Last month I wrote about how NaCoMe isn't shy about asking for help. We're incredibly grateful for all the different ways that our community supports us. And this month, I'm going to ask for some specific help: praying for our summer staff.
There is not a more influential ingredient to our summer camp programs than our summer staff. This group is the key to the experience for our summer campers and our summer retreat groups. Right now we're in the middle of staff training, an intense experience designed to prepare these young adults to not only assume responsibility for the campers' safety but also to create the magic of camp for everyone that comes this summer. That's a lot to ask for, and we know it. Staff training sessions run from the obvious (rules and personnel policies) to the abstract and creative (letting all of these counselors completely design our evening All Camp Games). One of my favorite sessions each year is letting the summer staff decide for themselves what goals they want to set. If this group had a mission statement, what would it be? This year, they came up with this:
Every Camper or Guest at NaCoMe will experience:
1) Acceptance & Belonging
2) Something Outside Their Comfort Zone
3) A Safe Environment to Face Challenges and Grow in Their Faith
We might be throwing a lot at these young adults, but I'm here to tell you that they'll rise to the occasion - I've seen it countless times already. Please join me in praying for this incredible staff as they lead our summer campers and retreat guests through a great summer!
-Ryan "Flash" Moore, Director
Director's Corner - April 2019
It's April 30th, which means we're cutting this month's newsletter pretty close. And while I would like to say that it's on purpose, it isn't. We value authenticity here at NaCoMe, so I have to come clean. I was under the weather for a couple days last week, and between summer camp preparations and retreat groups starting on weekdays in addition to the normal weekends, I haven't had any time to write this.
Director's Corner - March 2019
Director's Corner - February 2019
Director's Corner - January 2019
When I was a counselor at camp in college, I had a camper named Beans. It wasn't his real name; I don't even remember his real name. But I remember Beans. After his parents dropped him off in my cabin, we went to meet up with our family group and start playing games to learn each other's names. He announced himself as Beans.
Director's Corner - December 2018
Director's Corner - November 2018
Recently I found myself in a checkout line wearing a NaCoMe shirt. The gentleman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me he remembered coming to NaCoMe as a kid. He shared a couple of memories and then with the gracefulness of an octopus in rollerskates he hit me with "Is the creek still running?" and waited.
Director's Corner - October 2018
Director's Corner - September 2018
I'm consistently surprised by a tree in my front yard. By the middle of September, it has already dropped enough leaves to cover the gravel where I park my car and the driveway. Every year since I've been at NaCoMe, I worry that somehow this tree is dropping leaves too early; that maybe there won't be any left when all the other trees are showing off their best colors.
Director's Corner - August 2018
Summer Camp 2018 By The Numbers
One of the most important things we do at NaCoMe is measure our results. Like any company or organization, we want to know if we’re meeting our goals. One of our primary tools in evaluating and measuring our summer camp program is the camper survey. Every camper completes one on the last day of camp. And here are some of the most notable results from this summer.
Director's Corner - July 2018
There's a scene in the movie Gladiator where Russell Crowe's character, Maximus, is rallying his troops. Before his Roman centurions battle the army from Germania, he is giving them one final inspirational speech. Facing the inevitability that many of his men will die, Maximus encourages them to hold the line with him, because "what we do in life echoes in eternity." It's one of my favorite movie quotes, and while NaCoMe isn't fighting any wars, it's still true for us here.
Director's Corner - June 2018
I'm constantly wrestling with the best way to describe summer camp to people. Depending on who's asking, and in what context, my answer will change. But there is one exception. College students applying to serve on summer staff get the same analogy every time: "It's like running Saturday Night Live for 24 hours a day, and the only commercial break is when you're asleep... but the commercial break could always end earlier than you expect."
Director's Corner - May 2018
Two New Volunteer Projects!
Director's Corner - March 2018
I remember celebrating Easter as a kid, and as I grew up I remember starting to connect the dots on what Holy Week was. But until very recently, I was unaware that Easter itself was not actually part of Holy Week (it begins the season known as Eastertide which leads to Pentecost). Before I knew this, the fundamental importance of "those other days" of Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) was a product of Easter. All of these days are only worth celebrating because Easter followed them on Sunday.
Director's Corner - February 2018
I was visiting a church to talk about camp recently and a camper came right up to me, pulled out her phone, and showed me a string of messages from her summer camp family group's ongoing group chat. I was genuinely impressed. Not about the group chat, but about how important it was to her. She talked about the value that these particular people and this particular string of messages has. In a world of increasingly shallow connections, these kids have found depth. And they're keeping that depth going using technology in ways that past generations couldn't.
Director's Corner - January 2018
Director's Corner - December 2017
"I can promise you, it's possible," was all my counselor would say. I was maybe 11 years old at summer camp and my group was working through a challenge on the Low Ropes course. This particular element involved getting the entire group of 14 campers across three wooden islands that could fit about 3-4 people each.
Director's Corner - November 2017
You know that thing in award shows like the Oscars or the Grammys where they play music as a not-so-subtle cue to whoever is accepting the award that it's time to leave the stage? I'm torn on it. I get it in the sense that, as a viewer, I don't care to listen to someone rattle off names of people I've never heard of. Let's just keep this whole thing moving so I can find out who wins Best Whatever. But on the other hand, I do appreciate that these people receiving the awards are aware that there is a multitude of other people that have put them in position to receive such an award.