You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup: Well-being for you and your staff

Thank you to our event sponsor

Did you head into summer 2021 knowing it would be a challenge, but excited to serve campers who you knew needed camp more than ever? And, by the end, were you celebrating that, but also feeling worn down more than ever – realizing you didn’t take the best care of yourself and many of your staff struggled, despite staff appreciation efforts?

If so, you weren’t alone. As year-round camp leaders, summer is “go time,” which means you push through, no matter what, knowing there’s an end in sight. But, many of your seasonal staff members (key to your camp’s success) may not get those down times in the off-season – they are students, teachers, or work in other fields that may be equally as demanding.

So, how can you think differently about taking care of yourself during camp (and beyond) and develop and implement systems that encourage and nurture staff health throughout the camp season? We invite you to join us for a day that will dive into topics of mindset, self-care, burnout, resiliency, and organizational structures to support well-being at camp.

10:00 am – 11:30 am ET:        Session 1: Reduce Camp Season Stress with Neuroscience-Based Resilience Strategies, Erin Urban, UPPSolutions

11:30 am – 12:30 pm ET:        Self-Care and Lunch Break – Please plan for 20-30 minutes of a self-care activity that is meaningful to you during this time (we will ask you to share your plan in the chat)

12:30 pm – 2:00 pm ET:          Session 2: Building Camp Environments that Support Engagement and Self-Care, Rebecca Zelis, Songadeewin of Keewaydin

Cost: $50 ACA, Member / $75 Non-Member (Interested in ACA Membership?)

Registrations are non-refundable, but may be transferred to another eligible individual prior to the start of the event. A minimum of 25 registered participants is required for this event to run.

Please note: We do not want cost to prohibit a camp professional from joining our event. Should the price of this e-seminar be a barrier, please reach out to Kerry Salvo, kerry@acanewengland.org to discuss financial assistance options.

The two sessions will be recorded and available for viewing following the event, if you can’t join us live!

Session Details

Session 1: Reduce Camp Season Stress with Neuroscience-Based Resilience Strategies

As the socio-economic impacts from the pandemic wear on, many professionals are finding that the level of continued uncertainty provides a significant source of stress. Compounded with the demands of an intense cycle of work for camp leaders and their teams – it is no longer enough to say that one ‘should’ be resilient.

Join Forbes Coaches Council member and Certified Executive Coach, Erin Urban, to discover the critical tools to tackle the seasonal demands of summer camp that reduce stress, empower leadership and team mindsets, and avoid burnout. Learn how to leverage easily applicable science-based solutions to mindfully manage change and meet the demands of your career/life. Find balance again for yourself and your camp teams with self-care micro habits that can keep you at 100%.

Key Topic Takeaways:

1. 1. Top work/life saboteurs during strong change cycles and how to spot them before they derail you.
   2. What is ‘mindset’ and why it matters for resilience and managing change. The science, the solutions, and the road to success.
   3. Develop a personalized resilience plan to ignite powerful long-term results that elevate you and your team.

Session 2: Building Camp Environments that Support Engagement and Self-Care 

While individuals can implement strategies to enhance their resilience, well-being, and success, it’s critical to provide your staff with a culture and environment that supports their efforts.

The pandemic showed us both the strength and weaknesses of our communities and leadership. This workshop will give you strategies and tools to build a camp culture that inspires a collaborative, resilient, and interdependent staff. You will be provided with self-care planning resources specific to the experience of camp counselors, allowing your staff to make customized, personal plans to support their own well-being (and each others’) sustainably throughout the summer.

Key Topic Takeaways:

1. 1. How environment can impact your staff and either enhance or detract from their experience, sense of safety, and well-being.
   2. The impact of leadership styles on staff’s sense of community and engagement, considering multi-generational differences that cause conflict and misunderstandings.
   3. How individualized self-care planning can create a community narrative of collective success and a sense of meaning and purpose that connects your staff to their campers, leaders, and each other.
   4. You will be given resources to develop a customizable self-care plan and training for your staff.

**Participants will earn 3 CECs for their full participation in the seminar**

About the Presenters

Erin Urban is a certified Executive Coach & Career Accelerator helping emerging and evolving leaders remove career roadblocks, unlock their potential, and elevate their careers. She is an international speaker, behavioral scientist, and the host of the Career Coffee Chat Podcast. She is also the author of the bestselling book, Elevate Your Career: More Impact + More Income. Erin is a Forbes Coaches Council Member and a self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist with over a decade in mentoring and coaching successful professional transformations through 1:1 coaching and group workshops.

Rebecca Zelis is a culture strategist who works with schools, camps, communities, and businesses to build environments that support sustainable collaboration, personal and professional development, creativity, and well-being. Rebecca earned a master’s degree in Community Mental Health and emphasizes the health and empowerment of individuals are the foundation of strong communities. Rebecca’s been the Staff Wellness Coordinator at Songadeewin of Keewaydin since 2015.

Thank you to our event sponsor: