Introducing Core Values at the Melwood Recreation Center
This year, the full-time staff of the Melwood Recreation Center decided to identify the four core values that embody our culture and guide our decisions. The four values identified are Growth, Wellness, Integrity, and Respect.
Core Values
Growth at the Melwood Recreation Center means challenging preconceived notions and stereotypes. Growth also is committing to trying new things and accepting that learning often includes challenges and setbacks. For some, growing means coming to camp and making a new friend, for others, it may mean reaching the top of the climbing wall. If you come out of a camp session, riding lesson, or vacation and say you did something you’ve never done – that’s growth.
Wellness encompasses both emotional and physical health. To promote wellness, we offer healthy dining options like a salad bar during afternoon meals and yogurt during breakfast. In the summer months, we always have a nurse on-site. On these hot summer days, wellness means filling water bottles at every station and making sure your friends are staying hydrated and healthy.
Respect can best be summarized by the Golden Rule, “Treat others as you want to be treated.” Sometimes, we have a camper in our group who may need additional accommodations or supports. As group members, we need to respect that and embrace our differences. In the barn we respect the animals by not disturbing them while they rest and making sure we pet them with care and love.
Integrity can be defined simply by “Doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” If you’ve ever seen someone trip and offer them a hand up, or helped someone with limited mobility cross the street that’s integrity. Also, the idea of inclusion is based on integrity. We believe that bringing people of all ability levels together is the right thing to do both at our facility and in the community.
To ensure that all our participants keep our core values in mind, all campers and travelers are given gel bracelets with the core values etched on them.
Core Values bracelet
A simple point to the bracelet help remind participants to embody the core values.
When someone exemplifies one of the core values we point at our bracelet and give them a big thumbs-up. If someone does something that doesn’t align with our core values, we point to our bracelet to remind them that actions speak volumes and to make sure we learn from our mistakes.
Participants get a big thumbs-up when they demonstrate the Core Values!
Melwood Recreation Center 