In considering specific groups that might most benefit from an ALP experience and are easily identified, summer camp counselor staffs jumped right out at us. With years of varied camp experience between us ranging from camper to parent to counselor, director and owner it became apparent that between our ALP leaders we have a truly comprehensive take on camp.

Creating a dynamic, unified and effective camp staff is a long term project, but one that starts somewhat anew each May as new personalities are mixed with veteran counselors with just a week or two of training and preparation before the campers arrive. Counselors are the heart and soul of each camp and the more successful they are in what they do, the better job the camp does in providing the camp experience they want to provide to each and every camper. Try as camps might, I think many directors would admit to a bit of hollowness or even apprehension regarding how ready the staff is as staff training ends and campers arrive.

Effective camp staff training faces a number of challenges. Lack of time, physical camp preparation needs, camp leadership being pulled in different directions, the complexity of the camp program and culture and the fact that the newly formed camp staff will almost always include mostly college age people-- some with years of experience at the specific camp to young people arriving for the first time with no real clue about what the camp (or the US for that matter) is all about.

Realistically, staff training could go on all summer and there's a part of us that would never be satisfied that enough had been done. The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of counselors rise to the occasion and do a great job. Our goal with the CAMP programs is to take staff training up a notch unifyfing camp staff in their common purpose and providing each counselor with more tools and a better understanding of their role and responsibilities. Our aim is to do this effectively with unique and interesting hands-on activities and fresh faces. Sometimes it just takes a different voice presenting the same information in a different way to get a point across.