Throughout the years of ACA’s Character at Camp initiative, you will have the opportunity to learn from a variety of individuals within the educational content of the Character Academy. 

During the first Character Academy preconference workshops in Greenville, South Carolina, and Columbus, Ohio, camp professionals engaged in a variety of activities designed to help them tailor ACA’s character content to their unique camp missions. Provided here is a description of an activity you can implement within staff training — either with your leadership team or seasonal camp staff. Included are the steps to facilitate the activity as well as example responses from activity participants at the preconference workshops. This activity is intended to help you continue the work you are already doing to build a positive culture of character for your campers and staff.

Why Define Character-based Staff Practices?

Let’s start with the purpose and intention of this staff training activity. Many camp leaders have expressed how important character development at camp is. Helping build good humans is a huge priority for us as leaders in the field. It can also be difficult to identify how we specifically train our staff to promote, teach, model, or talk about character development. Sometimes a training curriculum won’t mesh with how our unique organizations interpret or define “good” character for our campers. An important thought to keep in mind as a facilitator of this activity is that the finished “products” on your posters are not necessarily the purpose for completing the activity. The purpose is to give your staff members the opportunity to practice the thought processes necessary to translate core organizational values into observable staff practices.

Preparation Tips

Before you begin this activity, it would be helpful to:

1. Watch the recording of the first Character Academy webinar, The Pathway to Character Development at Camp, for a clearer understanding of how ACA describes character development at camp — acacamps.org/events-education/online-learning/recorded-webinar/pathway-character-development-camp
2. Within your leadership team, identify four core values of your organization, based on your camp’s mission, to create your camp’s “character compass.” (Hint: watch the webinar to learn the step-by-step process.)
3. Tape five large blank posters (or presentation sticky notes) on the walls of your training space, with at least 10 feet between them, each with one thick marker that won’t bleed through the paper. Additionally, position one poster (or whiteboard) in the front of the room, easily viewable by participants standing at the other five posters.

Steps to Facilitate the Activity

Step One: Brainstorming Camp Activities

This step can either be completed ahead of time or during this training. Have staff members brainstorm a list of every activity that happens at camp, both structured and unstructured. Structured activities might include scheduled and facilitated activities such as kayaking, hiking, ropes course, capture the flag, or campfire. Unstructured (or less structured) activities are unfacilitated or without a clear curriculum, such as bedtime, meals, transitions between activities, free time, or cleanup. After brainstorming a large list, choose five activities that are either core and essential to camp — camp would not be camp without them — or activities at camp where you feel campers or staff struggle with your organization’s values (such as conflict during the bedtime routine). The activity will be effective with either option. A helpful tip is to choose some structured and some unstructured activities.

Step Two: Setting the Stage

Draw your character compass with the four chosen values on the poster or whiteboard at the front of the room. Break staff members into groups of three or four and send each group to one of the five posters. Assign each group one of the five selected camp activities and have them write it at the top of their poster.

Step Three: Instructions to Begin with First Camp Activity

Instruct the groups to choose one of the four compass values and write an observable staff practice for that activity. Bullet points are fine, but an example full sentence would be, “Staff members demonstrate [insert value] by [insert observable behavior].” Examples at the end of the article are included to demonstrate what staff practices may look like.

Step Four: Transitioning to Subsequent Camp Activities

Allow groups sufficient time to write out one staff practice. When a group has finished, instruct them to quietly step away from their poster. Have them find another poster where a group has finished and move to that poster. They will choose one of the remaining three values (not chosen by the first group) and write a staff practice for the new activity. Have groups continue moving from poster to poster until each activity has one staff practice for each of the four values. If groups take similar amounts of time, moving in an ordered way from one poster to the next may work. However, some groups may want to discuss ideas for longer, and some activities and values will prove more difficult to write about. Allowing groups to move to any empty poster they have not yet visited, rather than waiting for the next ordered group to be done, will create a lower-pressure environment. Just make sure groups that take longer to deliberate still get a chance to visit several posters. When each of the five posters has a practice listed for all four character compass values, staff members should return to their seats.

Step Five: Reflection

It is essential to encourage reflection about this activity, as the process (rather than the result) is the purpose.  Reflection questions may include:

• Which of the values were easier or more difficult to create staff practices for, and why? 
• Which of the activities were easier or more challenging, and why? 
• Was this activity comfortable or uncomfortable? Why?
• How should we use these lists as we move forward with our camp programs?

