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#Post#: 12950--------------------------------------------------
19 May 2019 - Orientation
By: Jack Date: May 19, 2019, 3:09 pm
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College is out.... Well, mostly. All my boys are either home or
on their way, except the boys at UT, who still have a day or two
left in their finals. Of course, the UT boys are about half of
my college kids right now, so....
On the other hand, my kids aren't the only college kids with
whom I'm dealing right now.
Let me pause here to say that college finals are always a bit of
a challenge to me. For a number of reasons, I always try to
hire a lot of college students, but they pretty much have to
have time off to prepare for finals. That means, when the kids
going to college around here are getting ready for finals, then
going home, until the time the locals kids take their finals and
ARRIVE home, I'm short of help (and the same thing in reverse
when classes start). That's one of the reasons my time here has
been so tight the last couple of weeks.
In chat, Adric and I have discussed how many major colleges
there are in the DFW area. I would tend to say 4 to 6. I doubt
anyone would argue with Texas Christian University, Southern
Methodist University, University of Texas at Arlington, or
University of North Texas, and I consider that University of
Texas in Dallas and Texas Wesleyan University would both be
included. On the other hand, I found a list of four-year
colleges in this area that counted 19 of them!
I mention that as a lead up to why I've been doing orientation
this week. I mentioned in the Camp Percy thread that we have
been hiring counselors for Camp Percy drawn from college
students studying related fields who are looking for experience.
We had many applying to be interns, but I insisted that these
should be paid positions, and that we give extreme priority to
hiring kids who aged out of the foster care system without a
forever family.
Now, let me pause again to say that Texas does not kick kids out
the door when they turn 18, even if a kid doesn't have a forever
family by then. If you're interested in the details, I'd
encourage you to read
HTML https://texasfamilyinitiative.org/aging-out-of-foster-care/
HTML http://texasfosteryouth.org/legal-resources/legal-resources-for-youth/aging-out-of-foster-care/
However, while that's available, it's still a state program, in
a state which isn't always known for it's speed and
responsiveness.
So, while we're not hiring these kids at any great wages (this
is all being done through the Huff Foundation, and paid for with
endowments, grants, and donations), we are giving these kids
room and board, uniforms they get to keep, more than just
spending money, and a fun job in their chosen fields, while
spending time with other people who aren't just their age, but
who come from similar backgrounds.
Camp Percy focuses largely - but not entirely - on kids with
ADHD. I'm not going to swear to it, but I think ADHD
terminology has gone through at least three changes in my
lifetime, so let me point out that ADHD is now the umbrella term
for ADD, Hyperactive, and Combined types... I think. Maybe Kier
can clarify that more for us. However, we are also accepting
kids with other learning-type disabilities. We do some physical
therapy - mostly helping kids learn to relax and control
themselves rather than letting their bodies control them - but
we are not set up to work with kids with physical disabilities,
which should give you an idea what the camp will be like. We
are accepting some kids with behavioral issues, but nothing
extreme, or which might endanger counselors or other campers.
Because ADHD tends to be diagnosed more frequently in boys than
girls (whether this is genetic or simply that it's frequently
more blatant and disruptive in boys is a question for another
time), we have more young men working there than females, though
it's about 38% ladies, since there are a lot of jobs to do
outside of cabin counselor (a position that will rotate among
all the counselors). That means I get to orient 24 young men
who are physical enough to want a job like this. Most of them
didn't have cars, but at least none of them were further than
about 90 minutes (we had two guys from outside the Metroplex we
hired, but I just bought Greyhound for them. Marcus and I took
the passenger van to get most of them, I just paid a freaking
Lyft for one guy,
One of the adults we hired to handle things at the camp handled
orientation for the ladies, but I took care of the young men
myself. Some of them came in groups, but a few were one by
one. A couple of them tried on their 'camp clothes' right in
front of me, which was fun (one of those is actually hoping to
be a middle school coach, so I guess it's no wonder he's not shy
- he actually had his pants to his knees before he realized what
he was doing and apologized, then was suddenly all shy and
embarrassed).
Anyway, while that was a lot of extra work I didn't need, it was
also a lot of fun. I took the kids out to camp today, along
with the Malones, Marchants, Tidwells, Loomis, and a few other
families, and we had a huge cookout.
As the kids arrive, they've been helping unpack everything and
making final checks to be sure we're ready for campers. Our
very first group will be arriving tonight, which is a group of
homeschool students from different areas of East Texas, whose
kids will be staying for a week.
I should also mention Chance.
