REFERENCES
ALAURA TIFFIN ~ PREVIOUS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT ADULLAM CAMP MINISTRIES
To whom it may concern,
Megan is an extremely hard-working, professional and dedicated young woman. I have known Megan for six years and served as her supervisor at Adullam Camps and am a teacher myself. Throughout the time that I have known Megan she has grown into a strong leader and many of our staff and campers look up to her. From 2016 until present she has been responsible for creating safe and structured programs for campers to participate in. She constantly asks for feedback and applies it constructively to her work. Our organization knew early on that Megan would be a fabulous candidate to be a senior staff member. Our Sr. Staff are in charge of our high-school counsellors and program staff and aid in developing their leadership skills. They are also responsible for directing and planning camps, marketing camps and care to day to day operations from May-August. This year Megan has been chosen to lead the entire staff as she will serve as the Team Captain, meaning she will direct senior and summer team members. Megan has demonstrated her ability to excel in this position through many of her talents including: organization, trust, creative abilities, time management skills and lesson planning experience. Megan is able to direct and control large groups of people and is able to give clear expectations while doing so.
As an experienced staff member, Megan is tasked with dealing with some of the tougher situations that occur in a camp setting. Last summer especially Megan was faced with several difficult camper situations and dealt with them beautifully. She is not afraid to ask for assistance and will be the first one to ask for constructive feedback following an event.
Not only is Megan great with campers from all ages (including babies to leading adults 60+), she is a great team member and fosters a team mentality in the work place. When situations arise when parents need to be called, she is very respectful and tries her best to come out of the situation on a positive note.
When looking at the many staff members I have worked with and led in this organization over the past 10+ years, Megan is one of the top staff members that I would recommend. It is no surprise that Megan wants to continue working with children as she has already dedicated so much of her life to them already. As a teacher myself, I am extremely confident in Megan’s ability to serve as a caring and engaging teacher. She cares deeply for the children she works with and always goes above and beyond what she is asked to do. I look forward to watching Megan become a teacher and know she will make a huge impact on so many student’s lives.
Sincerely,
Alaura Tiffin
JULIANNE BREEN ~ CURRENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT ADULLAM CAMP MINISTRIES
To whom it may concern,
My name is Julianne Breen. I am the Executive Director of Adullam Camps. I have known Megan Pepper for 6 years. I first met her when she was a Leader in Training, witnessed her working as a hired camp counsellor, and now am supervising her work as our Team Captain.
In this capacity, I have been able to observe many of Megan’s exceptional teaching skills. Megan has an acute awareness of the needs of those in her care. Last summer she directed Adullam Day Camp in Chatham. In the preparations and the execution for this week of camp, Megan demonstrated creative ways to engage children through many original ideas. She led daily chapel lessons for the campers aged 6-8 where she took the lesson material and altered it in order to be more accessible and engaging for that age group. All throughout this week, she thought critically about what would work for the campers and their ages and made changes accordingly. One specific example of this was that Megan realized the campers who were going into grade one were getting more tired and worn because they were used to having naptime in kindergarten. She took the time to plan an intentional nap time, (with music, books, and quiet toys) in the afternoon rotations for them specifically. I was impressed by her awareness, creativity, and willingness to do what needed to be done to make the program successful for all campers. This awareness was shown again in planning for this upcoming camp season. Megan shared her passion to make camp more accessible for all campers with all sorts of disabilities and limitations.
In addition to her awareness and creativity, Megan’s strong points include persistence, hard work, and positivity. Her work ethic is commendable. She goes above and beyond. She does not shy away from difficulty, but has persevered through many challenges while working at camp. In her first year as a hired camp counsellor, she faced many challenges in her first cabin. There were campers who were missing home and campers who were also physically sick. She bore the long, difficult nights with persistence and perseverance. Afterwards, she did not resent this experience but chose to look at it as an opportunity for growth and learning. This attitude was one she has repeated many times throughout her time working at camp and one of which I have been quite impressed.
Megan’s instructional style is clear and engaging for our campers. She might be considered more quiet and reserved in front of a group when teaching, but she uses this to her advantage. The way she is able to break down concepts clearly for young children is quite effective. At our camp training, she has had the opportunity to instruct our high school aged staff in their training as well. Her style is so welcoming and kind to all in the group that everyone wants to listen to her and learn. When it comes to classroom management, Megan is very resourceful and intentional. She does a lot of preemptive work to make the environment and program welcoming to the campers in order to prevent many classroom management issues. In the midst of camp, especially as director, Megan is kind but quite firm. She manages large groups of children in an orderly fashion. She uses resources at her disposal (such as fidgets and toys) to help children who have trouble sitting. The compassion she has for all children throughout her instruction and direction is incredible.
One of Megan’s limitations is that she sometimes lacks confidence in her own abilities. The times she thrives the most are the ones where those around her are affirming and supporting her thoughts and ideas. When this is lacking, sometimes Megan’s ideas do not come to reality as readily. I know that Megan has been aware of her lack of confidence and how this can affect her ability to speak up for herself and make her ideas known. Megan has been working through this for the past few years and I can see great strides in her ability to speak up for herself. I can see how her passion for children fuels this ability. I have confidence she will grow even more confident this summer as she leads our camp staff team as their captain.
From my experience observing Megan working with children at camp, I am very confident in her abilities as a teacher. She is a resourceful, persistent, teachable and extremely sensitive educator. Our campers and staff all love her caring leadership and teaching style at camp and I have every confidence she displays similar qualities in all facets of life. Megan Pepper is a wonderful educator and I highly recommend her for any teaching position she may pursue.
Sincerely,
Julianne Breen
Adullam Camps Executive Director juliannebreen@adullam.ca