Camp Echo

McGaw YMCA

  • About Echo
    • Why Camp Echo?
      • Mission & Goals
      • Licensing and Accreditation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Camp Activities
    • Photos, Videos & Sounds
    • Camp Store (TP)
    • Fee Assistance
    • History
    • Location & Maps
    • Echo Staff
    • Facilities
  • Camps
    • Traditional Camp (Grades 3-9)
    • Adventure Trips (Grades 8-12)
    • Wilderness Programs (Grades 9-11)
    • Leadership Programs (Grades 10-11)
    • Family Programs
    • Echo Corps (Grades 10-12)
  • Essentials
    • Sign Up for Camp
    • 2022 Dates & Rates
    • Camp Echo Payments and Policies
    • Information for Families
      • Cabin Experience
      • Camper Readiness
      • Communication
      • Food Services
      • Gender Inclusion at Camp Echo
      • Mental & Emotional Health
      • Packing
      • Photos
      • Physical Health
      • Aquatics
      • Other Important Details
  • Work at Camp
    • Staff Application
    • Job Descriptions
    • Pay & Benefits
    • Staff Training & Certifications
    • Year-Round Jobs
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Homepage
    • Alumni Newsletters
    • Camp Echo Stories
    • History
    • Volunteer At Echo
    • Give to Echo
Camp Echo Home / Uncategorized / Core Value Hats

Core Value Hats

March 29, 2022

Many YMCA camps emphasize the core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. At McGaw YMCA Camp Echo we intentionally talk about the core values from the first day to the closing campfire and every day in between.  Core values are, in fact, the key to campers achieving one of our Personal Growth goals: Building Character.

We also added a special FIFTH value: Fun!  We tell our campers and staff that fun is not the goal, but it is what happens when we embody caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility.

Each day, at the end of breakfast announcements, the whole camp joins in the Core Value pledge: Today, like every day, we say: Today we will build our spirit, mind, and body, strive to be caring, accept responsibility, show respect to all others, be honest in all we do, AND HAVE FUN!

We like to honor campers and staff who exemplify these core values by awarding them with special core value hats.  These hats are made in the corresponding color (caring: red, honesty: blue, respect: yellow, responsibility: green, fun: black) with the core value word on the front.

Throughout the sessions, campers and staff can nominate campers that they see exhibiting the core values.  It is not a popularity contest, so hat recipients are selected based on the quality of the nominations, not based on who has received the most nominations. The core value work culminates at the closing campfire, with our summer Unit Leaders announcing the core value hat recipients with a short description of what made each recipient so wonderfully suited to receive a hat.

We also award the core value hats during pre-camp staff training each June. Many staff and campers cherish this award and wear them for summers to come.  On the first day of camp each session, we teach our campers about the core values and there is typically at least one staff member in every group wearing a hat they won.

Sign up for Camp! CampInTouch Give to Echo

SHARE THIS PAGE:

Tweets by @McGawYCampEcho

Recent Posts

  • Core Value Hats
  • Tales from the 2021 60s & 70s Staff Alumni Reunion
  • The Camp Echo Fix
  • Camp Echo Culture: How We Show Up

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • March 2022
    • November 2021
    • April 2019

    Categories

    • Camp Director Notes
    • Uncategorized

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

    TAKE ME TO

    • Echo Homepage
    • Sign Up for Camp
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • Dates & Rates
    • Work at Camp
    • Mission & Goals
    • Online Trading Post

    Contact Us

    Evanston (Oct-May):
    1000 Grove St,
    Evanston, IL 60201
    (P) 231-924-7076
    (F) 847-475-1764
     
    Fremont (June-Sept):
    3782 S Triangle Tr,
    Fremont, MI 49412
    (P) 231-924-7076
    (F) 847-475-1764

    McGaw YMCA Camp Echo Alumni


    Return to top of page

    Copyright © 2022 · The McGaw YMCA
    Website and Design: Indesign Web