Department Heads Develop Standards and Awards
By Cleveland Smith
Learning is fun. We are naturally wired to enjoy learning in its purest form: when it’s engaging, interesting and relevant to our own lives. This is why Kooch-i-ching is fun; our campers and staff learn and grow together in a supportive community, presenting challenges for each other in a “high expectation, high support” environment.
Our morning program is just one area of this process. When our whole program—unit activities, morning classes, wilderness trips—is properly in-sync, each facet works together toward the common goal of us all becoming better men—young and old(er).
Campers rig their boats in sailing class. (Kate Downey)
We have always had a strong morning program at Kooch-i-ching. For the past few summers, I have had the privilege to coordinate and supervise this program, working with department heads to make sure they have what they need in terms of materials, staff and planning to offer a solid class.
At the end of each session, I conduct a simple survey for campers, asking them how they felt about each of their classes: “Would you take this class again—yes or no?” I have discovered two major (unsurprising) findings: 1) Campers love the morning program. The scores are always good overall. 2) The classes with the best scores have certain things in common: staff who are enthusiastic and personable, and content and skills that are sequential. In other words, our best classes have caring, competent staff who teach skills that lead somewhere—skills that campers can build on, year after year.
A LAYERED APPROACH
As we all know, the summer of 2020 was a disappointment. We all wanted to go up to camp to learn, grow and have fun together. It’s what we had dreamt about all year long. In true Kooch fashion, however, our staff came to terms with reality and moved past it. We asked ourselves: How can we make this whole thing better for the summers that follow? What have we always wanted to do but never had the time?
Preps boil water in a Chippewa kitchen in woodsmanship class. (Kate Downey)
In the case of our morning program, the answer was to develop a more sequential, standards-based approach to all of our classes, in which each class uses fundamental standards to guide each lesson. The department heads and I took a layered approach to this process.
We collaborated in ways we never have been able to before, discussing and critiquing each other’s instructional styles and lesson plans. We built standards and lesson plans, and we documented everything digitally so that we don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” when there is turnover in department leadership. We made simple instructional videos so that entry-level staff can gain basic skills and background knowledge prior to Day 1 of class.
NOVICE TO MASTER
We did it! I can’t fully express the pride I felt for each of our department heads as they worked week after week to build an improved program. Each one rose to the challenge and surpassed it. With our new model, each standard and lesson builds on the last, which gives the beginner camper the opportunity to become a master. It paves the way for the novice to join the ranks of “teacher” through a self-sustaining system in which we grow our own leaders.
Additionally, most of our classes created a standards-based Camp K award, which campers will be able to pursue in the summer of 2021. In sum, I wasn’t surprised, but I was proud of what we accomplished. We’re Kooch—that’s what we do.
This article was originally published in the Fall 2020 Tumpline.