Culture Vs Climate

I recently read an interesting article on the difference between culture and climate in a school. The article posited that culture is "shared beliefs, its ceremonies, its nuances, the traditions and the things that make the school unique" (Jakes, Your climate, your culture). Culture is developed over years. Climate, on the other hand, is the now, the current conditions, impacted by many things like "contract negotiations, a death of a faculty member, a state championship, perhaps a change in leadership" (Jakes). Climate is constantly changing, and over time, influences the culture.

I think the same is true for camps. At Falcon, we've created a culture through things like Senehawk competitions, Awards Nights, commitment to friendship and compassion, and more. When I think about our culture, I think a large part of it would be being accepting of everyone, trying your best, and doing things with smiles on our faces and songs in our hearts, as unbelievably corny as that is. Those beliefs and morals date back many years and have been important at Falcon Camp for a long time.

Climate, on the other hand, is a cool thing to think about. I've seen it change at different times in my 14 years at camp. I've probably impacted it myself. When we add little things like Formal Dinner (new last year) that changes the climate until they become a part of traditions, and therefore part of the culture. Because we are a small place relying on each other a great deal running for a condensed period of time each year, climate can have a huge impact on our summer, and therefore we can always be thinking about how we are impacting it. I think the most important way we impact climate is how we respond to outside stimuli, be it a change in schedule due to weather, or a greeting from another camper. We choose to keep the climate and consequently culture an upbeat one. Instead of sitting in our cabins and moping when it rains, we decide to play mud soccer, or have a Bingo Night in the lodge. When someone says hi to us, we smile and say hi back instead of grunting in their general direction or not responding at all. All these little things means Falcon remains a place where people want to smile. And each one of us contributes to that.

Original Article: http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/02/28/your-climate-your-culture/