Camp Ten Trees Summer Camp Volunteer Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Med/MH Leads Sunday, June 6th, 2013 Meeting
Attending: Other Name Rebecca
Camp Name Raven
Sadie
Sonrisa
Role Coordinator of Cabin Life
PGP she/her
Phone Number 206‐599‐9398
Email Address
[email protected]
she/her
206‐920‐9789
[email protected]
they
425‐753‐5130
[email protected]
she/her
253‐335‐5509
[email protected]
male or ze or per
206‐272‐0699
[email protected]
he/him
206‐351‐2300
[email protected]
she/her
360‐421‐2996
[email protected]
he/him or Nebraska
206‐963‐9653
[email protected]
she/her
206‐679‐2219
[email protected]
PGP
Phone Number 360‐202‐0499
Email Address
[email protected]
612‐964‐3012
[email protected]
574‐383‐8843
[email protected]
Session One (LGBTQA Youth, 13‐17)
Coordinator of Cabin Life Session Two (children/youth, 8‐17, of LGBTQ families)
Emma
Lynx
Coordinator of Core Activities Sessions One and Two
Tiff
Pinkerbell
Coordinator of Community Activities Session One (LGBTQA Youth, 13‐17)
Calen
Pan‐cake
Coordinator of Community Activities Session Two (children/youth, 8‐17, of LGBTQ families)
Connor
Clutch
Coordinator of Essentials Sessions One and Two
Breona
Breez
Mental Health Team Co‐Lead Session One (LGBTQA Youth, 13‐17)
Airen
Panhandle
Support of Essentials, Logistics, etc. Sessions One and Two
Cori
Monroe
Camp Director Sessions One and Two
Absent: Other Name Reid
Camp Name Wedge
Ryan
Artu
Role C.A.R.E. Team Lead Sessions One and Two
Medical Lead Sessions One and Two
Krissy
Bubbles
Mental Health Team Co‐Lead Session One (LGBTQA Youth, 13‐17) Mental Health Team Lead Session Two (children/youth, 8‐17, of LGBTQ families)
Game: Monroe lead some folks in a quick game to get the day started. Check‐in and Introductions: For the sit‐down meeting, we began by taking turns introducing ourselves by sharing our names, preferred gender pronouns, summer camp volunteer roles, what we know about our roles, how we can best be supported by our teammates, and how to best contact us.
Pinkerbell (Tiff) – As the Coordinator of Community Activities for the first week, Pinkerbell thinks of her role as having to do with things that are “all‐camp” times. She’s excited about the coordination piece of her job, as she likes organizing. She wasn’t at Camp Ten Trees last summer, so she’s trying to think back to the summer of 2011 to remember all that she needs to remember. She will appreciate connecting with others who’ve had this role. She likes to communication over email, via Skype, and in person.
Breez (Breona) – As a Mental Health Team Co‐Lead for the first week, Breez will be coordinating Mental Health volunteers, staying appraised of campers’ needs, coordinating groups (i.e. the affinity support groups, hot topic discussion groups, and skills‐building groups we offer during camp sessions), spending time with campers, supporting Cabin Counselors and others as they follow‐up with specific campers, etc. She would love it if people would talk with her about what’s been working and what hasn’t been working in the realm of Mental Health. She’s best at communicating via text. Calling is a good back‐up to texting. She’s not great with email.
Notes by Airen “Panhandle” Lydick
Camp Ten Trees Summer Camp Volunteer Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Med/MH Leads Sunday, June 6th, 2013 Meeting
Lynx (Emma) – Lynx will be Coordinator of Core Activities for both sessions. They see their role as working closely with Specialists to be sure campers have fun things to do. They’re excited to work with a bunch of different people and to have a network. Lynx would like to talk with past people who’ve held this role. Email communication is fine, as is meeting up in person (when possible). Skype is okay too.
Clutch (Connor) – As the Coordinator of Essentials, Clutch sees his role as helping with logistics, including the Kitchen’s needs, first day stuff, and more. He prefers email communication for logistical stuff that involves information he needs to track. For other conversations, problem solving, or bigger issues, he prefers in person conversations if possible.
