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Brenda Wright
Posts:4
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| 03/19/2008 12:04 AM |
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With respect to Paid Day Camp staff, I have come from a council that had a blend of paid and volunteer staff. It was an extremely successful program that I feel would greatly benefit Palmetto council. I do have a few questions:
1) Why do all of the district Day camps have to occur on the same week?
2) Why can't the Day Camp programs be a parnership between the Council and the Districts?
3) Who says that a paid staff program has to cost more?
4) And, by the way, we already bring in boyscout volunteers to assist with Day Camp. However, it is hard to compete with other paying options that the scouts have in the summer.
Answer: Roving Day Camp
Roving Day Camp is the best of both worlds.
* Paid staff for the key positions; directors and certified staff needed for specific program areas.
* The scouts in highschool fill the other positions as the camp comes to their district. They are paid by being given a small stipend, room, and board to camp out the week of camp. And, they gain expertise to be able to some day work as staff at CBH.
* The remaining staff is gathered through those that volunteer (scouts and adults) and the leaders that come with the cubs to camp.
* The paid staff travels weekly from one district to another for each camp week. This brings the camp to the cubs and keeps it local.
* The same staff doing 5 camp weeks reduces the amount of overall staff that is needed and allows the staff to perfect the camp activities they are offering; instead of training someone for just 1 week of activity.
* 1 overall camp program reduces the amount of equipment that is needed by the Day camp and saves money.
* There is also the higher quality, more consistent program that would be available for all districts; even the smaller ones. (For example, do all of the Day camps have water activities and the shooting sports that can only be offered at the district level and above?)
* Think about it for a moment. 5 camp weeks. Doesn't that sound similar to the number of weeks for summer employment for the college kids? Or the number of weeks teachers are out of school? The people are out there with the skills to help our camps be even better. We just need to change our format to include them.
* Also, this would make it possible for a district to offer a second week of Day camp to be able to have more boys come to camp. Right now, with only volunteer staff, it is next to impossible for a district to get enough staff for a second week. York, for example, really needs a second week of camp. But, does not have the volunteer resources to pull it off.
* All of this with a paid staff does not replace the hard working staff we have doing Day Camp now; it just takes some of the burden off your shoulders. And in the long run will cost about the same as we are charging now. Maybe even less.
* Buying supplies in larger quantities will save more money.
* If a boy misses camp with his den/pack, he could always attend on another canp week in a different district.
* Also, why can't we offer camperships to cubs too? That will increase the numbers of our scouts that can attend camp.
Whatever you do. Please don't use the excuse that leaders need to be free for all camp weeks and can't allow Day Camp to overlap with other camp weeks. If that really is the case, then we are not recruiting and training enough leadership in the units. Or, maybe units need to buddy up in 2's to assist each other to get through Day camp and Webelos camp.
There are so many resources right here in our council to make this a reality. But, the first thing we need to do is change how we think about Day Camp.
And, NO. Paid staff SHOULD NOT be the last resort. I have seen it as a parent/leader and staff. It really does produce a fine, well-rounded summer program for the cubs. And along the way also strengthens the leadership skills of our boyscouts.
This truly is a win-win situation.
Please consider it as we look towards next year and make our scouting calendars.
YiS,
Brenda Wright
York District Activities Chair
ASM Troop 108
Associate Advisor Venture Crew 250
From: emaillist@palmettocouncil.orgTo: movingwright@msn.comDate: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:31:48 -0400Subject: SubscribedEmail (4290d0df-b03c-4e09-ac02-5764ab357d96)At 03/18/2008 11:48 AM a message was posted to a thread you were tracking.RE: Cub Scout Camp Question, etc. ... by William Wallace TabbotHi Nancy, THAT IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION! ... I Know of at least one camp in the Washington, DC area that only use paid people though I'm not sure what their qualifications are because none of them looked older than High School age working a summer job much like you see young teen aged lifeguards doing every summer at every community pool around the country. Because of that, I doubt very seriously that they are being paid more than minimum wage. ... And, I'm sure that there are other Scout camps that do the same thing but I could just think of that one off the top of my head. Having said all that, my initial response to your question would be ... ONLY USE PAID PROFFESSIONALS AS AN ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT. ... I have another option that maybe we could consider ... just a suggestion, so you can take it for what it's worth ... I saw an article in Boys Life (Don't remember which issue) where Cub Scout Camps were going to using all Order of the Arrow volunteers. ... That really makes a lot of sense if you think about it. ... The Order of the Arrow is a camping fraternity, it gives them valuable leadership experience, and provides a large pool of volunteers readily available to "man" the Cub Scout Camps, they probably have more scouting knowledge even at their young ages than most parent volunteers. ... That would be a WIN - WIN situation all the way around! ... Also, maybe we could expand it to include Eagle Scouts and/or Eagle Scout candidates and Venture Scouts. This would provide an even larger volunteer pool from which to draw from. Another idea, ... If you wanted to go the paid route, why not utilize the AmeriCorps Volunteers? ... With the Federal Government Subsidy that is already built into the program, the actual net per dieum comes to more like farm labor wages which is much less than minimum wage. They get paid more than that because of the subsidy but we only have to pay a fraction of their wages because the government is already paying the balance. ... OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE ALREADY FUNDING THIS, WHY NOT USE THEM! ... This is exactly the type of service that AmeriCorps was designed to provide in the first place! Just a couple of ideas I thought I would float out there. ... Hope this helps! I would love to here your or anyone elses feedback on this! Thanks, William Wallace Tabbot Parent, Pack 2 Spartanburg To view the complete thread and reply, please visit:http://www.palmettocouncil.org/Forums/tabid/397/view/topic/postid/40/ptarget/140/Default.aspxYou were sent this email because you opted to receive email notifications when someone responded to this thread. To unsubscribe to this thread please visit your user profile page delete this post from your subscribed topics.Thank you,Palmetto Council
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nwasness
Posts:14
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| 03/19/2008 8:08 AM |
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Hi Brenda
Thank you for your advice. I will bring a copy to my meeting with the Council today.
Nancy Wasness
CS Roundtable Commissioner/Unit Commissioner
CS Day Camp Director
Pinckney District, Palmetto Council, BSA
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Nancy Wasness
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