Ina's reflection
Keywords:
Now that camp has officially started, describe one challenge and how you overcame it during the transition to camp duties.
One major challenge during camp so far was transitioning from the junior class to the intermediate class since Catherine and Eric were moved to Stonebridge. Not only was the intermediate size class bigger, but they are older and more rowdy. The first day Carlos and I moved to the intermediate class was the most difficult day I have had so far during camp. I overcame this challenge by experimenting with ways to interact with 6-8 year olds since it’s different from managing 5 year olds. I asked more about their interests and their lives and tried to integrate these things into our lessons. I found that this helped a lot with building rapport. I also found that I need to be more stern with them in general compared to the juniors.
Describe your top 3 camp moments thus far and why they stand out to you.
My favourite memory from camp so far was the colour changing milk experiment that we did with the juniors during the first week. It was really fun showing the juniors how these substances interact to create the colour explosion they saw on their plates. They were really fascinated and it was nice to see. Another memory I liked was the Beva block bridge building challenge. The intermediates worked hard on their creations and even if their bridges broke, they didn’t give up. They enjoyed seeing that their hard work paid off when we were able to stack over 40 books on each bridge! Lastly, as a 5-minute break, I introduced the juniors to the “Cha-Cha Slide” dance. They had a lot of fun and there was lots of laughter! This was a dance I enjoyed as a kid so it was really nice seeing them enjoy it too.
Being a month into camp, how do you see the summer camp experience contributing to your personal and professional growth?
Now that we’re a month into summer camp, so far I’ve learned a lot about communication, collaboration and conflict resolution. Communication and collaboration are key aspects of ensuring that the camp runs smoothly. I have learned how to regularly and effortlessly communicate with my co-counsellor Carlos throughout the day. I’ve also been trying to improve my communication with the volunteers and try to encourage them to communicate with us more as well. Additionally, I have learned a lot about conflict resolution by clearing up many disagreements between campers. These skills are extremely useful for future professional endeavors. In general, working with children contributes significantly to my future career goal of becoming a developmental clinical psychologist.
Please nominate someone who deserves the employee of the month award and explain why briefly. You can nominate more than one person.
Eric and Catherine for dealing with being moved to Stonebridge at such short notice and managing a new large class all of a sudden.
Christina and Dorothy for being an incredible site leader at Stonebridge and managing all those campers.
Megan for being an amazing assistant site leader to Anjali and helping to deal with any troublesome kids.
Share photos of fun times you've had while at camp!
English (Canada) 
Français du Canada 