Raven (Rebecca) – Raven will be the first week’s Coordinator of Cabin Life. She sees her role as one of supporting Cabin Life volunteers, especially Area Leads. Raven’s noticed that this role has been interpreted in a variety of ways over time and that sometimes that variety has lead to difficulties in this role working well. She’s looking forward to working closely with Sonrisa to clarify this role and to bring some consistency to it from one session to the next. Raven also hopes to have lots of conversations about what has been done from this role in the past, including talking with folks about their past interpretations of this role. Raven prefers to process information verbally, in person, though she can process information textually too, if needed. She’s sometimes bad about phone calls, especially those that aren’t planned in advance. She’s better with scheduled phone calls. Sometimes she finds that Skype can be a funky communication tool, so it’s not necessarily her most preferred route.
Sonrisa (Sadie) – As the second week’s Coordinator of Cabin Life, Sonrisa also views her role as one of support. She’s hoping for some good continuity from session one to session two. She anticipates offering support around any camper behavior related stuff that’s coming up in cabins and supporting Area Leads in their work with Cabin Counselors and cabin areas. She’s hoping to get some moments connecting directly with young people as well. Any nervousness she has is connected to this role being the closest thing she’s had to the role of Camp Director since the last time she was a Camp Director. That was the worst summer of her life, and she doesn’t want a similar experience. Sadie’s preferred method of communication is in person, if possible. Right now she’s good about reading emails but not about responding to them. She will return phone messages in a timely manner. If you need her to read and respond to something via email, please indicate that in the message and/or phone to follow up, if needed.
Panhandle (Airen) – Airen’s not filling a specific Coordinator role this year. As Executive Director, though, he’s responsible for lots of planning and logistics related to Essentials‐type stuff. He’ll be responsible for the food order, managing inventory and ordering (including the Amazon Wish List, i.e. supplies we hope supporters will purchase for us), getting all supplies to the camp sessions, running camper check‐ins and check‐outs, and other such stuff. He’ll also be helping with lots of different stuff on‐site. If you have an Essentials‐related question and can’t find Clutch, you can ask Airen. Sometimes he’ll be filling in for Cori as well, when she’s on a break. He’s also the person to whom you can refer any bigger organizational concerns or questions (such as questions about Camp Ten Trees from the media or people out in the community). The best way to support Airen is to build strong relationships with your teams (i.e. whomever you’re coordinating: Cabin Life volunteers, Activities volunteers, C.A.R.E. volunteers, etc.) so that you have a foundation that will help you work well with them on things that relate to stewardship of the site, our supplies, etc. Airen can be reached easily by email or phone. If you want to text him, please use his personal number (206‐963‐9653) not the Camp Ten Trees number.
Pan‐cake (Calen) – Calen is serving as Coordinator of Community Activities for the second session of camp. He thinks of his role as being responsible for the times when everybody’s together during the camp session. During these times, he hopes to be able to set the tone for the whole group before folks break off into smaller groups. He wants to share some energy for the day, creating a way for people to be together as a community. Calen requests support on timing, specifically around being on time and staying on schedule during camp sessions. He’ll be good about communicating via email in advance of camp sessions, and he can also commit to responding to phone messages within 24 hours. He lives on Vashon, so that makes meeting in person in Seattle a bit more difficult, but he’ll do it when possible.
Monroe (Cori) – As Camp Director, Monroe has overall responsibility for summer camp session campers, volunteers, programming, and logistics. She is hoping to build a strong community with and among the Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Medical/Mental Health Leads and to work together with them as a team for the success of the camp sessions. Prior to camp sessions, she’s working closely with campers, their parents, volunteers, and collaborators to be sure everything is on track for camp sessions in terms of everything from information to supplies. During camp sessions, she’ll be providing support and supervision to Coordinators, and to other volunteers when needed. She’ll also spend some time putting out fires and dealing with big issues as they arise. She’ll be spending time observing the daily operations of camp sessions so that she can assess how we’re doing overall and thus make plans for future improvements. Her goal for this year is to more fully bring her full self, her whole heart, and the strong communication skills she learned as a camper to her role of Camp Director. So, sometimes she might cry or express herself emotively during the process. Don’t worry, that’s just part of her awesome style! She’s excited to bring her full self to working with this great team. Cori can be reached via email, phone, or in person. Let her know what works best. Notes by Airen “Panhandle” Lydick
Camp Ten Trees Summer Camp Volunteer Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Med/MH Leads Sunday, June 6th, 2013 Meeting Review Draft of Training Schedule and Goals: Monroe provided everyone with a copy of her current working draft of the 2013 summer camp volunteer training schedule as well as detailed information on her goals for summer camp volunteer training. Both the goals for training as well as the scheduled curriculum for training are rooted in four core competency areas that are important to our success as a volunteer team: (1) organized camping, (2) youth development/engagement, (3) LGBTQA awareness, and (4) the Camp Ten Trees Mission, Values, and Commitment to Social Justice.
