Staff Orientation

Sample notes on types of training during the Unirondack staff week - 2023

Co-exist on campus

Intro:

This is not about the way that we work as a community, but rather the ways that we co-exist as people in a shared living space. Obviously, there is going to be a lot of overlap, but let’s try and hold this to our personal and living expectations rather than job expectations.

Each of these questions should be followed up with input from the whole staff.

• What does it mean to live in community?

  • Consider the needs of others

  • Speak up for your needs

  • You will not always have your needs met perfectly

    • Dish example

• What are some challenges to living in community and what are some challenges to living in the place you work?

• What is needed for living in community to work?

  • Communication

  • Honesty

  • Vulnerability

  • Speaking up

  • Being willing to accept feedback

How do we handle conflicts when they do come up?

• Have the conversation yourself

• Bring in a moderator

What are some examples of ways we can support one other?

What are some norms we believe should be considered?

• Gossip vs. Processing

• Noise - Sleeper’s rights

• Keeping a clean bathroom

• Not using other people’s belongings

Introducing Staff Week

• Daily Schedule Review 

  • 9:30 am: Informational

  • 11:15 am: Job-Specific Training

  • 2:00 pm: Informational

  • 4:00 pm: Activity or meeting

  • 7:30 pm: Typically fun, laid back, more optional

• Weekly Schedule

  • Health Inspection

  • Day off
    
    

Meeting Expectations (Make this list together!)

• Meet your own needs

  • If at any point we aren’t meeting your needs, let us know.

• Pay Attention

• Take Notes

• Be on Time

• No Cell Phones?

• No WiFi day?

Facilitator Note:

• Facilitation is hard, y’all!

  • Pointing out bad handwriting

  • Pointing out misspellings

  • Pointing out mispronunciations

  • Call backs & jokes, don’t let them go too far at the person facilitating

Professionalism at Unirondack

What does professionalism look like at Unirondack? It’s easy to joke and roll our eyes but we do adhere to certain facets of professionalism that resonate here at camp.

• Showing up to work on time

• Wearing appropriate clothing for the task

• Respectful language - what does this actually mean?

• Maintaining a level head when things get heated

• Working through disagreements (Out of sight of campers)

• Interactions in front of/with parents

• Interactions with the community surrounding camp

• When campers won’t respond to anything else?

• In crises / emergencies

• Cleanliness of workspaces

• Add examples

How do we tell the difference between a time to access or exhibit higher levels of professionalism and times when we can be more informal or silly?

What are the benefits of using that professionalism amongst ourselves? (with people outside of our staff it’s pretty obvious)

What are some mainstream professional standards that Unirondack does not subscribe to?

What are some professional expectations we can hold ourselves accountable to?

2023 Drills, Emergencies, and Abuse Reporting

Unirondack's Politicized Policies

A mediated discussion about the ways Unirondack’s values impact our policy at camp. A note that we try to foster a healthy environment of questioning the rules, especially when they do not uphold our values. Notably, these are policies that are often deemed as political. We would like to draw the distinction that they are not political. They are deeply personal and connected to our values as compassionate people who care about creating space for others. However, these believes are often politicized as a means of weaponizing their impact for harm.

Warm up:

Write down your values, remember a time when your political values impacted your decision making, share out some of those values with popcorn

What are camp’s values?

Comprehensive inclusivity

Continuous Growth

Autonomy

Accessibility

Anti-Colonialism

Anti-Oppression

Anti-Capitalism

Radical Acceptance

Respect of the Natural World

Radical Education

Restorative Justice

Youth Empowerment

Responsible Levity

Intentional Community

Celebration of childlike wonder

Empathetic Care

Your personal values might not always line up with camp’s values, and that’s fine. You are entitled to your values, and you will never be asked to be dishonest about them - however it is our expectation that you do not undermine camp’s values. 

If asked directly about a value of yours that contradicts with camp’s values, here are some possible responses:

“I’m still deciding where I land on that.”

“I’m still learning about that.”

“My opinion on that diverges a bit from the rest of the community - and that’s ok.”