We added a special episode to the Mini-Yo-We Leadership Podcast with guest Lee Cockerell, Former Executive Vice President of Operations for Walk Disney World. Lee is joining us for our summer staff training at the beginning of the summer! Check it out:
We’re biased … like, really, really biased. We think the every student in Canada who is wanting to grow as a leader and in their relationship with Jesus needs to be at Camp Mini-Yo-We in the summer of 2018. We don’t think there is any better option for them. See, we told you. Biased.
The biggest mistake students in your life might make in 2018 is not being at Camp Mini-Yo-We in the summer.
Our mission is to develop tomorrow’s leaders through life-changing adventure in God’s creation. We really are a youth leadership development organization cleverly disguised as a children’s camp. We love running a kids camp but our passion is really developing young leaders. When you listen to people who tell their “Mini-Yo-We Story” they often talk about the life change that took place as they served on our team. We develop leaders … it’s what we “do”.
We believe that serving at Mini-Yo-We is the best option for young people for so many reasons. We talked about a bunch of those reasons on an earlier blog post: “5 Reasons Serving at Camp is Better than a Burger Joint”. Although there are already so many benefits to the students who serve with us we’ve been asking the question:
How do we make Mini-Yo-We the best place in Canada for young people to work?
For the summer of 2018 we’re adding a number of new initiatives to care for and develop our summer staff team even more. We’re doubling down on giving back to our team because they are so amazing. Here are just a few of the things we’re doing this year that we’re ready to announce now:
- Youth & Family Counselor To Support our Staff // For one day a week all summer long we’re going to 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 guests. This team member will meet weekly in a group setting with our lead staff to help them brainstorm issues that are coming up with our campers. The counselor will also do personal meetings with our staff members as needs arise over the summer time.
- Summer’s End Team Camp // We’re adding a three and half day experience at the end of the summer time for our LITs, Summer Staff & Returning Recent Alumni to help them debrief their summer and apply lessons they have been learning all summer to the rest of their lives. (We’ll also be inviting Enterprise campers who will eligible for LIT in 2019!) We believe it’s our responsibility to help our team take the lessons that they’ve been learning all summer and extend that into the fall. We want to work against the natural “drift” that can happen after a “high impact experience” like serving on our staff team. This experience will all about consolidating gains in the lives of the amazing team that serves with us. (Plus it will be a tonne of fun! We’re packing it full with all kinds of exclusive activities just for this amazing group!)
- The Mini-Yo-We Leadership Conference // At the beginning of the summer we’re increasing the value we offer our staff team during our pre-summer training. We already start our summer a week later than most other camps because we provide more training for our staff team. (You can read more about this at 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 development conference for young people that they normally would have to pay big dollars for but in this case the only way they can access it is through being on our staff team? We’re going to be announcing a number of aspects of this conference in the coming months but we’re excited to announce two of the keynote speakers for this years conference. Our goal is to give our team close up exposure with leaders who have had national and international influence.
- 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 their leadership gifts and lead confidently in the different spheres of influence God has granted them. Additionally, she consults with individuals and teams on leadership and organizational health. Her book “The Four Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership: The Power of Leading from Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength” is a stretching read for Jesus-following leaders looks to make a different.
- 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, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping & entertainment village and the ESPN sports and recreation complex in addition to the ancillary operations which supported the number one vacation destination in the world. He now writes, speaks and consults internationally on leadership, management & service excellence. Our hope is to not only step up our service to our guests during the summer but to also give the gift of great training for our staff that they will take with them for years! His bestselling book “Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney” is an incredible read for leaders (even if you’re not totally into Disney)!
It’s going to be an amazing summer for our staff team! We’re honoured to serve them as they in turn serve the thousands of guests that will come and enjoy Mini-Yo-We this summer. Do you see why we believe that the biggest mistake your student might make in 2018 is not being with us?
Our team needs to get working on all these various projects in order to have them ready for our summer staff team. Each of these new activities for our staff team are financial investments in the live of our students. A portion of this year’s Christmas Campaign will go towards funding this mission critical area for us. We’re asking you to contribute by December 31st so you can receive a tax receipt for this year, but that timeline allows us to move forward with confidence with this project in a timely manner.
Do you know students who need to be on our summer staff team for 2018? We’d love to have them apply today. Send them to this link to learn more and to apply today!
