You’ll hear us say around Camp that it is our goal to make Mini-Yo-We the best place in Canada for young people to work. We know this is a multi-year goal, but we’re making some really great steps towards that in the summer of 2018! We’re honoured that so many people come to serve with us, and we want to make their experience amazing. Check out these six changes we’ve made for this summer!
- The Mini-Yo-We Leadership Conference // We’re kicking off the summer by increasing the value of our pre-summer training. We already start our summer a week later than most other camps because we provide more training for our staff. (You can read more about this in this blog post: “Why Does Summer Start a Week Later at Camp Mini-Yo-We?”) Now we’re taking on a big, hairy, audacious goal for our staff training week: How can we transform our training into a premier leadership conference for the young people on our staff team that they would normally have to pay big dollars for? Here are some “new and improved” features of this year’s Leadership Conference:
- Keynote from Jenni Catron // She is a writer, speaker, and leadership expert committed to helping others lead from their extraordinary best. Jenni’s passion is to lead well and to inspire, equip, and encourage others to do the same. She speaks at conferences and churches nationwide seeking to help others develop both their leadership gifts and the ability to lead confidently in the different spheres of influence God has granted them.
- Keynote from Lee Cockerell // He is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort. As the Senior Operating Executive for ten years, Lee led a team of 40,000 Cast Members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping and entertainment village, and the ESPN sports and recreation complex in addition to the ancillary operations that supported the number one vacation destination in the world.
- Experiential Learning with Eagle’s Flight // This organization is a world leader in training with a focus on results. Driven by an experiential approach and a dynamic team, they have worked with over 50% of Fortune 500s. We’ve dedicated an afternoon to this unique experience! We believe it will not only help our team perform better this summer but that they can use these skills in other leadership scenarios for years to come.
- After-Parties // Each evening will feature an over-the-top fun time together as a team. We’ll set the pace for a fun summer with our staff team through some unique program elements we’ve never done before!
- A Bigger Tent: Making Space for Every Camper! // We’re taking extra time during this year’s conference to prepare our staff team to draw 100% of our campers into the action. At the core of this training is equipping our staff with an understanding of their own personality and communication styles as well as an appreciation for the wide spectrum of campers that come to Mini-Yo-We. We believe this will be a valuable lesson for our staff to apply this summer and take with them for the rest of their lives!
- Summer’s End // We’re dedicating the last three days of the summer to our staff and LITs! They serve so well all summer long, and we want to give them a chance to decompress and debrief before they head into whatever the fall holds for them. We believe that “Summer’s End” will be a gift to our team and an investment in them as people! Below are some features of this brand new program. Are you or your young person serving at Mini-Yo-We this summer? Make sure to register for Summer’s End!
- Chillax with Camp Friends // Lots of time to soak in the last moments of summer and reflect on what was awesome about 2018!
- “Try Everything” Mornings // Didn’t get to try something at Camp this summer? This is your chance!
- Compelling Teaching & Worship // Cap off the summer with great teaching focused on helping you apply what you’ve been learning this summer!
- More International Team Members // This year we have more team members from around the world than we typically do! Our team will include folks from the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Guatemala, Macau, U.S.A., Germany, Rwanda, and Zambia to name a few. We love when people come from all over the world to serve on our team because we think the experience we offer is globally unique, and it also adds so much to our Canadian team members’ experiences. It’s always great to make friends from all over the world!
- Mid-Summer Party! // In the middle of the summer we’re taking time on a Saturday to give back to our staff. We know that serving at Camp can be a taxing experience, so we want to take a break halfway through our team’s time with us to appreciate them. This event will feature:
- Incredible Food // Let’s just say that our food service team is planning to “wow” our summer staff with this meal.
- Worship & Prayer // We will have an encouraging time of musical worship and community prayer to help our team stay focused on the “big why” behind everything we do at Camp!
- Fun! Always Fun! // Getting our team together for an evening is always bound to be fun, but our program staff team is punching it up a notch with some totally fun experiences!
- Increased Pay! // The Mini-Yo-We Alumni Association is a donor community that gives monthly to the summer staff at Camp. This group will once again be offering everyone on our team an increase in their pay through these donations. We anticipate it will end up being 30% above what we paid last summer! We are also streamlining and improving our “Summer Staff Fund” process to help more team members raise resources while serving at Camp!
- Youth & Family Counselor To Support Our Staff // For one day a week all summer long we will have an accredited youth and family counselor on site to support our summer staff team. The complexity of issues that come up with our campers require an increasing amount of care and support for our staff as they lead our programs. This team member will meet in a weekly group setting with our lead staff to brainstorm and discuss issues that are coming up with our campers. The counselor will also hold personal meetings with our staff members as needs arise over the summer.
On top of all those “new” changes, our team will have continued access to the benefits we added last summer to enhance their experience, including:
- Muskoka Hall Staff Lounge // The nicest building at Camp will once again be available to our staff as a place to hang out on their time off. The Wi-Fi, hot chocolate, fun stuff, and your friends are some of the features of the staff lounge!
- Unlimited Iced Coffee with Rich // Drop by the Gatehouse and get some free iced coffee! Plus, you can bend the director’s ear about whatever is happening with you.
Interested in joining our team this summer? Check out our Summer Staff webpage for more information and to apply.