What goes into making a summer camp schedule?
The weekly camp schedule is one of the camp’s true lifelines. Each staff member carries a copy and refers to it often, though it’s rarely something people think about unless they’re the ones creating it. Even so, these schedules quietly keep the camp running smoothly day after day.
What exactly is “the camp schedule”? It’s a multi-faceted question, because camp runs on several different schedules at once. There’s the overall summer schedule that outlines all the weeks of camp, the staff schedule, and the weekly activity schedules created for each group or cohort. Of all these, the weekly activity schedule is by far the most time-consuming to create.
It all begins before training week, when the directors and leads review overall weekly enrollment and estimate how many schedules will be needed for our busiest week. Once we have that number, we start mapping everything out according to the parameters we’ve set. For example, each group attends one water activity in the morning and one in the afternoon; ranges are open only on Monday and Tuesday for campers ages 7 and up; fishing is scheduled only in the morning when the fish are most active; and crafts run Monday through Thursday, with each group attending twice per week. With these guidelines (and many more) we start building the full schedule.
Camp programming officially begins at 9 am once drop off is over and bible study is the first activity for each group. On Monday and Friday, all day campers attend Morning Rally, which is a time for camp-wide fun at Pax’s Pavillion in the meadow. After that, the first activity commences. Each group goes to three activities before lunch and three activities after lunch. Each cohort (two groups of the same gender and similar ages) travel together to each activity. If we have an odd number of groups, then there may be a group without a co-hort.
There are also strict lifeguard-to-camper ratio laws we must follow, which play a significant role in how we structure the schedules. Beyond that, we ensure every group visits the snack shack once per day. Our only activity that can host multiple cohorts at the same time. For all other activities, we carefully prevent any overlap between groups and make sure no cohort attends the same activity twice in a single day.
It takes careful checking and rechecking to ensure the schedules are fully set each week. Multiple pairs of eyes review them to confirm that everything looks correct, all parameters are met, and no activities overlap. And if an activity closes unexpectedly (whether due to a pool chemical imbalance or a dodgeball area needing maintenance) we adjust on the fly to keep things running safely and smoothly. Our leadership team plays a major role in making these changes and communicating them to counselors. In the end, the goal is simple: a camp that operates safely, flows well, and gives campers an unforgettable week of fun.
Weekly activity schedules are changed each week based on the number and size of groups and the ages of the campers in each group. The staff does everything in their power to make sure that camp runs smoothly and the campers stay safe and have fun no matter what. It takes a great team to make that happen and at Camp Anothen we do all we can to implement Fun, Safe, Gospel in all we do, including making the schedules.
