Advice for Directors

[Campy Measius]

Hey guys,
As a new(ish) director (I was a day camp director last summer, but as we all know.. very different from res camp) I'd love any tips and advice you counselors, directors and former staff would like to share.

What do you think makes a "Great" director?
What are things that you find really work for you? (directors)

Any advice is welcome! I already have my own thoughts on the matter, but I might be forgetting or overlooking something :)

[speedx5xracer]

make sure your staff knows that you care about them and their opinions... its usually a great thing for any supervisor, also dont sacrifice what you know is right to please staff/parents.... i have seen directors go against their morals to please a parent i just dont think that is a good idea for any one.

[Flukie]

Support your staff - following the same lines that Speed mentioned. If there is an issue with a parent, don't automatically assume that the staff member is wrong or that whatever "happened" is the counselor's fault. It very well may be, but sit and speak with your staff member one-on-one to find out the entire story.

Likewise, let your staff know that it is perfectly okay to ask for help. So many staff think that asking for help is not okay - that it makes them look incompetent. Help them know it is okay to ask you or any other admin for help if they need it. When they do ask for help, tell them that was a really smart decision and you are glad they were willing to ask for help.

[campnerd99]

From a camper point a few; 'remember to spend some time with the campers' I've had counsellors turned directors in the past, and although they're always amazing directors sometimes they forget to spend some time with the campers. Even if it's just one activity, it goes along way.

[CAMPFRIEND]

Have an open mind and be ready for anything!!! My first summer as a director was hard but I loved doing it. I never new what was next and every day brings somthing new. You are going to have a great summer and make sure that you save sometime for you to have fun at camp or you will get burned out!!

Good Luck. If you ever have any questions let me know!

[say-say]

Here are 3 things to avoid as a director. Be the opposite of these things and you will do beautifully!!!

1. Not open for suggestions: Sometimes something looks good on paper but it doesn't work in real life. Other people may know what works in real life, but I have worked for some directors that will not acknowledge suggestions or comments from anyone.

2. Not active in their camp: They give a schedule and an outline for activities and such for camp, but are rarely seen during the actual camp or can never be found when needed, leaving counselors and staff responsible for stuff that they probably shouldn't be.

3. Not organized/prepared: This one speaks for itself. You gotta be organized and ya gotta plan ahead for anything and everything. Directors that are unorganized and/or ill prepared have disastrous camps. The kids don't usually know the difference because they are almost always going to have fun, but this will probably make your staff very unhappy because it will cause them lots of extra work and stress.

I wish you all the best!!!! Remember to have fun too!

[tajarbud]

What Fun!! I have always been excited and nervous at the beginning of each summer. My staff can never get over that--but they say that means I am 'real'. I expect alot from my staff, but they know that I do not expect anything from them that I am not/would not be able/willing to do myself. :)

I believe that it is important that the staff lead by example...and I try to do the same. At all camps, I am usually out there with the campers--not sitting at the back or to the side with staff. We also do not have a staff only table in the DH. This always surprises ACA visitors that I let them visit with staff and campers at lunch--without me sitting right alongside them. :speechles :speechles

An open door/always approachable is very important....I think that's been said already.

Be sure to schedule yourself to lead/assist with at least one activity period each day/session. I also require that my support staff (health supervisor, Prog. Dir, etc) each have an activity, too. I think that community is so important. It gives us all an additional contact with the campers, not just the DH or health center. I have had alot of younger campers meet me during the school year at an event or activity who told all their friends that I had taught them canoing or swimming or whatever. (w/o ever saying "this is the camp director" :D )

[Campy Measius]

Thanks for the great advice guys!!
Some of it is things I hadn't thought of, some of it reinforces ideas I already had... all of it is useful!!!
Keep it coming!!! :D

[Oompa Loompa]

One thing that I thought was a good idea that I got out of a Michael Brandwein session from Midstates:

Often directors might not notice important things that are going on within their staff. Michael suggested to make it a regular practice to pass out index cards to staff during a staff meeting and ask them to write one thing that they think that you need to know about, anonymously. I'm going to encourage my director to implement this during the summer, and I'm going to use this with my CITs as well.

Last summer, I had to 'tell on' another staff member twice for some very inappropriate behavior. (If you want to know more, let me know and I can elaborate in a private e-mail.) Both ended up getting fired, among other things that happened. It was a really hard thing to do, even though I was doing the right thing, in fact, in one case it was so upsetting that it was difficult for me to even eat for 3 or 4 days afterwards. Definitely make sure that you are being as supportive as humanly possible for staff members who have to do something like this.

[June Bug]

Realize that yours is a lonely job, and cultivate friendships and relationships with the other senior staff members. If you've been a counselor, it's sometimes incredibly hard to be thrust into the position of supervising and sometimes reprimanding people your age or older, with whom you have worked as an equal in the past. I've seen camp programs literally fall apart because a director is unable to separate him/herself from the people he/she supervises. That doesn't mean you can't have fun with you staff. You should have fun with your staff. But it means they aren't your closest friends anymore.

Don't be afraid to make the tough decisions and be the "bad guy". Noticing ineffective teaching and counseling techniques in your staff is worthless if you can't have a productive one-on-one conversation with them about what will make the summer better. Don't assume you know everything or that you know better than the staff member or counselor, but realize that you will often have a degree of objectivity they lack.

[amnickel]

Be available to campers, staff and counselors. This summer our directors were almost totally unavailable to the staff. We had alot of problems with the counselors that I think would have been solved if our directors were more available to us. We, as staff, met with 2 of the 4 directors after camp was totally done. I think the only way that helped was so they had an idea of what needed to be changed for next year. It would have been really nice to have at least on of the directors at our staff/counselor meetings that we had each night. Some of the counselors were only a year younger than some of the staff and they would not listen to the staff members.

Also be involved with the activities. Our directors kinda were involved. But only in the ones that were in a building with air conditioning. I realize it was hot and some of the directors got over heated easily in the heat, but there were activities that didn't involve being in the sun or running around.