We would like to turn to a topic that, if you are in the education field, is often reflected upon. That is the topic of dedication. It goes without saying that many of us have experienced teachers/educators who embody and reflect this quality. It is encouraging and uplifting to see. But what exactly does dedication look like? How deep does it run? How long does it last?

To answer this, we would like to bring before you Rebekah and Abby. They currently serve as our summer camp director and co-director respectively. They are deep in the throes of running what is a vibrant and exciting day camp for our preschool and elementary students. It goes without saying that such a responsibility is multi-faceted, challenging, and hectic. Nonetheless, these two teachers can be seen every day stepping into situation after situation after situation, focusing their attention where needed, juggling concurrent tasks, addressing the emergency of the moment, and keeping a sweet spirit through it all. We decided to capture a list of some of the daily issues:

• An unhappy parent pulls one of them aside to share his concern over an incident that occurred during lunch
• A preschooler is upset, won’t listen to her counselor, so one of them drops what she is doing to sit down and take time to calm that preschooler down (mind you this is one of 50+ preschoolers in the program)
• A volunteer causes some accidental (minor) damage to the facility and one of them has to get it corrected before the day is out
• A field trip is delayed in its departure, impacting the carefully scheduled events that await the campers at the other end, requiring their attention in recalibrating the schedule
• A child gets sick and needs immediate care, requiring that one of them (both of whom are engaged in a camp activity or preparation) address this camper’s condition
• Parents call to request changes to their scheduled weeks, impacting the staff assignments that have been carefully aligned based on preselected weeks

This is just part of a day. This is the norm for any such recreational camp environment. And yet, when you see Rebekah and Abby in action, how they respond, how they speak, how they adapt, it is clear that they have committed their work to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean that they don’t battle with emotions and reactions that are part of the human condition. What it does mean is that they realize just how weak their human condition is and that it needs to be submitted to the divine power that Our Lord provides.

So we want to use this post to recognize Rebekah and Abby for their dedication (as defined in this blog tittle) to our summer camp program. They indeed set an example that any teacher, team leader, or counselor would benefit from. And, judging from the images on our Facebook page along with other parental feedback (not to mention that some of our remaining weeks now have waiting lists), they have created an attractive, fun, and appealing environment for our campers.

(By the way, someone said that they saw a stash of candy in the Camp HQ room. The word is that this also gives them a boost when needed! 🙂 )