Welcome, CIT’s!
What a wonderful start it has been to the CIT program!
We are so excited for the upcoming weeks where our CITs will learn the fundamentals of being a Camp Amicus counsellor and begin working with campers.
We started the week by bringing CITs through some of the training that camp counsellors do. First, we took the time to get to know each other as building relationships is the foundation of teamwork. We then worked on a group contract to establish rules, boundaries and expectations of the CIT program. Exposing the CITs to the camp contract is also important because we do this with campers on their first day.
Overall, these programs are designed to help the CITs gain familiarity, become more comfortable and gather knowledge about the day-to-day routine of being a camp counsellor. We reviewed the expectations, roles and responsibilities of a camp counsellor. These include: arriving on time, dressing appropriately, acting professionally, asking questions and not using our phones. We also discussed the skills and traits that make camp counsellors successful: patience, respect and being able to match a group’s energy were just a few that we talked about.
As the week progressed, CIT’s started integrating themselves into the fabric of camp. We started by participating in camp wide game. Campers were immediately excited to have us around and we all really enjoyed participating in the game of Fear Factor. Next up, we joined some choice activities to get to know the campers and to watch how the counsellors do their jobs. We will be leading choice activities next week, so it was great to see an example from the counsellors!
In addition to spending time with the campers, we continued to build practical camp and life skills throughout the week. We worked on running back pocket games for the group every day and focused on how to present the games like a counsellor. We also learned the basics of how to program plan, and visited the storage area to see all the camp supplies.
Later on in the week, we worked on our resumes and learned how to ace job interviews. We discussed how a great way to present yourself to an employer is to be yourself, provide specific examples from your past experiences, and show your passion for the job.
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To sum it up, it was a great first week at the CIT program. We learned a lot about working at camp, with our population of kids, and are looking forward to applying it next week alongside the counsellors.
Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.