Orientation groups bring new and old staff together.

It's the first day of camp orientation. The atmosphere fills with anticipation, excitement, nervousness, and noise as returning staff meet up with friends from previous summers. They plan their free time, swap news, and form groups as they move happily up the hill to their cabins.

New staff members are quiet, reserved, and watchful. They smile tentatively. They wait for someone to show them the way to their cabins. The orientation schedule tells them camp tours will begin later that day in a place they can't find yet. When they get their housing assign" meet, they meet a counselor with whom they'll share the responsibility of 12 campers. This co-counselor has moved in, chosen the bigger room, seems to have more furniture, and is on the way out the door to visit friends in another cabin. Camp is lonely, unfamiliar, and fearful.

The first staff meal is noisy with the clatter of dishes, silverware, and shrill conversations. Scattered throughout the dining room are various single seats where new staff timidly sit. Later, some former staff mingle with new staff; then the old groups drift together. At night in a new surrounding, new staff try to sleep as unfamiliar sounds and smells envelop them.

Breakfast is no better. There are endless meetings with rules, policies, and procedures. Attentively, new staff members listen, take notes, and read the manual pages, while veteran staff make inside jokes, talk, or even sleep through what the leader has said is important information. Some free time in the evening results in former staff members getting in cars and heading for the local pizza place. New staff sit in camp munching potato chips, wondering why they are at camp at all.

That was orientation last year, and the year before, and even the year before. Evaluations of the five-day orientation ranged from "stressed" to "waste of time." Anything would have been an improvement.

This year's new approach

This year's evaluations ranged from "excellent" to "awesome." This year's staff is cohesive. This year's staff has missed home less. This year's staff is a joy to be around. What happened differently this year? The concept of orientation groups. The concept of giving staff members ownership of the five-day orientation.

The former orientation had many flaws. The overwhelming problem that resulted each year was the separation of staff into two groups, the "old" and the "new." Forcing the two groups together in meetings that were often redundant for returning staff was not the solution. Separating friends and groups during recreational times seemed futile. Thus came a trial run of the concept of orientation groups.

Orientation groups

In many college orientations, upperclassmen introduce the college and its procedures to incoming freshmen. Why not apply the same approach to camp orientations?

We chose orientation leaders in mid-winter from the most current list of returning staff, two leaders per group. This pairing helped staff members feel more secure in their role as leaders, and provided two viewpoints from which to convey information to new staff members.

A letter introduced the idea, explained what was expected of leaders, and asked selected staff members if they would like to be orientation leaders. All accepted the idea.

Six weeks before camp orientation, a second letter gave leaders more detail: the orientation schedule, a list of names of those in their group, and some special assignments.

Their primary tasks were to make the members of their group feel at home and at ease, to familiarize the group with camp, and to cover those aspects and traditions of camp that rarely change.

Some of the special assignments given to individual leaders were to prepare a welcome-to-camp skit, prepare an introduction to the camp history, and lead a question and answer session.

Day one

Orientation leaders arrived early to learn any last-minute changes in the camp routine. They were on hand at registration to meet and greet their group members (about 7 or 8 to a group), and show them to their housing. The leaders arranged their own camp tours early the first day.

Since seating for dinner was with orientation groups, there was more time to get to know each other, and the new staff did not feel alienated during their first meal at camp.

Following dinner, everyone came together for the welcome skit performed by the leaders.

All staff members met their unit leader and department supervisor. This allowed further intermingling since the orientation groups were not divided by units (camp age groups) or activity speciality.

The staff met again in orientation groups for games led by the leaders. Snacks followed, with the leaders acting as hosts/hostesses.

Instead of sleeping in separate counselor rooms, all staff slept with their orientation group in camper beds.

Day two

In the morning, staff members were all required to strip their beds, get clean laundry, and make the beds, just as campers do. Even though the staff traveled in orientation groups, this day they wore their unit colors. Staff continued to sit in orientation groups for breakfast, and for exchanging procedure, policy, and routine information.

The afternoon of the second day was then given to the unit groups.

Days three to five

During the remaining time of orientation, time was divided between units, departments, and all-staff meetings. The orientation leaders had an active and visible part in those meetings, as well.

Many of the orientation leaders went beyond the requirements. Several leaders prepared goodie bags for each of their members, with pens, pencils, note pads, mini-photo albums, and munchies. One leader gave her group water guns to keep cool. Many leaders made special name tags for their group members.

The idea of dressing each day in something special, like the unit color day, continued throughout the orientation. They wore college shirts, shirts from a favorite place, and shirts representing something important to them. This always gave someone a conversation starter.

The orientation leaders continued to relate with their group, even though the program slowly led staff to work more with units and departments, and finally to work together as a whole staff.

One of the most gratifying moments occurred when an "old" staff member, on her way out of camp for free time, stopped by the staff lounge and called out, "Anyone need or want a ride out of camp? We've got room if anyone would like to go out for a while."

This year, the staff came together quickly. Morale is high. Excitement is universal. Old friends are still in groups, but this year, those groups include many new faces. Many orientation leaders expressed they learned more by leading a group than ever before.

During the season, the orientation leaders continue to be responsible for their group, especially during mid-season evaluations, closing traditions, packing, and time off.

Staff orientation evaluations gave helpful suggestions for next year. One suggestion is for orientation leaders to report a day earlier. Staff requesting another work day? Unheard of! Next year can only be an improvement of this year.

Editor's note: Some camps integrate staff by establishing a buddy system. If it's too late to try orientation groups at this year's staff orientation, set up a simple buddy system for the rest of the summer. Pat Hammond shared her camp's success with this idea.

The buddy system

Orientation: Our camp assigned each returning staff member one or two buddies from the new staff. The old staff arrived the night before new staff, giving them a chance to catch up on news, reconnect, and so on.

Old staff were given a long list of camp routines, traditions, camp terms, names, and locations. Their main responsibility was to share the list with their buddies throughout the week of pre-camp orientation. They also made the new staff members feel welcome, included them in groups, toured the site, and walked through routines.

Throughout the season: New staff identified their buddies as the ones they could ask anything--no matter how trivial. Trusting friendships often grew out of this exchange. Even years later, old staff remember who their buddies were and take great pride in those who returned and advanced.

Jessie L. Reter is currently serving her third year as director of Camp Louise, a residential camp for girls in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland.