Job Readiness and Youth Development
at Hidden Valley 4-H Camp
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The Hidden Valley 4-H Camp in Schuyler County provides opportunity for adolescents to build their job readiness skills.
Camp counselors are generally adolescents between the ages of 16-22. According to research, the part of the brain that controls decision making, planning, appropriate behavior and self-awareness is not yet fully formed. Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of the University College London, states that the “Frontal Cortex, which controls decision making, risk taking behavior and social inhibitions, is still going through a very profound development.” However, she also states that this time of brain development is “a fantastic opportunity for learning and creativity.” Therefore, it is vital to the success of the camp, the safety of our campers and the positive growth for each individual counselor to seize this opportunity and provide job education and readiness for this age group.
The Hidden Valley 4-H Camp with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County develops youth programming based on the 4-H model of Positive Youth Development and the belief that adults and youth are able to learn from each other. We understand that the counselors we employ are mostly adolescents and require their own positive youth development that focuses on job skills, job readiness and appropriate decision making. We offer a process that empowers personal and professional growth for all of our counselors. This process starts at the point of application submission and ends when the counselor has left to pursue new endeavors. After the application is submitted, the candidate is called in for an interview. This is conducted in a manner that allows the individual leeway to make mistakes with positive feedback through the course of the meeting to begin to develop skills in a non-threatening environment. The candidate walks away feeling accomplished and closer to serving their role at camp. Next, the camp provides mandatory staff training on site one full week prior to campers arrival. Training is focused on risk and behavior management, activity planning and execution, communication, problem solving and conflict management as well as child development through the 4-H model. This training is executed by professionals within the Cornell Cooperative Extension system. Finally, performance feedback is delivered through the course of the summer. Weekly staff meetings reinforce job and behavior expectations while allowing staff to professionally deliver their own input as leaders of the campers in order to promote improvements or necessary changes to the camp programming for the upcoming week. Individual feedback is delivered individually with the purpose of growth and improvement through the course of the season.