Below are how we have defined the goals we hope to achieve through the Staff Scholarship.
Staff Retention
The number one goal of this scholarship is staff retention. The brutally honest truth that camp staff members are often faced with is that college is expensive and sometimes you need to leave camp staff for financial reasons. This scholarship may be just the bonus that keeps a really good staff member coming back. Good staff members are motivated, hard-working, dedicated, and trustworthy, amongst many other qualities. Their levels of effort and ability would make them valuable members to any team. It is in camp’s best interest to make sure they are on our team.
Staff Reward
Camp Wilderness is populated by a dedicated staff that seems to live on going the extra mile. Many staff members come to camp weeks in advance to set up areas and help with camp maintenance and preparation. They chose to do this despite not being paid for that time. They are dedicated to Camp Wilderness, and a scholarship would help to prove that Camp Wilderness is dedicated to them as well.
Improvement of Camp
With a high number of return staff members we are able to do more. The quality of the camp program grows exponentially with the percent of returning staff that we have. Not only is quality of program affected, but quantity is as well. Camp program is allowed to grow because we have the freedom to try new things. We can add new things to camp, both in the form of new merit badges offered and in the form of new activities at camp. If staff members feel comfortable teaching their merit badge they are more likely to bring outside resources into the class to improve both their teaching and the student’s learning. If the program already implemented is running smoothly, it gives the staff the ability to add activities to it.
Retention of Campers
Campers love to come back to see their favorite counselor. Someone needs to do little more than come to a single troop check-in to understand this. Campers’ faces light up when they see a counselor that they remember from years gone by. They yell from vehicles to get that counselor’s attention and love to reminisce about a class that had been taught to them.
Retention of Troops
If a scoutmaster trusts the staff they will come back. That trust is built on familiar faces. The scoutmaster knows that the staff is strong because they have witnessed what the staff has been able to accomplish in previous years. This will give the scoutmaster the incentive to return because they know that Camp Wilderness offers a good experience.
Staff Continuity
Return staff are able to teach the new staff. Good area directors make their whole staff better. Good assistant directors make good future directors. When you have to replace entire areas you spend the first month of camp trying to get those people up to speed. This means that you have cheated four sessions of campers out of the best experience possible. Staff members that work their way up in an area learn the ins and outs of an area and become better staff members.
Camp Continuity
Camp traditions are carried on by return members. Camp Wilderness’s tradition has become excellence. Return staff members know that there is more expected from them. They know that Camp Wilderness is something much more than a job. They know that what we build here is something that will touch generations. Return staff members take great pride in this responsibility and it shows.
Staff to Scoutmaster Relationship
Staff and scoutmasters
are able to become friends when they see each other year in and year out. This
friendship brings with it the ability to communicate concerns about the camp
with the staff and therefore another avenue by which to get feedback to improve
the camp.
Building Role Models
When a camper sees
the same staff member every year they begin to see that staff member as a role
model. This is the best possible outcome of camp. To provide a good role model
for impressionable campers is the responsibility of the camp. When good staff
members are still here year after year they are able to affect more and more
campers for the better.
Please conatact the webmaster with any changes or suggestions at nlalumni@northernlightsalumni.com
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Last Updated 12.30.2007