What's camp like for the therapy staff?
A "Typical" Weekday Schedule for a Therapist at Bay Cliff
7:00 am Reveille
7:45 All-Camp Flag Raising
8:00 Breakfast
8:45 Therapy Team Meeting
9:00 - 11:45 Therapy Sessions
12:00 Dinner
1:00 Planning time; camper staffings as needed
2:30 - 5:30 Therapy Sessions
5:45 - 6:30 Supper & Sing-a-long
6:45 All-Camp Flag Lowering
7:00 - 8:30 Involvement with campers in the "Evening Activity"
9:00 Free Time
11:00 pm Staff Curfew
On Weekends:
Therapy sessions will be scheduled on weekends only if necessary. You may be asked to help demonstrate and describe your area of therapy for visitors on Board of Directors Day and Elks Day. Otherwise, you may take either Saturday or Sunday as a day off. On the you are not "off," you will be expected to be at camp helping out or assisting where needed. This may include accompanying cabins on hikes or camping trips when invited, or working on treatment plans or report writing. Days off are scheduled through the Therapy Coordinator. Curfew on weekends is usually extended to 12:00 midnight.
As a Bay Cliff Therapist, you can anticipate the following schedule for the summer...
WEEK 1 - "Staff Orientation Week"
- Attend Bay Cliff's Opening Banquet. This is a dress-up occasion for all staff, signifying the start of camp.
- Get to know the therapy team members.
- Educate counselors and activity staff about camper diagnoses and general functional abilities.
- Attend and/or present a pediatric inservice for therapy staff & students on an area of interest in the pediatric field that will be helpful in the camp setting.
- Receive your caseload and review camper files.
- Set up & decorate the therapy areas in preparation for the campers’ arrivals.
- Participate in the many fun activities of pre-camp and enjoy some free time before the campers arrive.
ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY OF WEEK 1, CAMPERS ARRIVE!
- Meet briefly with each camper on your caseload and their family when campers arrive at camp. Get acquanted. Reassure parents. Seek helpful information, both personal and therapy-related, including the family’s goals for the summer.
- Develop a schedule, with the guidance of the Therapy Coordinator & Educational Coordinator, to evaluate the campers on your caseload during eval week.
WEEK 2 - "Camper Evaluation Week"
- On Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday, therapists and students evaluate campers on their caseloads, during scheduled evaluations and unscheduled observations around camp. They also identify campers that should be seen during the Rehabilitation Team Meetings at the end of the week. A schedule is organized with the Therapy Coordinator for this meeting. Also, there is an Opening Fire Ceremony on Monday evening that signifies the start of camp.
- Rehabilitation Team Meetings (RTM): On Thursday and Friday, some campers are seen by a physician from Marquette who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation, along with representatives from the Bay Cliff Therapy Team, a local orthotist and the Therapy Coordinator. Questions are asked, observations and recommendations are recorded, and prescriptions are written.
- Hearing screenings are performed on all campers on Friday. Local therapists & students volunteer to conduct the screenings; Bay Cliff speech therpists help facilitate the process.
- Collaborate on further assessment of needs, program plans, scheduling of campers. Discuss therapy goals with other therapists involved with your campers for a thorough interdisciplinary plan for the summer. The therapy schedule for the rest of camp is cleared with the Educational Coordinator who gives it to Unit Leaders a day in advance so that they can get word to counselors who will have to bring campers to you on schedule.
- PTs & OTs identify campers for adaptive aquatics; they will have scheduled time to treat some of their campers in the pool. Therapists also identify campers for group treatments (i.e, cooking group, "Crutch Club", social skills group, dance (gross motor) group) and co-treatments with other disciplines.
- Communicate with each of your campers’ counselors to answer questions, provide support and begin to instruct them in 2-3 specific activities they can do with their campers to assist with camper’s therapy plan of care.
WEEK 3 – "Therapy Treatment" officially begins!
- Begin regular therapy sessions.
- Continue collaborating with staff.
