We are firm believers in continual learning and challenge ourselves to get better each year. Thankfully, we are blessed to be in a field that is full of generous, smart people who are passionate about their work and happy to share.
At Weequahic, we’ve started our own book club. Each month, a different one of our year round team members picks a book and applies its lessons to camp. We have enjoyed learning from the likes of Brenee Brown, Charles Duhigg, and Andy Stanley among others.
In addition to our self-guided learning, we get to spend time each year with camp professionals both within Wayne County and from around the country.
The Wayne County Camp Alliance is made up of 30 diverse, engaging, and fantastic camps. We gather multiple times a year to share ideas, questions and plan for the future success of our partners. (Our campers who like to compete also get a kick out of being a part of this group as we join in tournaments in all of our sports and several of our arts!)
Recently, many of our year round team just returned from the ACA National Convention where we learned from great ‘camp thinkers’ like Jeff Leiken, Bob Ditter, Michael Brandwein and Kerry Plemmons.
We got caught up on the most recent research on working with kids, guiding teens, training and evaluating our staff and building a camp culture that thrives. We also go to poke and prod at these ideas and other with camp professionals from around the world.
The common comment leaving ACA Nationals was ‘Wow – that was kind of like our own pre-camp orientation. I’m so energized for camp!’ I couldn’t agree more.
The best learning, however, comes from the summer itself. Hosting 200 staff members and 450 kids from around the world gives us all innumerable opportunities to learn, grow and add to CW. Many of our best ideas have some from our community such as the Prize Wheel, amazing EAs, the Weequahic Competition Leagues, “Jinter” (the name for our fifth and sixth group), the Fort, and more.
Yes, there are some things that will never change at camp. The safety of our campers and staff will always be paramount. We will create amazing experiences for everyone we encounter using GAC. We will collect the best group of staff and kids we can find and have more fun than we thought possible.
Everything else? Well, we’ve still got a lot to learn….
Can’t wait for camp!
