The 2017 Editions of the Falconer

From the Director

We did it Again!

Once again, Falcon was visited by the American Camp Association this past summer to be accredited as an ACA camp and once again we passed our accreditation visit with flying colors. The ACA asks that we do not discuss any scores from the visit because of the possibility that they might be misinterpreted and as a visitor myself, I understand and agree with that. So I will not reveal our score except to give you a hint: we didn’t fail any of the more than 300 standards that the visitors examine. That would be zero wrong if you get the hint… You can see our certificate on the wall in the health center when you come to camp. At the annual ACA Ohio conference in January, Falcon Camp received an award for Program Excellence from the ACA Ohio Council of Leaders. This honor was given to us partly because of the quality of our program design and opportunities for campers to learn but also because of the respect given to the excellence of our staff training and the work we do in making sure our staff provides the highest levels of care and teaching for our campers. The award is an honor we take seriously and I believe it is an honor to have the respect of your peers in whatever work you do. We have high expectations for our staff but it only works if we provide them with the necessary training and assistance to know their jobs and be able to reach those expectations. Nici Mahen deserves a
huge shout out for the outstanding work she does with our LIT, CIT and Jr Staff programs as well
as oversight of our entire staff. We spend large amounts of time in the off season learning and reaffirming that the teaching methods we use are best practices and stand the test of time. We are proud of the recognition and do our best to serve our campers, families and our staff with the highest standards.

I received a thank you and a gift at the same conference for serving on the board/council of leaders for the past 23 years. As my last term ended in January I decided it was time for someone else to take over the position of public policy chair and spend the volunteer hours involved so I am no longer on the Council of Leaders. I will still maintain an active role in watching over issues involving the health and safety of children, still be a visitor to accredit camps and still maintain an active role in the ACA but it is time for some of the younger folks to become more involved. I expect to spend some of that extra time in the summer being more active with our own campers and staff, and some of that time over the winter spending time with my granddaughter Sloan. Emily and I are pretty happy being grandparents!

Summer is coming soon,

Dave