After going through the “Get to Give” questionnaire with Biz
Camp students to get their buy-in -- discussed in my last “Lemonade Stand” blog
-- I reviewed camp rules. I let participants know that these rules and
expectations were non-negotiable, and there were consequences for breaking them,
namely getting kicked out of the camp. Since the goal of the camp was to win a
computer for each member of your team, that was a pretty big threat. And yes,
in my 10 years of running the camp, I did ask some kids to leave. Not many, I
had good kids and a good staff to help work through the sticking points.
Before the camp started, I had an orientation meeting for
campers and their parents. It was a way for me to meet the parents and them to
meet me. I went over all the rules the first time with everyone at this
meeting. So, if a parent got a call to come pick up their child and not bring
him/her back, they were not surprised.
At the second year orientation I heard two kids talking. One,
we’ll call him Brad, had come to help out and had already gone through the
camp. The other one, we’ll can him Rick, was going to participate that summer. Brad
said to Rick about me, “Yeah, she doesn’t give you anything. You have to really
work for everything you get. It was the hardest I have ever worked in my life,
and I loved it!”
Yep, the rules work. Just make sure you stick to them.
Rule # 1: You will be expected to act like a business
person since you will be learning about business. We will expect you to clean
up after yourself after every hands-on project by throwing away the trash and
putting supplies back where they belong. After you eat, throw out your garbage.
Go to the restroom, put the paper towel in the trash bin after wiping up any
water you splashed on the counter.
Rule #2: You will be assigned to a team. You will
have to learn to work together to complete your final business plan. If you
can’t get along with the members of your team, your team will probably lose. We
will not remove members who don’t work well together. In business you will have
to work on projects with people you do not like, and still have to find a way to
succeed. Might as well learn how to do it now.
Rule #3: Life is not fair. There are winners and
there are losers. While camp administration will create as level a playing
field as we can to get things started, not everyone succeed. One team will win. The rest
will lose. As Olympic gold medal winner Mia Hamm says, “Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in
practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.” Take what you learned
at the camp and move on.
Rule
#4: There is
a dress code, follow it. Different businesses require different styles of
dress. Some will require more formal clothing than others. Don’t buy new
clothing for the camp, but be aware of what you have that will be applicable
and age appropriate. You’ll never get a second chance to make a first
impression, and in today’s world you have seven seconds. Seven seconds that can
possibly affect the rest of your business life. Past Biz Camp participants have
made connections that have led to high school job shadow opportunities, college
internships and post-college jobs.
These are the first four rules for the Biz Camp. There are
four more to come. And a few hints for camp success. They will be my next blog.
At this point I need to mention Charles Sykes book “Dumbing
Down Our Kids.” It explains the toughness of my rules above. This is his rule
number four:
“If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a
boss. He doesn't have tenure.”
Lee Rennick is a freelance
writer, former Vice-President of Marketing and past Executive Director of the
Business Education Foundation of Rutherford County, TN. She shares her
interests and knowledge about working, learning and living at http://www.sidelinemusings.com.
Photo from MorgueFiles.
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