Teacher Planning Guide

To-Do List for a Successful Tecumseh Field Trip

We are very excited to welcome you to Tecumseh; we look forward to partnering with you to create a memorable educational experience for your students. We know how much extra effort it takes to give your students this opportunity, and we appreciate the time and effort you are putting in to make this experience possible for your kids.

Below is a list of “to-do” items to prepare for your trip and to ensure a successful experience for everyone involved. Please take a look through each section and make sure you are able to check everything off before arriving at camp. If anything comes up or you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask!

This page is designed for teacher use and planning. Please direct parents to the “Trip Prepare Page”, which can be found here.

For answers to a lot of the FAQ’s please review the ABC’s of planning a camp trip

Contract & Deposit

Sign and return your contract with your deposit to confirm your dates.

  • Ensure the dates are correct along with the arrival and departure time.
  • Please include estimated numbers of boys/girls and men/women on the contract.
  • You will only be charged for the actual number of attendees. We use the estimated numbers to plan for cabins, meals, and trail groups, so your best possible guess is very helpful!

Transportation/Time Zone

  • Confirm whether you are coming by bus or by car and make sure reservations are made.
  • Confirm arrival and departure times – if it is different than times listed on the contract or schedule please update those times with camp so we can plan accordingly.
  • Camp is on Eastern Standard Time (EST) all year.

Chaperones

Make sure you have enough help to supervise kids and teach trails.

  • Recruit adult chaperones to attend a workshop, teach trails and supervise in the cabin.
    • All chaperones must pass a background check as per your school district policy
  • Provide parents/guardians with the Prepare information on our website.

Workshop

Attend a workshop and register parents for a workshop ahead of time.

  • Getting parents trained for your trip drastically improves the quality of the program for your students.
  • Workshops run from 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM on Saturdays. See registration form for specific dates.
  • Training is held outside, so make sure parents come dressed to be on the trails – it is hands-on and interactive!
  • It helps to have parents pre-assigned so they know what trails to learn while they are at camp.
  • Typical workshop schedule can be found here. Please use this schedule to pre-assign chaperones so they know what trails you need them to learn while they are at camp.
  • Dates for Fall 2023 are:
    • August 26
    • September 9
    • September 23
    • October 14
  • Please register your chaperones as a group using the link below. We just need the total number attending.

Register for Workshop

Trails

Trails are the actual activities or lessons your students will be participating in while here at camp.

Make sure you know who is teaching which trails and create a schedule.

  • Assign chaperones to teach trails they have been trained in and feel comfortable with.
  • Provide chaperones with a copy of the schedule and trail rotations (this will be sent to you via email).
  • The rotation grid is the second page of your schedule. The activities that are taught by camp staff are indicated, the rest of the trails need to be covered by your chaperones.
  • Any needed changes to the schedule need to be requested at least 2 weeks prior to your trip.

Dietary Needs

Complete the dietary needs and allergy information form for each camper/chaperone who will be attending. Please try and submit this no later than 2 weeks prior to your trip.

That form can be found here.

Planning Packet

Make sure your campers are assigned in the following groups. These specific assignments will be emailed to you.

  • Cabin groups
  • Trail groups
  • Table groups

Make sure you have an adult chaperone responsible for each of these groups as well.

In some cases these assignments may change year to year, so please use the most up-to-date versions of the documents.

These groups are assigned based on the estimated numbers provided on the contract. Please contact Lauren(laurenm@camptecumseh.org or 765-564-2898) if you need to make any changes to your schedule or your numbers have changed from your original estimates.

Name Tags

Helpful for camp staff, teachers, and parents. It is great to have one for each day you are here, using plastic inserts, laminated tags or printing enough stickers for each day works great.

Make sure your students’ name tags include the following:

  • Camper name
  • Cabin name
  • Trail group name
  • Hopper assignment
  • Table Assignment

Example:

Student Preparation

Make sure your students know what to expect and what to bring:

  • Send them the packing list.
  • Trails are rain or shine so make sure they come dressed for weather.
  • Ensure students and chaperones have a sack lunch packed for your first meal.
    • It helps to collect the sack lunches at school before you leave and keep them all together for your arrival to camp.
  • Day of the trip think through how you are packing the buses/cars. Try to do it in a way where the kids can quickly grab their belongings and move into the cabins. We like to get the program rolling as soon as you get here and it helps a lot to get the kids moved in quickly!
  • Ensure all student belongings are labeled with their name and cabin assignment.

T-Shirts

Please complete the form below: