When I was the Day Camp director I often found myself saying something that eventually became our motto: “Camp is for the campers.” If I would see a counselor dipping into the tater tots as we were setting up for lunch, for example, I’d say, “Camp is for the campers.,” and the counselor would know not to eat until after the kids had all been served.
If counselors were sitting at a table socializing when they were supposed to be in the field playing Wonderball or Indian Ball or Counselor Hunt or whatever else with the kids: Camp is for the campers.
Eventually the entire counseling staff embraced the motto and would use it to keep their fellow counselors in check.
A camper telling a joke that the counselor knew and would spoil the punch line? Camp is for the campers.
Not feeling like getting dirty on “Bury Your Counselor in the Sand” day? Camp is for the campers.
Not feeling like doing the motions to the Alligator song? Camp is for the campers.
Not wanting to participate in Day Camp Jug Band or Counselor Beauty Pageant or GORP Monster Day or Peanut Butter Bird Feeders? Camp is for the campers.
Camp is for the campers.
And school is for the students.
Education is a tough job. Standards are getting tougher, evaluations more severe, pressure increasing, funding being cut, criticism growing.
But school is for the students. And whenever the “adult world” of school drags on us, we need to remember that we are here for kids. We have to persevere, we have to build positive relationships, and we have to create engaging lessons, because our kids are counting on us. This literally is a life or death profession. We are the only chance some students will ever have to break free from a life of poverty. As the field of education continues to go through massive overhauls, one thing will never change: School is for the students.
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