and a counselor standpoint. But it's so hard to understand what goes on at a camp you've never been to. No matter how much the staff try to explain, the new director is coming at it from her own experience and pre-conceived notions, and she may try her best to keep things they way they were, but it's going to come out different--unless she lets her returning staff run everything, and that just makes the director a lame duck.

A small example is one year when we had a (really bad, unsafe, unethical) director at a camp that was deeply steeped in tradition. She made fun of some of our traditions and changed almost everything. One day we were grumbling about having to do flag ceremonies every morning and every evening, because that had never been our thing. The director heard us and got mad, saying "You guys are always on my case for changing everything, and I tried to keep this just the way you said it had always been, but you still complain!" We stared at her, not understanding. "We NEVER had two flag ceremonies a day," someone finally said. The director: "That's what you told me! You said you raised and lowered the flag every day."

Sure, we raised and lowered the flag every day. But we didn't have an all-camp flag ceremony; one unit had it as their kaper and they just put it up and took it down. Since none of us knew that many other camps did ceremonies daily, we never imagined that the director would think this is what we meant.

Generally, I think the best way to get a new director is to promote someone who's worked at the camp--preferably on the counseling staff at some point. This person can (and will) change things, but will understand the important traditions and the general "feel" of the camp. Sometimes you don't have someone ready to promote, though, and if a camp's been in trouble, sometimes you need someone brand-new to come in and shake things up thoroughly.

[audur]

I've worked at camp for the past two summers, and we got a new director my second summer. A lot of staff chose not to return, so there were very few returning staff last summer. Luckily, our assistant director came back, which was good for everyone, in my opinion.

I liked both of the directors - but the first director did not interact as much with the staff, so I never really got to know her. I don't think one or the other was really a "better" director - but I personally like the current one better, just because I actually know her.

Of course, the new director brought a lot of changes - but most changes were for the better... and if they weren't, she was willing to listen to the return staff and figure out some sort of compromise. It was a little chaotic at times - I think mostly because we had so much new staff, so not a lot of people knew what was going on, at first, so I'm really excited to see what happens next summer. As staff or campers, I think we have to be ready to accept changes, whatever it is that brings them. I know camp *is* tradition, to many people - and it is to me, too - but "tradition" is bound to change over time (although it shouldn't change dramatically all at once).