I'm a camp director, AMA

amother

Lilac

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 12:54 am

amother wrote:

I hope its not one of those directors that have ruined the lives of some girls. I won't name two camps I'm thinking about.

Others have suffered from camps as well? In what sense? It's usually the schools that are being blamed and there's always so much praise for the camps...
I had to fight tooth and nail and cry buckets of tears to remain in a camp after being there several years simply because I had no special talents other than being refined & having a good heart and middos was terrible at sports, was to self concious to be all Ra_Ra.... or suck up to all the head staff... only later on when there was less of a demand & when l became a very well liked conselor (parents were calling to ask if I can stay on with their kids 2nd half instead of having a switch) did they begin to value, but by then the damage was done and I already felt worthless.... they may have sang and cheered and preached all summer about the ruach and the achdus and the caring and sharing ...
Ach... Just another Business...

amother

Violet

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 7:01 am

My erlich, eidel , darling , never hurt a fly daughter was told not.to come back to a camp because "she wasnt a camper" this isnt a ra ra cheering type of girl but more of a solid good girl.
When we took her non acceptance letter to the head of the kehilla and demanded an explanation, I mean seriously if there were issues you would think a parent would get a phone call with concerns and not wait for the next summer application, he made the hired director of course accept her and had two people apologize that it was a mistake .we took the new acceptance letter sent by those in higher authority than the director , and showed it to our daughter.
but the damage was done. We of course did not send her back there and found an amazing camp.that appreciated a great solid girl and not only the loud , cheering sports fans. I still harbor great hurt at a director that cannot see past sports and would hurt a girl in such a way. Non acceptance would be in my world due to not listening to rules, non conformance to tznius guidelines, yiddishkeit concerns, social concerns etc. As a director, if theres more to a story she would have the responsibility to communicate appropriately with parents on her concerns if she really wanted to help a girl, or some up with a VALID reason for non acceptance. I'll still accept an apology all these years later, as would my daughter.

It seems from what I've heard my daughter was not the only one that had such a experience. Shame on them!

Rappel

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 7:20 am

Violet, I think this would be moved into a separate thread.

Hot pink: hi!

What is your goal as a camp director?

What does your daily schedule look like?

I'm thinking of reapplying to my old camp as a married staff member - it's been years since I've worked there, but I loved the work I did, and I think I have a lot to give. What do you look for in your married staff members?

amother

Hotpink

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 1:59 pm

Rappel wrote:

My goal is to encourage my campers and staff to learn and grow (emotionally and spiritually) and have a great summer while doing so.

My daily schedule is ... returning phone calls to parents, meeting with staff who are having issues (either they need my help with abc or I need to discipline them about xyz), meeting with campers who are having issues, stopping in on activities and the dining room to make sure things are running as they should, prep work for later activities and trips etc...

In terms of what we look for in married staff members-dynamic, capable, hard working, easygoing and flexible, shares the camp hashkafa (which is growth as well as acceptance of all different types), good role model...

amother

Hotpink

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 2:02 pm

amother wrote:

Do you know how much they charge for camp and how much it actually "costs" them per child?

There are camps that charge $1,500, $2,500 and over $4,000 for 4 weeks. im curious if the more expensive camps "spend" way more on the kids and staff than the cheaper camps.

I know how much they charge (it's not exactly a secret) but not how much it actually costs them per child. I do know there are a lot of costs that go into running a camp that people are likely not aware of and then of course the owners want to make a profit...

I don't really know for sure but my impression is that camps that are more expensive do spend more money on the kids than camp that are cheaper. But I don't really have background budget etc knowledge.

amother

Hotpink

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 2:06 pm

amother wrote:

I'm confused, she wasn't accepted back as a camper or as a staff member? I would never not accept a camper back just because she wasn't "ra ra". The only campers we don't accept back are those that either a) we feel we can't keep safe or b) require a tremendous amount of time and resources from staff to the extent that it's not fair to the rest of the bunk (who gets left with a sliver of the counselor and other staff's attention).

When we don't accept for either of those reasons, we do typically let the parents know that is why.

I'm so sorry for your daughter's and your pain.

amother

Hotpink

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 2:15 pm

[quote="amother"]

Rappel wrote:

Violet, I think this would be moved into a separate thread.

I believe this is the perfect thread to post... maybe a camp director can shed some light as to why this is done or can gain some awareness about the "the not most special girls"

I'm probably not the right person to address this as I can't imagine ever not accepting a camper back to camp even if they were not the "most special" girl. I would only not accept for the reasons I stated in my previous post.

As far as staff, I might not accept an applicant who was not "ra ra" as a COUNSELOR, IF I felt she would have a hard time relating to, motivating, or disciplining campers, but I would likely welcome her back in another capacity that might be suitable for her (ie art assistant).

So I can't imagine being involved in any of the situations described above but I do sometimes not accept applicants for the specific job they want (ie they want to be head counselor but I don't think they're appropriate for that position for various reasons), and would offer them a different job that they perhaps will not want.

Perhaps there was more to the story than you were told (with the people who were rejected for seemingly no real reason) but I agree, more feedback and communication about why (which I can attest is hard to give), would be helpful.

My apologies again for all the pain and suffering you went through

amother

Hotpink

Fri, Nov 09 2018, 3:26 pm

OOTforlife wrote:

How do you handle it if a camper reports inappropriate behavior by a staff member?

Are your staff trained to handle such a report in a specific way? How?

Do you always and immediately notify the parents? If not, how do you decide whether or when to notify parents?

BH that does not come up that often but if/when it does... we investigate to try and determine if the story has merit or not and would call the parents a) if it were true and b) if it wasn’t true but we felt the fact that the camper was making the contention indicated something about the child that the parent should know (is she desperate for attention? Did something like this happen to her in another setting?)

Our staff receives training on how to handle such a report (basically they need to tell their supervisor), but more importantly, they are educated on what is appropriate behavior and what isn’t and directed away from actions that can be viewed as problematic. So... no spending alone time with one camper, no campers on their laps, etc. In some ways, it’s really sad (some of our campers are young and really need some of that healthy physical affection) but... not worth the risk in this day and age.

What is more common (than accusations of staff behaving inappropriately with campers), is campers or staff accusing a set of two different girls (two campers or two staff members) behaving inappropriately with each other.

amother

Hotpink

Sat, Nov 10 2018, 8:18 pm

amother wrote:

Do you get paid decently? I know maybe it makes ecomomic sense, but it still bothers me that the camp gets to hire many free employees. Girls are working hard for no pay and often have to pay to attend. How do you feel about that?

I get paid but also calculate (as does everyone else I know who works at a camp) the benefits that aren’t a number in my salary but save me money nonetheless (ie groceries, cleaning help, and other bills that I do to have to pay over the summer summer, drastically reduced camp rates for my kids...)

As far as the teenagers, yeah, it’s pretty crazy that some of them pay to work, although I do want to point out that it does cost the camp some money (I think about $600/teen but can definitely be off on the number) to feed and house them.

amother

Hotpink

Sat, Nov 10 2018, 8:43 pm

amother wrote:

What safety and preventative measures are put in place? referring specifically to concerns about abuse.

I mentioned it in a previous post as well but some of them are: careful vetting of the staff, providing staff training regarding appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, banning some behaviors that have the potential to be (but are not necessarily) problematic (such as spending time alone with a camper, sleeping in the same bed, holding campers on laps, prolonged hugging...)

Just curious what safety and preventative safety measures you’d LIKE to see put in place?