Try to intentionally ask for opposing viewpoints, as staff members may think about both values and activities in very different ways. You might read aloud and discuss the specific staff practices for one or more of the chosen activities. If staff members express that any of the character compass values were unclear, encourage further discussion or the possibility of choosing a value that is clearer. 

Participant Responses from the Character Academy Workshops

As you consider implementing this activity in your own training, it may be helpful to read what other camp professionals came up with when they participated. In South Carolina and Ohio, camp leaders discussed their essential and core camp activities, and we chose several to focus on. In South Carolina, the four values on our character compass for the activity were growth, respect, kindness, and integrity. In Ohio, our compass also included growth and respect, along with community and confidence. Both groups chose a variety of structured and unstructured activities to work with. Both chose all-camp activity, bedtime, and meals. In South Carolina, they added swimming and transitions, while in Ohio they added shooting sports, nature hike, and chores. Included here are the lists from each of the activity posters, combining South Carolina and Ohio responses when activities overlapped.

All-camp activity

• Growth: trying and encouraging new activities and stepping into leadership roles; learning from mistakes; reflecting on growth at the end of the week — what did you learn?
• Respect: modeling behavior, such as hands to ourselves, respecting time, and respecting others’ experiences; listening; allowing or encouraging campers who may choose not to participate, or give alternative choices for participation; setting up normative behavior so kids can build agency
• Kindness: helping others; making sure no one is left out
• Integrity: playing by the rules; owning up to mistakes and learning from them
• Community: modeling active engagement with a variety of campers
• Confidence: demonstrate being silly, accepting failure, good sportsmanship, and being inclusive

Bedtime

• Growth: giving opportunities for self-reflection; setting example of patterns when getting ready for bed and using positive reinforcement
• Respect: encouraging quiet times; keeping cabin clean and tidy; keeping a consistent bedtime routine; setting expectations; encouraging but not forcing kids to reflect; respecting individual bed spaces
• Kindness: giving each camper a compliment
• Integrity: praising the campers who are following the bedtime routine, but reminding the campers who are not about the importance of — and the results/natural consequences of — their actions
• Community: creating an environment where kids feel safe, calm, etc.
• Confidence: recognizing individual campers’ needs (bedtime habits/routines)

Meals

• Growth: modeling positive interactions with others; encouraging trying new foods
• Respect: model boundary setting, respect for different likes/dislikes; modeling meal etiquette, manners, and how to build a respectful community; cleaning, and saying “please” and “thank you”
• Kindness: interacting with campers at the table
• Integrity: following food safety protocols; making sure everyone gets a serving
• Community: mix and meet new people and encourage conversation with conversation cards
• Confidence: encouragement to try new things and demonstrate; understanding of portions; allow campers to serve themselves; teaching life skills

Swimming

• Growth: teaching campers how to swim; continuing to think about activities — what is next after camp?
• Respect: not forcing campers out of their comfort zone
• Kindness: encouraging those who are afraid or anxious; encouraging friendships
• Integrity: following pool rules

Transitions

• Growth: teachable moments, games, group initiatives during transitions; set expectations for the next activity
• Respect: cleaning areas before transitioning
• Kindness: remaining positive and complimenting/uplifting/encouraging campers
• Integrity: “It’s not your trash, but it is your camp” — modeling picking up trash during walking transitions

Shooting sports

• Growth: pairing goal setting with individualized support to help campers meet goals
• Respect: demonstrating safety, rules, structure, and modeling
• Community: bullseye dance or saying things like, “You can do it!” or “You can do hard things!”
• Confidence: staff role modeling expectations; knowledge of equipment, safety, etc.

Nature hike

• Growth: reflecting on what we learned on the hike
• Respect: leave no trace
• Community: staff “sandwich”
• Confidence: allow kids to identify parts of nature and lead; teaching confidence by showing it is OK to experience and touch nature, as well as get dirty and experience new things

Chores

• Growth: staff explain expectations and then step back
• Respect: role model respecting campers
• Community: lead by example to show community through teamwork, teaching ownership/life skills, and encouragement
• Confidence: show appreciation of campers’ efforts

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Amanda Palmer, MS, is a camp researcher, trainer, consultant, and doctoral candidate at the University of Idaho, researching youth development within the camp industry. Amanda is a former camper, camp counselor, and mother of four campers of her own. She holds a master’s degree in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism Management. Amanda has designed and conducted on-site research studies for organizations such as 4-H, Girl Scouts, and faith-based camps, with a focus on assisting each camp to align staff practices with their mission-based values. Contact Amanda at [email protected]