Staff Training Part 2
Staff Orientation is coming to a close and we are gearing up for a big day tomorrow in Opening Day.
This Staff Orientation has been special for a few reasons. First of all, we are loving this summer’s staff. We have around 60% or so that were here last summer, and everyone seems to to be enjoying themselves and catching understanding what sets Huawni apart.
So what did Staff Orientation look like this week? Here’s a quick rundown. Tuesday we spent a lot of time talking about the Huawni culture and why we do what we do. We had another opportunity to hear from John Marek (LPC-S) as he led our identity session. We got to process the idea of G.O.L.D. (very appropriate here at Huawni as we’re all about gold things…Golden Running Deer, Golden Pine Cone, gold arrow trophies, etc). To learn more, go here. We spent the rest of the day discussing four big topics— true self vs. false self, listening, gossip, and our own Myers Briggs personality tests. I got to lead the true self vs. false self session and was very encouraged by our counselors input. Richard Rohr describes our false self as “who we think we are. It is our mental self-image and social agreement, which most people spend their whole lives living up to— or down to. It will die when we die. It is endlessly fragile, needy, and insecure…..yet most people spend their entire lives projecting, protecting, and maintaining this fiction.” We had some great discussion around what this looks like even at Camp. Camp is usually a place where our campers feel comfortable in their own skin, and our hope is that both campers and staff can truly live in their true selves and even learn how to be aware and catch themselves when they are walking in insecurity (i.e. our false self).
Thursday was a real day at Camp (without the campers obviously) as we wanted our counselors to better know what a day looks like and also get practice running activities. We also sprinkled in a good dose of work duty as we are putting the finishing touches on making camp look beautiful. It is very green as we’ve gotten quite a bit of rain!
Friday culminated into maybe my most favorite part of Orientation yet— our Parent Q&A Panel. We invited a few of our current parents (as well as former directors who also are current camp parents) as we wanted to really get in the shoes of our parents and their perspective on sending their children to camp. Our time was filled with both laughter and tears as our parents poured out their heart for their children, Huawni, and their hopes for their children this summer. Here are some memorable quotes from our Huawni Parents last night.
I want my kid to be like you. – Clay H.
I want them to leave missing you and someone in their cabin. – Rob P.
It’s like gold… – Lauren L.
I experienced grace at Camp Huawni. – Clay H.
Whatever you are doing…you make it the thing to do! – Rob P.
I learned to be vulnerable at summer tree. – Clay H.
Laugh with our kids. Laughter is so good for the soul. – Rob P.
I want you to check in regularly to get a pulse on how his camp is going. – Clay H.
Ha ha ha ha ha….. – all of staff due to Chris W.
Today we are practicing our Opening Day run through along with some last minute work duty. This afternoon we’ll take a little break and then celebrate with a pre-summer staff dinner.
We are excited to see all of our Session 1 campers tomorrow!!!
Warm regards,
Travis
