BETTER INTRODUCTIONS OF STAFF, YOUTH

NAS WHITING FIELD, Florida -- Staff here report that having staff play "Bag of Tricks" games with youth during the initial parent orientation, not only gives parents time to fill out paperwork, but helps youth and adult mentors become introduced in a fun atmosphere.

MARK YOUR SUPPLIES ON THE FIRST DAY

Once youth are arrived at your camp, you immediately have several backpacks full of supplies that can quickly become mixed up among the youth.  It is helpful to mark water bottles, caps, binders, sweat shirts and T-shirts the first day of camp.  Paint markers work well to permanently mark items.

CANOE TRIP CAN BE COMMUNITY SERVICE

NAS WHITING FIELD, Florida -- A canoe trip along the river bank here served as both a field trip and community service.  Mentors and DEFY youth filled eight garbage bags of trash from along the river bank during their canoe outing.  Youth learned about nature and ecology in the same outing.

TEACH CURRICULUM TO VOLUNTEERS TOO

Our staff here suggests that mentors teach curriculum topics during their staff training to allow all volunteers to become better acquainted with the curriculum, as well as better prepared for their own presentations to the youth.

IT'S ALL IN THE PMG

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The following is a quote taken from a Phase I final report.

"...I also learned to not take the word of previous DEFY participants as gospel...The program could have run smoother and better if I had just read the (Program Management Guide), 75 percent of the work is already done.  I just needed to follow the book."

NOTEBOOKS HELP MENTORS ON THE GO

KEY WEST, Florida. -- Any adult mentor who has been through a DEFY camp knows it is a fast-paced job. Mentors in Key West found that pasting a reduced version of the daily schedule on pocket-sized notebooks helps to keep track of the day, and also gives them something to take notes on so they can bring up issues during the evening staff meetings.

MILITARY VOLUNTEERS WORK BEST ON T.A.D

It is beneficial to have military volunteers on no-cost TAD orders during the leadership camp to improve planning and assure attendance. Make sure orders are approved well in advance to prevent any last-minute cancellations.

CONTINUED  POSITIVE  EXPOSURE

Our Key West team also came up with this idea to continue awareness by featuring a DEFY youth in each issue of the base's newspaper.

For a larger image, click on the article.

RULES BEST FOLLOWED WHEN SET BY YOUTH

Many programs have found it best to allow the youth to set their own rules for the leadership camps with mentors suggesting anything they may have missed.

Write out the rules on a board or large poster-sized paper that can be displayed throughout the camp.

Some programs have also had good luck with having the youth set consequences for braking those rules also.  They have included: 

Clearing the table for their group at lunch, time out, public apology to all the youth at the camp with an idea of how they will change their behavior, etc.

HAVE ALTERNATE WAYS OF KEEPING IN TOUCH

NAS EVERETT, Wash. -- Staff here establishes an e-mail tree so they can keep in touch with each other between meetings.  Team leaders also put out information to their youth via a mailing list to remind them of Phase II activities.