Project Evaluation

I can't believe that this summer is coming to an end. After seven weeks of camp the summer is over. I have learned so much this summer being the head counselor. Naples Equestrian Challenge has had summer camps for the last 14 years and there has never been head counselors. There was always an NEC employee that ran the inside of camp while the instructor taught lessons. This year my friend Sam and I were given the title of head counselor. We started planning for camp last summer and throughout the year. This summer before camp even started I was at NEC planning crafts, setting up the camp room and getting supplies. Sam and I fixed the counselor handbook we had made last summer, helped run the counselor training and came up with plenty of ideas for camp. During camp we were inside making sure crafts ran smoothly, all the kids ate and that there were plenty of games to play after lunch. Since there were 10 campers a week all with varying interests and levels of ability we had to make sure that the crafts were acceptable for all of them and that there were plenty of different games we could play outside. Sam and I worked closely with the instructor to make sure what the kids were learning outside was being reinforced inside the camp room. We also were given the task of MC at the weekly horse show. While the kids were riding we would talk about the week, what they learned and give individual descriptions of the campers as they were riding. The instructors always did this job so it was new to us.
I believe that this summer was great. Everyone said that it was the best year of camp yet!! Our jobs as head counselor took on more and more responsibility as the summer progressed, but I know that we handled it well. I am very pleased with the example we set as head counselors. Having head counselors allowed the instructors to focus on purely the riding aspect of camp, while we were responsible for the arts and crafts and safety of the campers and junior counselors once they left the arena. I know that we could have been more  patient with the other counselors, but that is something we worked hard on all summer and I will continue to work on. It is hard to step back and put yourself in their shoes when you are trying to watch 10 kids and simply want help with that. They worked hard outside with the kids all morning and maybe needed a few minute break, however Sam and I were just thinking about the safety of the campers and not the needs of the junior counselors as much. I know this is something I need to work on and hopefully will have the opportunity to next year. 
Another one of my "projects" this summer was volunteer coordinator for regular therapeutic riding lessons. This was not a new position at NEC just new to me. I believe I was successful in this as well. I always had ample volunteers that came back each week eager to volunteer. The instructor never switched up my choices of who was leading and who was sidewalking, which means I played matchmaker well. Most importantly all my riders and volunteers were having fun and staying safe which to me shows that my "project" was successful. I know that I could have improved in being more confident, but towards the end of the summer I saw that my confidence had really grown.