2013 Summer Camp Volunteer Training Schedule: August 2‐5 – DRAFT as of June 2nd, 2013
Notes by Airen “Panhandle” Lydick
Camp Ten Trees Summer Camp Volunteer Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Med/MH Leads Sunday, June 6th, 2013 Meeting
2013 Summer Camp Volunteer Training Schedule: Onsite – DRAFT as of June 2nd, 2013
Notes by Airen “Panhandle” Lydick
Camp Ten Trees Summer Camp Volunteer Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Med/MH Leads Sunday, June 6th, 2013 Meeting
2013 Summer Camp Volunteer Training Goals – DRAFT as of June 2nd, 2013
1. Volunteers build a strong community for learning and working together. a. Volunteers build a sense of community in their realm (e.g. cabin areas, the kitchen crew, etc.). b. Volunteers build relationships across the camp community (they know people outside of their realm). c. Volunteers build relationships across identities (e.g. cisgender girls don’t just build relationships with other cisgender girls) d. Volunteers feel comfortable and excited to give and receive feedback. e. Volunteers feel a sense of belonging. f. Volunteers feel their multiple identities are included and appreciated. g. Volunteers see themselves as part of a team and build a sense of responsibility to the larger community. h. Volunteers know how to respectfully engage with different groups (Mental Health Team) and roles (Rover). i. Volunteers experience community building activities/approaches they can use with and/or model for youth. j. Volunteers express and live out a shared set of community agreements. 2. Volunteers envision their role(s) at camp and the preparation needed to fulfill those roles. a. Volunteers understand the basic schedule of the week and how their work fits into it. b. Volunteers know what their responsibilities are in their particular role. c. Volunteers know what activities/groups/campers they will be leading. d. Volunteers know who to talk to and where to go in order to fulfill their volunteer role (supplies, coordinating). e. Volunteers know who they can ask for help when needed (supervision, support, other roles at camp). f. Volunteers are clear on the rules as they apply to their particular area (e.g. sharps for Arts & Crafts). g. Volunteers ask and have answered a majority of their questions about their role and volunteering in general. 3. Volunteers know the culture and expectations of Camp Ten Trees. a. Volunteers know the All‐Camp Rules and are prepared to implement with campers. b. Volunteers know the policies and procedures of Camp Ten Trees. c. Volunteers understand the culture and language specific to Camp Ten Trees – Mailbot, flagpole, etc. d. Volunteers practice basic elements of emergency procedures (radio‐ing, roll call, etc.) e. Volunteers build a shared understanding of the Mission, Values, and Commitment to Social Justice. f. Volunteers build a shared understanding of giving and receiving feedback. 4. Volunteers feel inspired and committed to creating a loving and engaging environment for youth. a. Volunteers commit to putting youth first. b. Volunteers experience “camp magic” they can bring to their work with youth. c. Volunteers commit to holding themselves and one another accountable to the Mission, Values, and CSJ. d. Volunteers can identify and articulate why they are showing up for this work. e. Volunteers build a shared understanding of “a loving and engaging youth camp environment.” f. Volunteers identify what it takes to create this environment/fulfill this commitment. g. Volunteers hear from youth what they want from adults who work with them at camp. h. Volunteers hear from parents what they believe will help create this environment for their campers. 5. Volunteers see themselves as stewards of the Camp Ten Trees summer camp program. a. Volunteers build a shared understanding of what it means to steward the summer camp program. b. Volunteers practice stewardship throughout training. c. Volunteers identify things they can do to steward the camp program within and beyond their roles. d. Volunteers feel a sense of pride, ownership, and excitement @ being stewards of the summer camp program. e. Volunteers commit to holding one themselves and another accountable to stewardship. Notes by Airen “Panhandle” Lydick
Camp Ten Trees Summer Camp Volunteer Coordinators and C.A.R.E./Med/MH Leads Sunday, June 6th, 2013 Meeting After Monroe verbally reviewed the goals for volunteer training as well as this initial draft of the training schedule, folks broke up into pairs to talk in greater detail about the schedule to develop their thoughts about how well they think it currently meets the goals of volunteer training as well as where they might each individually like to contribute to developing and leading training modules. After about 10 minute of paired conversations, everyone came back together as a big group to discuss how they’re thinking about the schedule within the context of the four core competency areas and the five overarching goals of volunteer training. Initial feedback was as follows: A. We should look at the core competency areas of organized camping and youth development/engagement and ensure that training provides “hard skills” in