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St. Louis Winter Warm-Up: Jan. 15

-1/15/2025

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St. Louis Winter Warm-Up

01/15/2025 8:45 AM
Check-In & Continental Breakfast

-1/15/2025

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Check-In & Continental Breakfast

01/15/2025 9:00 AM
Please check-in at the Negwer Family Center in the Dining Hall. Mingle and enjoy a continental breakfast before the conference begins!
Welcome & Icebreakers

General Session -1/15/2025

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Welcome & Icebreakers

01/15/2025 9:30 AM
Welcome to the St. Louis Winter Warm-Up!

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room W

Educational Breakout Sessions

-1/15/2025

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Educational Breakout Sessions

01/15/2025 10:15 AM
From a Staff Crisis to a Staff Wait List: It’s an Experience THEN a Job

Concurrent Session -1/15/2025

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From a Staff Crisis to a Staff Wait List: It’s an Experience THEN a Job

01/15/2025 10:15 AM
We will take you through 2021 when we almost canceled campers through the off-season for 2025. We changed how we look at staff appreciation, how we manage staff, how we more than just a 4-week summer camp job for them, and more. I will also be able to show our FJC (Foundation of Jewish Camping) staff survey results and how we scored higher than the national average on just about every question (sometimes more than 20% more!). We moved our thinking to "we are two businesses...a business of campers and a business of staff"....and we can show everyone how we did it and what they can do! We will also take them through social media and how those continue the connections to their peers and to the camp family!

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room E

Kim Sloan is going on her 4th summer as director at Camp Sabra after completing eight summers as assistant director of camper recruitment and retention. During Kim’s time as assistant director they went from 420 campers to 743 campers. As the Director currently, we went from a staffing crisis of 2021 to a wait list to work at camp this summer. The year we got more applications in the first four days than we would normally get by April!

United for Impact: How Development and Marketing Work Together to Tell Camp's Story and Drive Growth

Concurrent Session -1/15/2025

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United for Impact: How Development and Marketing Work Together to Tell Camp's Story and Drive Growth

01/15/2025 10:15 AM
This session will explore the collaborative approach between Camp Ondessonk's Development and Marketing teams and how these efforts enhance donor engagement and increase enrollment in summer camp, outdoor education, events, and specialty weekend programs. Whitney Strang and Tony Vrooman will provide an inside look at the unique strategies they use to coordinate storytelling with targeted marketing to connect with various audiences and fulfill Camp Ondessonk's mission.

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room F

Whitney Strang, Director of Development. Whitney joined the full-time Camp Ondessonk team in December 2021. In her role, Whitney works with individuals who give of their time, talent or treasure to support the programs and administrative needs of Camp, and create scholarships for children whose lives are changed by a week in the woods.

Tony Vrooman, Sr. Director of Communications. Tony joined the Camp Ondessonk team full time in 2010 and has been managing the realms of marketing, public relations, and communications since. Tony gained a great deal of his professional marketing experience working for private sector businesses including the award-winning Lightstream Studios, RTS Sentry, and Serum Security Solutions.

Connecting All Abilities

Concurrent Session -1/15/2025

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Connecting All Abilities

01/15/2025 10:16 AM
Get ready to level up your camp counselor skills in this interactive session, all about inclusive programming! Learn how to create a camp experience where every camper feels included and valued. We’ll dive into the history and importance of inclusivity and share strategies to make accommodations on the fly, using the resources you already have. Plus, discover creative ways to adapt activities to fit your budget—because inclusivity doesn’t have to come at a high cost! By the end of this session, you’ll be a pro at making camp fun and accessible for every camper—no matter their needs or your budget!

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room W

Meredith Nero is the Senior Program Director of Adaptive Support for Youth and Family Programs at the Gateway Region Y, where she leads training, offers mentoring, and provides recommendations on how to support people with disabilities. Over the past ten years, she worked in a residential school serving students 3 ½ to 22, in a public-school providing services to students who would otherwise be placed out of their home school and earned her Master of Science in Education with Autism Specialization while working. She is passionate about providing meaningful inclusion opportunities for all people and helping people meet their goals regardless of their support needs.

Speed Learning

General Session -1/15/2025

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Speed Learning

01/15/2025 11:15 AM
Get ready to share and learn from each other in this fast paced session!

