Working at Outpost Summer Camps is exactly that, work. Camp is a place that facilitates growth, encourages silliness, and pushes comfort zones. It is also a professional setting in which all staff learn, ask questions, and develop a plethora of skills.
Personnel Policies – As a staff member you need to review and agree to the personnel policies set forth by Outpost Recreation and Education, Inc. Our staff is held to the highest standard each summer and throughout the school year. You are confirming that you will follow the rules and regulations of Outpost to the entirety while under contract and employed by Outpost Summer Camps.
Expectations of All Staff
- Be responsible
- Be positive
- Be enthusiastic
- Build a strong identity and loyalty within your group
- Be on time (and even early)
- Be accountable
- Be respectful
- Be proud to be part of the Outpost Family
- Take care of yourself, bring a lunch, drink water, put on your own sunscreen!
- Ask questions; go to your assistant director or director for feedback and help frequently
- Try constantly
At Outpost Summer Camps we value a Growth Mindset
As a senior staff member at Outpost, how you approach your position is very important. Two concepts regarding “mindset” – how one thinks of their intelligence and capabilities – help us understand how to approach the summer.
“In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.” – Carol Dweck, Mindset
Here at camp, we value a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset. Growth mindset individuals see this position as an opportunity to learn and practice something new – working as the member of a team at an organization that develops everyone involved.
Growth mindset staff:
- Accept that successfully working with children involves learning new skills and practicing them
- Look forward to working with and learning from experienced staff and directors
- Seek out positive feedback and listen carefully to criticism from multiple sources
- Know that failure and struggle are part of the journey
- Expect to be frustrated as their best attempts do NOT work, sometimes repeatedly
- Accept that they will not be good at this because they’ve never done it before
- Know that it’s challenging to serve four populations simultaneously (campers, parents, staff, directors)
- Are accountable for their decisions, actions, failures and successes
- ASK directors where they can improve, and act on it