Counselors at Edmond YMCA camp aim to make experience memorable for kids

His first priority is making sure all the kids have fun in a safe environment. The way Kastner sees it, camp is an important experience in a kid's life.

“Camp is a place where you have a lot of great childhood memories, so we want it to be fun, so we want to make sure they have a blast,” he said.

Camp sessions begin at 9 a.m. and run Monday through Friday. The fun begins with a dance session. That's followed by that week's theme activity. After that is lunchtime followed by some free time to do arts and crafts, swimming or other sports before winding up the day with small groups and one more dance.

It's easy to see that Kastner embraces the challenge. He will be a resident adviser in the fall at Oklahoma State University and knows how to emphasize the positive.

“We talk about attitude and how it's caught, not taught,” he said. “If you have a good attitude, the kids usually do. The more excited you are, the more excited they are.”

That doesn't mean everything always goes smoothly. There are conflicts that sometimes have to be resolved or mediated. It's usually something simple, like who grabbed a ball first. Kastner has to take all conflicts seriously.

“A small thing to me might be the world to a kid,” he said. “You have to take it all seriously and find out both sides of the story, and by the end hopefully you get them to be friends. Sometimes your enemy at the beginning of camp is your friend by the end of camp.”