Staff Office

For the last two days I have been cleaning and setting up our staff office. This is the first thing that a Program Manager does when they begin the summer. It was quite dirty after not being used for 9 months, but now I have it up and running! Here are some photos.

The Before Photos:

And The After Photos:

As you can see, I hung a lot of information on the walls, and just generally made it a more livable space. It may not look that exciting, but this is where I'll be spending most of my days this summer. I'm really happy with the results, and can't wait for all the craziness that will happen in this office!

All the best,

Stacy

Training Recap/Commissioning Service

Yesterday marked the official end of staff training. I learned a lot that will (hopefully) help me this summer. However, I'm quite happy to be on break and not have to be in the dining hall at 7am for breakfast. Here's a quick recap of what I've been doing since I last posted.

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday:

The tree I painted for Sunday/
Friday worship

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were the busiest days of training. We spent most of the time in KYJ (Know Your Job) sessions that focused on different aspects of our job. For example, one of my KYJ sessions was about how to lead a program meeting. A program meeting is a meeting I lead everyday at camp during which my MCs and I plan worships. So during the program meeting KYJ, I learned how to facilitate planning worships and how to steer my MCs in the right direction. During another KYJ session I painted a giant tree on a sheet for our Sunday and Friday worships. You'll have to stay tuned to figure out how it's incorporated into worship!



Saturday:
Saturday was a day of celebration. I'd been looking forward to Saturday all week because this is the day that we were able to move to Camp Baker. Training is at the other camp, Cumberland Pines, so on Saturday Baker staff moves all of our things (plus the Mt TOP trucks) to Baker where we will be spending the rest of the summer. I was so excited to see Baker again for the first time since last summer. Somehow, I just don't quite wrap my head around the fact that I'm on staff until I make to Baker Mountain.

The truck caravan driving to Baker.

All of Baker staff outside the lodge.

Me in front of the staff lodge.

Name-tag photo of my staff's management.

Then, after we unloaded everything at Baker, we spent the rest of the day bonding as a staff. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then went to Beersheba Porcelian, a Mt. TOP staple. Beersheba Porcelain is a pottery store run by the Mayhews out of their home. It's an idylic setting with ponds and flowers all around the property. Mr. Mayhew sits on his porch and makes all of the pottery. There's also a mountain overlook down the road where we had to take some the classic Mt. TOP staffer name-tag photos.

Finally, Saturday night we had commissioning service where all the summer staffers are commissioning to do God's work during the summer. It's a special worship where we celebrate Holy Communion and receive an olive-wood cross and a fishhook pin. The olive-wood cross symbolizes our ability to weather many storms with God's help because olive trees are very hardy, and the fishhook is the symbol of Mt. TOP, based on Matthew 4:18-20. Of course, there was also time for a staff picture!

My staff at Commissioning minus Tyler who was sick.

Sunday/Today:

One of my Walmart purchases. Every
Program Manager needs some smelly markers!

Finally on Sunday morning we cleaned the camp and gathered for a closing circle where we reflected on the training experience. Then we all left for break. I'm staying with three of my friends at the home of one of the Friends of the Ministry, people in the community who open up their homes to staffers who live too far away to go home during breaks. So far we've gone to the local flea market, made a quick stop at Walmart to get things we forgot, and a whole lot of nothing. There's a joke (which is usually true) that the only things Mt. TOP staffers want to do on their breaks are sleep and do laundry. Tonight I will head back to camp to get ready for pre-camp which starts tomorrow morning. I can't believe that the next time I'm on break I will have already had my first week of campers. There's so much to do, but I can't wait!

All the best,
Stacy

Hello From Training!

Hi!

The overhead sign welcoming to Ohio
as I was driving back from college.

The last few days have been very exciting for me. On Friday I finished school, then I packed up my dorm, drove to Cincinnati, unpacked, repacked, and drove to camp! It was certainly a whirlwind couple of days, but I'm happy to have arrived safe and sound at training.

Today was an especially fun day at training because it was staff reveal, which meant I found out what Ministry Coordinators (MCs for short) would be on my staff. Mt. TOP is composed of four staffs (two for each camp). Each staff has one director, one field manager, one program manager (that's me!), and five MCs. We come to training knowing which directors and managers will be together, but MCs aren't divided into staffs until mid-way through training (today!).

I am so excited that I finally know everyone who I will be working with this summer. After staff reveal we spent the day doing staff-bonding activities like building steps for the new cabin and the low-ropes course. The low-ropes course was definitely my favorite. I felt like we were really able to come together as a staff and work as a team to accomplish the tasks. For the next three days we will be learning more details about our specific jobs, and then on Saturday we have Staff Commissioning. Can't wait to learn what else God has in store for me this summer!

My staff on the low-ropes course.
From left to right: Victoria (MC), Rachael (MC), Jayke (Field Manager)),
Me, Mary (MC), Jacob (MC), Ben (Director), and Tyler (MC)

All the best,
-Stacy

Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Camp Baker

During the summer, Mt. TOP actually runs out of two camps, Camp Pines and Camp Baker. This summer I'll be working at Camp Baker, and I couldn't be happier. Although Pines has it's own benefits (like a big field to play games), I'm truly a Baker Lover. So in celebration of the wonderful Camp Baker, I thought I'd do a Top 10 list of why it's my favorite out of the two camps.

Me and my fellow staff member on the Staff Lodge porch

1.  I get to live in the beautiful staff lodge which has a huge porch and is conveniently attached to our staff office.

2. The awesome Baker kitchen staff.

3. Nine-square and volleyball are so much more exciting when there's the threat that a loose ball may go rolling down the mountain.

4. The Side Porch is perfect for playing Octoball.

A game of Octoball

5. The gorgeous Worship Center surrounded by trees.

6. The camper cabins have bathrooms inside of the cabins rather than in a separate building, which makes the campers happy. Happy campers=happy staff!

7. Everything is close together. The Pavilion and Dining Hall are attached to each other.

Campers at the Prayer Dock

8. Physically being on the edge of a plateau makes all the references to the "mountain top" seem even more relevant.

9.Worships at the Prayer Dock.

10. It's the camp I attended when I was a camper, so it's filled with great memories from past years.


13 more days until I'm on the mountain!

All the best,
Stacy