those areas. B. The training day that’s focused strongly on the Camp Ten Trees Mission, Values, and Commitment to Social Justice (i.e. Friday of the AUG 2‐5 training) needs to be youth‐focused and include development of skills that will help volunteers in discussing themes of social justice with youth, leading related activities for youth, etc. C. I like the idea of having a “toolbox” style approach to training. D. It’s important to remember that people need to process things in addition to developing “hard skills.” Training can also function to give people some space to do the personal work they need to do in order to be ready work with campers around things like themes of social justice. So, we need to make space for this too. E. At camp sessions, volunteers are ultimately facilitating an experience for campers. So, at training, we need to facilitate an experience via which they strengthen their skills in order to do that. F. Let’s try to find a way to use meal times (at training) to teach about meal times (at camp sessions). G. By building strong teams in our various realms, we can learn more about the skills of the people we’re supporting/supervising and then draw on those skills to match volunteers up with opportunities to lead training segments. H. One way to approach skills development within our volunteer community is to have a question that focuses our work at the beginning of each training segment. For example, we could ask, “What would be different at camp sessions if every single one of us had strong skills in this area/knew lots about this?” By asking a focusing question, we might be able to help each individual figure out where they fall on the spectrum of skill development and how they can play a role in deepening their own skills as well as supporting others’ development of skills. I. We need a balance of “hard” and “soft” skills. J. Let’s explore ways to speak more explicitly in our summer camp volunteer community (over the summer, at training, at camp sessions, and beyond) about the balance of skills and the way in which we fit together. All of us have various levels of skills development in each of the four core competency areas. Nobody has “the most” skills in all four areas. It would be great if we could create a space in which people engaged to speak openly about their growing edges and to find ways to partner with, learn from, and support growth in others. Upcoming Meetings: We ended the meeting by scheduling more meetings for over the course of the summer. Those are listed below. These won’t likely be our only meetings, but we at least have these few on the books. Please note that we’ll probably also have a meeting on some weeknight of the second or third week of June; that meeting will be focused solely on discussing our current supplies inventory and connecting with other volunteers to assess what supplies we might need to add to our Wish List. So, in the meantime, we should each be reaching out to our teams (i.e. Cabin Life volunteers, C.A.R.E. volunteers, Core Activities volunteers, Essentials volunteers, etc.) to start building relationships with them so that when we connect with them later in June to discuss supplies stuff we’ve already laid a foundation.
Saturday, June 15th
Meet in Volunteer Park at the Camp Ten Trees booth. 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Show up at 1 p.m. if you want to eat lunch ($1/plate picnic) with others.
Sunday, July 7th
Meet in the Camp Ten Trees office. 10 a.m. – Noon
Sunday, July 28th
Meet in the Camp Ten Trees office. 10 a.m. – Noon
Notes by Airen “Panhandle” Lydick
Sunday, June 9th Check‐in Via Email from Reid/Wedge Hellooooooo coordinators!! Wedge here with the little ditty that Monroe requested: My name is Reid and also Wedge, my PGP is usually she/her, sometimes they, and sometimes, at camp, I get "uncle". I've admired the C.A.R.E. team leader role from afar for many a year after the people before me made it look so good (Panhandle, Prairie Dog, Kermit, Fractal, and Smash). Thus, I took the plunge to work both weeks this summer (which is a first for me in my 6th year) to carry on the torch for this awesome role. I've been a camp person pretty much all my life and remember fondly and a bit painfully the transition of going from camper to counselor and am really excited to hold space for folks that are having that experience as well as folks that are new to camp leadership and want a little extra support. I've been out of the country for the past 3 weeks and am just now diving into prepping for camp. At this point I'm not sure about what support I may need in this role, but am looking forward to working with you all in the coming months! Speaking of which... I'm bummed to have missed the first meeting AND just realized that the next scheduled meeting falls at the exact same time as a past CTT‐volunteer's wedding that I'm attending. I'm eager to catch up at the next meetings. ALSO, the original meeting follow up email didn't have my correct email address. Please update this chain if there are future chattings with this one:
[email protected] (or just reply all to this message). Looking forward to working with all you talented folks! ‐Wedge
