ACA Home Forums Leadership Program/C.I.T. Program

Any ideas out there for a camp Leadership Program that empowers older campers to grow into leaders of not only camp but also the community they are in? Also...ideas for C.I.T. program??

our lit's (leaders in training) come for 10days or 2 weeks, and they not only learn more about camp, how it is run, etc. they also learn leadership skills for every day life. they plan one evening all camp activity during their session, they visit other camps, and they shadow the CITs for one day of the session.

our CITs (we call them junior counselors) shadow regular counselors at night, and live in residence with a cabin, but they plan and act as counselors for our day camping program during the day.

hopefully this offered some insight?

I'm going to be a CIT in summer of 2008 and our CIT program is different but basically it goes toward leadership and learning how to be a counselor and that sort of thing... Is there any advice that you guys can give me? Such as what I should look for in situations or keep in mind during a problem?

We've discussed a service learning project associated with the CIT program. Even if it is simply to take on a project to improve our grounds/facilities. As of yet, we haven't followed through to implement this component.

We have a day camp and are starting a new C.I.T. program summer 2009. I'm curious what other camps charge for similar programs. Ours is 3 weeks long, day camp, for ages 14 & 15.

Marci

I am looking for new training/team building ideas for our leadership program. If anyone would be so kind to send me some material?
A_rog77@yahoo.com
Thanks!

I think that many teenagers are very interested in becoming a camp counselor and I think it's important to give them a opportunity to learn some leadership skills and how it everything works behind the scenes at camp. I've found that many camps charge full or reduced tuition for their CIT programs but I think it's a better idea to offer a free program that has a very selective application process. This way you can get a diverse group of kids and maybe even some kids who have never been able to afford camp or specifically your camp if it's expensive. Keep the group small so you don't have a huge group of kids not being able to get a job the following summer. The smaller the group the more the teens will get out of the experience and they'll be better counselors. Make sure your CIT group gets to spend some time together to bond as a group. Often 15 yr olds are a good age group for this because many teens need to start making money at age 16 so they can contribute to paying for college or buying a car.
Hope this helps!