In June 2007, a Building Strong Kids workshop was conducted for YMCA day camp staff. The two-hour workshop was delivered at the start of their three-day training session that takes place the week before camp begins.
The purpose of the workshop was to help the day camp staff understand the value of building positive relationships, engaging and empowering young people, purposefully doing things with young people, and using a strength-based approach to build strong kids.
Building strong kids is a part of the YMCA’s mission and a vital component of its Building a Healthy Community Initiative.
The trainer concentrated on two outcomes for the workshop and follow-up assessments:
- 100 percent of participants will understand their role in making a difference for young people.
- 70 percent of participants will be able to use the RAISE principles in their work.
Build Relationships
Engage Adults and young people together
Be Intentional
Build on Strengths
Empower young people
There were 27 day camp staff members, made up of young men and women who averaged age 17, present at the workshop. The group was equally divided in half between male and female, experienced and first-time counselors. Three of these participants were site coordinators and one was the supervisor of all summer day camps.
Five weeks into the camping session, a Building Strong Kids checkup was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the workshop content in relation to staff actions. The checklist used the things that counselors would most likely do to demonstrate the RAISE principles. All 27 counselors were asked to think about their day at camp and read the checklist. If they were certain that they had completed the specific action, they added a check mark; if they had not or were not sure if they had, they left it blank.
The extremely positive reaction from parents who noticed the behaviors introduced at the workshop reinforced how YMCA day camps had enhanced their efforts to build strong kids. “I was so impressed with the camp counselors,” stated a parent on a feedback form. “They know children by their names and go out of their way. I love the itinerary so that we can discuss the day with our son and talk about the next exciting day of activities. I just love it and have recommended it to so many people.”
