Running a successful summer camp means providing a fun way for youth to make friends, but two Florida YMCAs are taking the benefits of these experiences a step further. With a focus on teaching self-efficacy, the importance of mental health and other useful skills, the YMCA of the Suncoast and Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA ensure these values are instilled in youth from a young age.
YMCA Camp Cristina, a branch of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, does this through their variety of programming including sports, performing arts, and outdoor adventure camps that teach kids plant and animal identification and more. According to Meagan Springer, the associate executive director of YMCA Camp Cristina, these activities are infused with teaching the importance of mental health and other self-development skills.
For example, youth learn how breathing techniques and the process of archery can be implemented into everyday life.
“We’re trying to better everyone through all the activities we offer,” explained Springer. “Our type of positive behavior support is in concert with the YMCA’s character values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. We’re looking to build kids up and increase their self-efficacy.”
At the end of the week, Camp Cristina hosts award ceremonies for campers who exhibited those values to further encourage self-development. Springer also makes sure to let parents know how successful their kids are at camp. She emphasized how sharing positive developments with adults benefits their engagement and balances out negative aspects of facilitating camp that staff face.
“Positive things need to happen and you need to acknowledge those,” said Springer. “When you properly acknowledge what’s good, the bad stuff isn’t the only thing of importance. It’s good for you to know all the good things you’re doing as well. Acknowledging those outcomes helps everybody around you.”
Engaging Parents
Beth Gettig, the vice president of youth development at the YMCA of the Suncoast, emphasized communicating with parents about their child’s experience. The Y uses the Remind app to send messages to parents. It also uses stickers to remind parents to ask what they experienced at camp.
Camp Cristina also uses these stickers and has a debriefing time at the end of the day where campers are asked what their favorite part of the day was. Because of this, campers have something fresh on their mind to say when their parents ask how their day was.
“Family engagement is a huge thing,” said Gettig. “It’s part of our strategic plan as well to make sure we’re engaging families and they learn what children are doing in camp. It can be tough because parents are busy. They’re working, and we provide a service so they can work and know their child Is safe. It’s a challenge to ensure our families are connected.”
One example of how the YMCA of the Suncoast promotes relationship development within its families is when it began offering dinner to children and their families in its afterschool program. Initiatives like this have spread to summer camp because of the effectiveness of offering a meal to kids and their parents in between programming.
Springer explained how as a new generation has become parents, youth programming facilitators are facing new challenges. There are a variety of parenting styles and parents have different needs when it comes to communication, understanding circumstances and more.
“Everybody’s different with their child,” explained Springer. “Accommodating families is a bit of a challenge because you really have to adjust how you do so. Things are just different and as society progresses, that’s the way it is.”
Staffing Challenges
A challenge Gettig expressed is finding the right staff to run the camp. Having great staff dedicated to providing the best experience for participants is important to successfully run a summer camp. Staff should be able to engage with kids all day, but potential employees are harder to attract, especially as a nonprofit.
Beyond hiring, staff also must be educated and trained to deal with potential behavioral challenges. Both aspects present a unique, complex challenge for the YMCA of the Suncoast.
“One of the key elements to a successful summer camp is having staff who are excited,” explained Gettig. “It’s about finding people who want to make an impact in a child’s life. Even across the Y movement and with other youth-serving organizations, staffing tends to be a challenge.”
By prioritizing mental health, self-efficacy and family engagement, these YMCAs are not only providing memorable experiences, but are also making a lasting impact on the lives of their campers. While summer camp is a place for fun, it can also be a valuable time to promote important life skills youth can keep forever.
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