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room W

Lunch

Meal / Break -1/15/2025

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Lunch

01/15/2025 12:10 PM

Location: Negwer Family Center - Dining Room

Educational Breakout Sessions

-1/15/2025

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Educational Breakout Sessions

01/15/2025 1:15 PM
Smart Connections: AI, Cultural Journeys, and Emotional Intelligence

Concurrent Session -1/15/2025

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Smart Connections: AI, Cultural Journeys, and Emotional Intelligence

01/15/2025 1:15 PM
In “Smart Connections: AI, Cultural Journeys, and Emotional Intelligence,” participants will engage in a rich journey that combines cultural exploration with cutting-edge technology and emotional growth. Interactive language activities will help participants learn greetings and phrases from various languages, reinforcing the importance of linguistic diversity. Through role-playing and perspective-sharing exercises, participants will gain insight into different worldviews, fostering cultural appreciation and strong connections. The workshop also highlights inclusivity, with activities demonstrating how welcoming diverse perspectives strengthens any learning environment. To bring a modern twist, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be introduced to show how technology can support diverse learners and promote inclusive practices globally. Coupled with empathy-building exercises, these activities will help campers cultivate a deepened awareness of themselves and others, underlining the role of emotions in creating truly inclusive spaces.

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room W

Dr. Jose D. Martinez Herrera is an experienced educator with a strong background in teaching and directing STEM initiatives for teenagers in both school and high school settings. Currently serving as the Director of the Challenge to Excellence and STEM Research Academy at Southern Illinois University (SIU), he is dedicated to promoting high standards in STEM education. His work involves coordinating camps, engaging with local schools, and presenting on STEM topics, focusing on inspiring students toward academic excellence. With over two decades of experience, he brings a deep commitment to developing innovative, inclusive, and impactful learning experiences for young students.
 

A Multi-Tiered Approach to Camper and Staff Care

Concurrent Session -1/15/2025

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A Multi-Tiered Approach to Camper and Staff Care

01/15/2025 1:16 PM
In recent years, there have been conversations and observations surround a shift in camper and staff needs. In the summer of 2024, Camp Ondessonk re-envisioned its camper and staff care model based on systems used in schools, lived experience, and research on current trends. In this new approach Camp Ondessonk introduced a Multi-Tiered Support Model that included changes to certain staff responsibilities, an increase in volunteers with social work background, standing meetings that combined administrators from all areas of the operation, training changes, and more. These changes led to a holistic view of camper and staff behaviors that led to early intervention utilizing resources from multiple areas of camp. Come learn about the journey through the first year of one camp’s attempt to best serve campers and staff in a post-pandemic world, and share in brainstorming what holistic camper and staff care looks like today for the camping industry.

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room W

Nolan Hurst serves as the Camping Services Director at Camp Ondessonk. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nolan had the opportunity to attend a variety of different summer experiences, loving each chance he had to explore the outdoors. He attended Ithaca College where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Outdoor Adventure Leadership with a minor in Religious Studies, studying the connection between the outdoors and spiritual development. Over the years, Nolan has worked with a variety of programs including the National Junior Tennis League Program, Primitive Pursuits, Musser & Resica Falls Scout Reservations, and Camp Ondessonk. In his current role as Camping Services Director at Camp Ondessonk he manages the operation of outdoor education, retreat, summer camp, & equestrian programs, and hospitality services. In addition to his routine work, Nolan is currently focusing on further developing camper and staff care models, spiritual connection programs, and rural educational opportunities at Camp Ondessonk.

Collecting and Implementing Staff Feedback

Concurrent Session -1/15/2025

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Collecting and Implementing Staff Feedback

01/15/2025 1:16 PM
CASE-Copy and Steal Everything. Come learn why it is important to give staff a voice. Discover different ways to collect and implement feedback from staff, and how to improve the camp experience for your staff and to increase staff retention.

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room E

Sydney Barnason has over a decade of camp experience. Wearing many different hats, from CIT to Camp Director, Sydney has a wealth of knowledge to share. The majority of Sydney's experience is in outdoor and environmental education, but passion projects in the camping world include awareness and support for staff, neurodivergent campers and staff, and creating welcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ staff and campers.

Closing Activity

General Session -1/15/2025

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Closing Activity

01/15/2025 2:30 PM
Prepare to make summer 2025 the best yet! This engaging closing session will spark your creativity, elevate your confidence, and ignite your motivation. You'll leave with a vision board that acts as a daily reminder of your goals, helping you stay focused and driven as you approach the summer season.

Location: Negwer Family Center - Meeting Room W