The Making of a Huawni Staff
Camp is only 5 days away and we are so excited to see our Huawni Campers very soon! I wanted to share a sneak peak of what’s happening at Camp. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening behind the scenes. The biggest thing is the making of this summer’s Huawni Staff. So much goes on to rehire, hire, train, and bring together a group of 60 or so college-aged young people.
A Huawni Tradition
Staff Orientation is big for several reasons…it truly is more than just a summer camp job or internship. First and foremost, our goal is to equip our staff to lead and love this summer. It’s first about safety, and second about every Huawni Camper having the time of their life. Orientation is also all about staff coming together, knowing each other better, friendships blooming, and even working through conflict! I overheard a conversation yesterday with staff where Counselors from different states were already planning on a post summer hangout. Bottom line— this staff is all in and here for the right reasons. They are chomping at the bit for the kids to show up this Sunday. Another big tradition during Orientation is work duty (a.k.a. WD). We had a crew of about 10 staff out before Orientation to work on Daddy Earl’s Work Crew. This week counselors are getting their hands dirty with some old-school WD. Ironically, it’s working hard together that many times brings an even closer bond for staffers. We also have FUN at Orientation…which we love for staff to do and is obviously part of what Huawni is all about. I told some of our Men’s Staff yesterday that my hope is that at some point in the summer, they will laugh the hardest they’ve laughed in their life. A few nights ago staff Night Crittered, and tonight we have our first all staff sand volleyball tournament. Fun is not in short supply this week. Today we’re training on Cabin Issues, Health and Wellness, leading Boys and Girls Camp, with a sprinkle of WD mixed in.
Lots of Training
Our Huawni Staff has been hard at it making sure they’re trained and ready to go for this summer. Last week our Senior Counselor and Head Lifeguard (LG) Taylor Hepburn trained and certified our Lifeguarding Staff. It’s a big deal to have someone of Taylor’s caliber watching over and overseeing our water activities. Water safety is of utmost importance, and she’s really preparing this crew. Senior counselor and Ropes Instructor Anna Taylor spent all of last week as well training our Ropes Crew. Similar to water safety, we take ropes training very seriously for safety purposes. It was extra fun this year because Anna (and Billy) got to train our ropes staff on our new Giant Swing! Senior Counselor Bryan Guice (along with James Walker) trained our Archery Team and gave our Archery course a bit of an upgrade. Senior Counselor Anna Craig has been diligently prepping for our Running Deer Program, while Adam Gallagher has been pumping up staff and putting together a full and fun lineup for Opening Night Show.
Huawni Directors
Directors at Camp have always played a key role in what makes Huawni what it is.This summer I am overjoyed and so proud of our Directing team. They all know Huawni and have been here for a quite a while. They’ve stepped up in Orientation big time. Billy Martin is our Men’s Staff Director, Alex Perez is our Women’s Staff Director, Tim Krueger is our Campus Director, and Lauren McCrory is our Family Liaison. They are loving our staff so well and it’s a joy to work with them.
We are excited to see you soon! I want to reiterate that your children this summer will be with exceptional leaders and young people….young people that we want Bear and John Brooks to be around. For some of you— we’ll see you Sunday! For everyone else….we can’t wait to see you soon!
For those of you who have been through a Huawni Staff Orientation, what is your fondest memory? Please comment below!
