resources (documents for review)

Get yourself prepped to have the best volunteer experience possible by familiarizing yourself with the following:

• Staff Handbook (contains emergency procedures, prep materials, and medical overview)

• Camp theme and theme days (in case you want to bring coordinating clothing or accessories)

• Packing List (essentials to bring to camp)

  • Camp or stadium chair to be elevated during meals

  • Bug spray (mosquitoes were more prevalent than in the past)

  • Masks (fabric or surgical that cover nose and mouth, no gaiters)

• Staff Dress Code (bring comfortable & camp-appropriate clothing)

• Directions to Camp (once you ferry over, driving directions are pretty easy)

• Songbook (favorite camp song lyrics)

• Acronym List (camp vocabulary and acronyms)

• New Staff Orientation recording (video from May 15 orientation)

• Staff name list (to help first-time staffers choose a camp name)

• Staff Check-In (document with COVID testing info & where to go once at camp)

staff expectations

Camp will look and feel different this year due to COVID and it’s ramifications. What we hope will look and feel the SAME is the joy of being together, meeting new friends/reconnecting with old ones, participating in fun activities, and creating supernovas of joy (SNOJ)!

Changes staff and campers should be prepared for:

• Staff check-in: staff will take a COVID test upon arrival, negative test required to enter camp

• Camper welcome gauntlet: will take place on the path between the tire swing and the playground (not outside Grisham); families will not accompany campers to the cabin

• Camper check out & parent program: the Parent Program will be replaced with a Closing Ceremony in the amphitheater where each cabin shares their highlights of the week; parents can pick kids up afterwards

• Meals: all meals will be eaten outdoors (it’ll be a picnic every day!)

• Staff lounge: as a COVID precaution, the lounge will be outdoors on the back patio of the Retreat Center; the camp office (in Grisham where Backpack and Cooper’s desks are) will require a mask to enter, but you are welcome to enter

• STOs: staff are allowed to leave the camp property for their scheduled/approved time off but cannot eat inside a restaurant/café and must wear a mask when inside any business/store

• Dance: Friday night’s dance and closing slide show will happen outdoors in Upper Field

• daBoata: we will not be going on a boat excursion (but we’re hosting one on May 22; RSVP)

• Carnival: each cabin will attend a carnival (but the entire camp will not be present at the same time); there will be no rental bouncy houses or climbing wall; the whip cream fight will transition to a pie-in-the-face contest; cotton candy, snow cones, and fun will remain!

• COVID protocols: see COVID protocols section below

• Campers sleeping head-to-toe in cabin bunks: as recommended by the CDC

• MedShed: initial triage station will be outside on the deck of the Dining Hall

• All-camp gatherings: we will have all-camp activities, like skit night, campfires, and evening programming, but they will be more structured to ensure pods stay together and safely distanced from other pods

• Smaller camp size: there are fewer campers than in a “normal” year, but same amount of fun

emails from cooper

In case my messages don’t reach your inbox, you can access the all-camp messages I’ve sent by using the link below.

• Read emails

more to come

The following will be added once available (emails will be sent to alert you to the availability of new documents):

• Camp schedule (from June 2022; July will look very similar with some minor changes)

covid protocols & guidelines

It’s important that all of us know and adhere to the following. We cannot stop COVID from entering camp but we can employ layered protocols to help stop the spread and diminish the possibility that it impacts camp this year. *The following are subject to change if circumstances change.

vaccinations:

• All campers and staff are required to have had their primary series COVID vaccination shot(s).

• Boosters are highly recommended but not required.

pre-camp:

• Staff and campers should avoid high-to-medium risk scenarios in the two weeks leading up to camp; such as being unmasked in large indoor venues or on airplanes.

• In the two weeks leading up to camp, if you have tested positive for COVID or been exposed to a COVID positive person and had close contact (within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period), please alert Cooper immediately.

• All campers and staff will take a rapid antigen COVID test administered at check-in; a negative result is required to enter camp.

during camp:

• Masks will be required when indoors in common spaces like Grisham, Grisham’s bathrooms, the MedShed, and the camp office. Masks will not be required when outdoors or in your assigned cabin or room.

• Cabins act as pods and will circulate through some activities with the same other pods for the duration of camp (as a super pod) to limit exposure across all pods. We will do all all-camp activities outdoors, including Friday night’s dance, eating meals, and evening programming.

• Staff will be required to submit a daily Health Assessment via their phone. Campers will be assessed by nurses at breakfast.

• Hand sanitizer will be available across camp including at meals.

• Anyone with symptoms needs to alert a nurse ASAP for the safety and health of everyone. Let’s not make this shameful but instead a pact to protect our camp family.

closed campus & sto’s:

• Camp will be a closed campus, in that we won’t be welcoming any visitors or vendors.

• We will leave camp to go to the pool (where we are the only occupants) and fishing (but not into town for ice cream).

• Staff will also be permitted to leave camp for their scheduled time off (STO) under the following rules: a) no eating inside a restaurant or cafe, and b) must wear a mask when inside a store, restaurant, or business.

covid cases:

• Campers or staff suspected of having COVID symptoms will be isolated and tested. If the test is positive, they will immediately be sent home. Persons who came in close contact with that individual will be assessed for symptoms but will not need to quarantine/isolate if they are symptom free (this follows the CDC guidelines for vaccinated individuals).

• If there are confirmed cases of COVID at camp, the camp director along with the medical director and nursing team will determine if we proceed with camp or close camp and head home.

Forms & Online Staff training due June 9

All staff are required to complete the following by Sunday, June 9:

Camp Goodtimes & Mini Camp Staff:

CampMinder documents/forms—the following reside in the Forms & Documents section of your CampMinder account (by the yellow pencil icon)

• Personnel Policies Acknowledgement

• COVID-19 vaccination card (upload a photo or scanned document)

• Immunizations

• Confidentiality Policy

• Emergency Contact/Pickup

• Staff Health Information

• *Insurance Waiver (only required of those without health insurance)

Camp Goodtimes Staff Only:

• Expert Online Training modules & quizzes: each staffer will be assigned approximately2 hours of online training. You can complete your entire assignment at once or choose to do modules over a number of days.

  • An email, with the subject line “Camp Goodtimes: Expert Online Training (Due June 9),” was sent to you on May 13.

  • It contains your login and password.