- Put camper goals in writing and get identifying information and goals onto final report forms. (This will ease end-of-camp strain to get reports written and typed.) Note: Writing and typing of reports is done by the therapists; we do not have a secretarial pool.
- By the end of Week 3, a written list of "therapy carryover" recommendations for each of your campers is to be turned in to the Therapy Coordinator. The counselors will incorporate these recommendedations into their daily activities & routines with their campers.
- Conduct therapy daily according to the schedule. Take one weekend day off. Participate in other camp programs whenever possible, i.e., special events, cook-outs, teen kayak program, etc.
- Depending on how the calendar falls, planning & preparation for the Fourth of July often takes place this week. Each department selects a theme and makes costumes for the annual parade. The day itself is filled with fun activities for the campers.
WEEK 4 - Therapy Continues.
- Continue working on therapy reports. The first three sections of the report (Background Data, Evaluation, Goals) are due by mid-camp.
- Make modifications in the therapy schedule as needed. Changes need to be cleared with the Therapy Coordinator or Educational Coordinator before they can go into effect.
WEEK 5 - "Mid-Camp Week"
- Continue therapy.
- Preschool-aged campers end their session at camp. Parents pick them up on Tuesday of this week. You will meet briefly with parents of any preschooler you have on your caseload. A new group of preschoolers arrive on Thursday of this same week. A revised therapy schedule is developed to include the new preschoolers.
- Finish and turn in therapy reports for first session preschoolers.
- Depending on how the calendar falls, preparations usually begin this week for the Bay Cliff Birthday Party. Each department is assigned a month and is responsible for decorating a section of the Big House for that month. The Birthday Party usually takes place during the third or fourth week of July. This is a surprise event. Preparations are done during times when the campers are not in therapy or out around camp.
WEEK 6 - Therapy continues.
- Continue working on goals with your campers.
- Continue working on final reports.
WEEK 7 - Therapy continues.
- Continue working on goals with your campers.
- Continue working on final reports.
WEEK 8 - Therapy begins to wind down.
- Final assessments are done to note camper progress and develop recommendations for therapy/community needs following camp.
- Complete final reports on every camper who received therapy. All final reports are due in to the Therapy Coordinator by Thursday morning. Reports must be in typed form for their final draft, and follow all formating guidelines discussed during Orientation Week.
- Traditionally, on Friday, the therapists sponsor a popcorn party for all the campers in the morning. No formal therapy occurs on this day. The afternoon is spent preparing for the closing fire ceremony, cleaning the department, etc.
- On Friday evening, a Council Fire for all campers and staff ceremonially signifies the end of camp.
- On SATURDAY, all campers leave. Hold brief, final conferences with parents when they pick up campers.
- On SUNDAY, the therapy center & therapy cabins are cleaned and organized. Therapists provide end-of-camp feedback on the program and camp in general. We attend the Final Banquet in the evening. Your contract ends after the banquet, and you are free to leave any time after that. The Therapy Coordinator checks you out of your living quarters.
ALL CAMP ACTIVITIES:
Special events occur throughout the summer that allow therapists to interact with campers in a fun, exciting way outside of therapy. These events include the Opening Fire Ceremony, Fourth of July Parade & Games, Fire on the Bay Fireworks, Bay Cliff's Birthday Party, Share-n-Care and Indian Council Fire. Attendance & participation are mandatory, but the fun comes naturally. These are times of highlights for everyone.
SPECIAL RECREATION ACTIVITIES:
Our teen campers have the opportunity to kayak & waterski during the summer! Bay Cliff Therapists, who are interested, can assist with the adaptive program(s). No experience is required. Training is provided.
ATTENDANCE AT MEALS:
Unless otherwise on a day off, attendance at the three daily meals is expected of all therapists and greatly appreciated by the counselors and campers. It’s also a great time to work on therapy goals!
Throughout Camp, you'll experience how "Everything is Therapy at Bay Cliff"
Please contact us with any questions about Bay Cliff's Summer Therapy Program.
