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Parks & Rec Business
| Becoming A Recreation Professional By Silvana Clark Parks and recreation employees are known for their friendly and engaging personalities. We laugh when kids tip us out of our canoes, and submit to wearing outlandish costumes. We cheerfully repeat, “Kick the ball the other way” to enthusiastic pre-school soccer players. Engaging personalities are great … as long as programs and activities are professionally run. I recently observed a very enthusiastic staff person announce to a group of parents and children, “We’re going to play a great game! This will be so much fun!” He then glanced around and said, “Oops, I forgot to get the balls we need. I’ll be right back.” The group waited and when he returned, he said, “I learned this game last week, and I know you’ll love playing it too!” Boy, was he enthusiastic! Unfortunately, he was so unclear with the rules of the game that several families left the group. His energy was overshadowed by a lack of professional skills. Let’s use the word “recreation” to look at ways to increase your professional image while providing high-quality programs. R-E-C-R-E-A-T-I-O-N R: Resourceful: A professional looks beyond money for ways to provide quality programs. Send your parks and recreation T-shirt to a celebrity and ask him/her to autograph it. The shirt becomes a great prize for a road run or fundraiser. Many Toastmaster Clubs sponsor a “humorous speech” contest. Ask participants to perform for one of your events. You’ll get free (and funny) entertainment. Ask local artists for donations of their imperfect mat boards to use in children’s art classes. See if your college summer stock production wants to do excerpts from its plays at a local park. E: Exceeding Expectations: Everyone expects Santa to show up at a Lunch With Santa. Why not arrange for Frosty and Rudolph to be there also? What can you do in your programs that make participants smile and say, “I never expected that!” When my daughter was four, we were walking a paved path and she fell and scraped her knee. A park staff person saw the accident and produced a Barney Band-Aid. He said, “All our park staff keep these Band-Aids” handy for when kids just have a tiny cut.” It was a simple gesture but showed me this department knew how to exceed expectations. C: Creative: Go beyond traditional thinking. If a program has low enrollment, can you change the title to be more creative? I doubled class enrollment when I changed “Mother and Child Exercise Class” to “Wiggles and Giggles.” Expand your normal framework by reading a book outside the usual field. Read Nuts, the story of Southwest Airlines, and see how ideas from an airline can add creativity to your recreation programs. R: Risk Taking: Planning and studying are important, but they need to be balanced with a calculated risk. Can you start a craft program for children of migrant workers? Would a midnight hockey league get participants? We took a risk by offering a class for moms called “I’ve Always Wanted To Dance on Broadway.” It filled on the first day of registration. Try a few unusual programs so people see your department as one that is willing to take risks. E: Experience Makers: Recreation leaders provide positive experiences. Do people go to the Mall of America to buy socks? No, they go for the experience. People come to your open swim to meet others, to exercise, to chat with their favorite lifeguard, etc. How about putting up staff baby pictures so participants can guess how Coach Johnson looked with a full head of hair? Have greeters at the door to help people have a welcoming experience as they arrive at your facility. A: Alert: Develop an awareness of overall programs. Staff frequently makes statements like, “I work with teens. I don’t know where the seniors meet for bingo.” A professional sees the entire picture. You don’t need to know the date, time and location of every program, but you should know where to find that information. T: Training: It’s easy to become complacent about on-going training. Try to add interest to regular staff training by bringing in outside speakers. (I hear the author of this article is a great trainer!) Can you combine training with the Girl Scouts or YMCA? Is the library offering a free story telling class where you could learn new skills? I: Innovative: High-quality programs go beyond the ordinary. How about carving kiwis instead of pumpkins? Ever try an evening Easter egg hunt using flashlights and rocks painted with glow-in-the-dark colors? If you’re planning a Hawaiian night, set up speakers in the parking lot so people hear Hawaiian music as soon as they arrive. Offer half-price admission to your Valentine’s Carnival if people dress in red or pink. O: Organized: Yes, it’s easy to wing it, especially when you’ve been running a program for years. However, disorganization and casualness soon become evident. Adults attending a class quickly notice if staff members are ill prepared. Perhaps a basic time-management class is needed. Never forget the age-old standby of having checklists to make sure all areas are covered. We once signed up for an expensive kayaking trip, and when we arrived at the meeting place, the instructor told us he had forgotten the kayaks. We were delayed for over an hour as he left to pick up what seemed to be an obvious requirement for the trip … kayaks! N: Networking: Your community is a valuable resource for hundreds of networking opportunities. Take advantage of Chamber of Commerce meetings or service organizations. Let people know how your facilities, staff or programs can help them. They, in return, will be willing to share resources with you. These networking opportunities help everyone raise the professionalism of their respective programs. |
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