Chance is a former foster kid who's run afoul of one of the
worst problems of a state program - paper work! He applied with
this, because he didn't have money to live on this summer, and
wasn't sure if anything would (or even could) be approved on
time. The thing is, he's not studying one of the fields from
which we were hiring, so he didn't really qualify. When I
contacted him to explain that, you could pretty much tell he was
holding back tears. On the other hand, he loves Star Trek, Star
Wars, Dr. Who, and a number of other geekdoms. So, I ended up
hiring him to work the stores over the summer. He and I made a
deal where I'm advancing him living expenses to help him settle
in, he's signed permission for me to do deductions each week.
When he arrived, we met and talked things over. He's actually a
pretty decent looking kid, but his clothes are a bit old and
don't fit great, and his hair was a mess (he tried to straighten
it with a perm kit and ended up frying it, I think).
Keep in mind that I've had a really busy few weeks now. I
talked to him a bit about his hair, and ended up taking him to a
salon. He got a deep conditioning and a cut (a bit short for
him, but it removed most of the damage), and I got a
neck/shoulder massage and a mani/pedi. I didn't really have time
to spare, but he looks much better, and I felt much more
relaxed. Also, Chance is about the same size as Ethan, so I
brought him home, we tried on hand me downs, and managed to put
together a decent wardrobe for him. I also advanced him a bit
more money, and we stopped and got him other things he really
needed (like new underpants). Then we had a late lunch at
Reuben's.
Chance is moved into an efficiency apartment right next to
Garret Riley. They seem to like each other well enough. Chance
will be splitting his time between the Imaganarium and the
Warehouse (he doesn't know comics all that well, so I'm going to
ease him into the other stores), so I won't be working directly
with him that much, but he seems like a great kid, and talking
to him is a lot of fun.
#Post#: 12955--------------------------------------------------
Re: 19 May 2019 - Orientation
By: Leti Date: May 19, 2019, 9:56 pm
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Hugs, Jack you have been so busy !
Great that Camp is starting to night.
It is very good that Chance found you and you can help him Hugs!
I hope the rest of your college kids get home soon.
Hugs
Leti
#Post#: 12961--------------------------------------------------
Re: 19 May 2019 - Orientation
By: db105 Date: May 20, 2019, 3:31 am
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This is very nice.
A group of campers arrived who will be staying for a week. Does
that mean that there are different groups staying at the same
time, but not arriving or leaving on the same date?
One other question, when you say "pants", does than mean
trousers or underwear? It's a bit confusing because it seems to
be used differently in different places.
#Post#: 12963--------------------------------------------------
Re: 19 May 2019 - Orientation
By: Jack Date: May 20, 2019, 12:55 pm
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[quote author=db105 link=topic=1279.msg12961#msg12961
date=1558341104]
Does that mean that there are different groups staying at the
same time, but not arriving or leaving on the same date?
[/quote]
We do rent the facilities for various uses, outside it's primary
aims. This is to help defray the cost.
In this case, we are running this more or less like a regular
summer camp, since most of our counselors are already here, and
they can use the practice to settle in. In many cases, groups
renting the camp will be handling more or less all their own
needs.
Besides kids, we're already renting out to some church and
business groups. who are looking to 'retreat' for a weekend. In
most of those cases, the people renting the camp (as opposed to
attending the summer camp) are not using the entire camp, so
there may be overlapping groups at those times.
[quote author=db105 link=topic=1279.msg12961#msg12961
date=1558341104]
One other question, when you say "pants", does than mean
trousers or underwear? It's a bit confusing because it seems to
be used differently in different places.
[/quote]
Pants as something worn beneath trousers is more Anglican than
American. I tend to say 'pants' as something you wear in
public, which includes pants and jeans, and is usually distinct
from shorts, which are also worn in public, but don't normally
go (much) past the knees. For underpants, I normally say
'underpants' or (making a distinction) 'boxers' or 'briefs'.
These days, boxer briefs seem to be the most common type of
undergarments for boys and young men, but I just don't bother
distinguishing between boxers and boxer briefs.
To make things more confusing, while 'shorts' normally refers to
walking shorts, school shorts, or various styles of athletic
shorts, the term is sometimes applied to underpants (at least
regionally)....
Anyway, I try to say pants and underpants, and I try to make it
clear in context. In this case, the young man in question was
wearing boxers, so he was technically decent.
#Post#: 12965--------------------------------------------------
Re: 19 May 2019 - Orientation
By: db105 Date: May 20, 2019, 2:04 pm
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Thanks for the explanations! :)
#Post#: 12966--------------------------------------------------
Re: 19 May 2019 - Orientation
By: Zyngaru Date: May 20, 2019, 3:56 pm
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It is really nice that you found a place for Chance. It is
difficult to get a start in life. Being able to give a young
man a that chance is a great thing.
Glad that the Camp is up and running. I know both the campers
and the counselors will all benefit from it. I benefited
tremendously the time I was able to be a camp counselor. It is
a wonder to watch the change in boys from when they first arrive
at camp and when they leave camp.
You do great work Uncle Wells. :) :) :)
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