I have recently transitioned from staff member/seasonal program director of a resident camp to a position in municipal recreation where one of my responsibilities is to serve as director of a day camp. One of the things that I noticed is that it is harder to have a consistent program (i.e. traditions, etc) in the day camp and that our program feels more like a babysitting service. Parents drop their kids off and pick them up whenever they want during the day, which keeps the kids from getting the full benefit of what we're trying to do.
I'm also seeing that my staff didn't form the comraderie or have the "buy-in" to the program that I took for granted in res. camp. I know this mostly had to do with the fact that they weren't isolated from "the real world" as much as residential staffs are, but I also had a problem with their personal lives overflowing into work because they would stay out late at night and just call in sick the next day or call and ask if they could just come in later. I don't think they ever understood the importance of what they were doing. Any help on ways that I can address these issues in my planning and staff training for next year?
