Our "community" consists of many people - campers, parents, fellow staff, neighbours, local merchants, owners of our outtrip sites, people from other Camps. In our roles as responsible leaders, we must be mindful and considerate of our entire community.

This underlies our purpose for stressing the physical appearance of Tawingo's staff - to be clean-cut, neat, alert, and attentive. Because we are a closely-knit group and because the image we present to others is important to the success of Tawingo, it becomes necessary for each of us to make minor adjustments in our living patterns in order to fit comfortably into the unique "community" of Tawingo. We should not lose sight of the fact that each and every one of us must make some sacrifices for the general welfare of all.

We agree with the statement, "clothes do not make the person"; nor do personal grooming and hairstyles necessarily shade our ability to devote ourselves to a task. Speaking personally, we are not overly affected by the appearance of others. Similarly, we hope others are not bothered by our appearance! We invite applicants to be a part of our staff this summer because we expect they will do an excellent job, and, under most circumstances, performance on the job will be neither hindered nor enhanced by how one looks to others.

However, first impressions are lasting impressions and some campers, some parents, some staff and, some Huntsville merchants are going to judge us by our appearance and categorize us because of it. No amount of saying, "It shouldn't be that way" will alter this fact. Unfortunately, we cannot take the time to talk, individually, with every Camp parent (there are about 2,000 of them) or every camper (there are about 1,200 of them) or every Huntsville merchant and explain to them that underneath all of this outward appearance, we are really good people.

Therefore, we must take the more logical approach of presenting ourselves in a way that will not be offensive to anyone, hence the following suggestion to you concerning personal appearance.

We are extremely grateful when our male staff members arrive at Camp with a neat, natural haircut that doesn't hide the eyes or neck. Some people look very good with moustaches and beards, but, because it is a difficult thing to regulate, we have a "no beard, no moustache" policy. We ask that male staff do not wear earrings.

For girls, the length of hair is not as important as keeping it neat, clean, and off the face.  Female staff are welcome to wear earrings.

Currently, more and more people are experimenting with body piercing, different hairstyles, hair colour, and body art. In light of our position outlined above, we reserve the right of prior final approval of your grooming choices as a pre-condition of your summer employment with us. Certain conditions may apply to your participation in Camp life in the light of these lifestyle or grooming decisions.

As such, we ask our staff who may have body art or piercings (other than in the ears for women), to get in touch with us before their arrival at Camp. We would hate it (as we know you would) if we had to exercise our right of final prior approval once you were at Camp about something that may be so important to you that it may constitute a reason for you to choose not to work at Camp. That could prove embarrassing for both parties.

Other guiding principles of Camp Tawingo have lead to the development of other important policies. Consider these guiding principles for instance:

• The SAFETY - of our campers, our visitors and our staff - is of paramount importance - everywhere and at every moment of the day and night,
• Maintaining a CAMPER FOCUS is vital in all we do. Every camper is the most important reason we are at Camp, and is deserving of our utmost respect, care, and attention - everywhere we are and at every moment of the day and night,
• Learning to appreciate and live in harmony with the out-of-doors and one another is a worthwhile goal for every camper and every staff member and that such learning happens best in a setting that is an OASIS from home and/or city life (i.e. away from cell phones, iPods, instant messenger, gameboys, T.V., movies, pagers, X-Boxes, and the like),
• We are the best TEAM of Camp leaders that can be assembled for this job. Our Staff TEAM is built on mutual respect and support for one another as individual members of that Team,
• Camp Tawingo is a BUSINESS, the very existence of which depends on the registration of campers from families who have a history with us and certain expectations of us; and being a Staff Member and fulfilling the responsibilities of your position is a JOB - albeit a really fun one!

It is for these reasons that we have a "no drinking, no drugs, no tobacco" policy for staff during the entire Camp season - not just under a certain set of circumstances or in certain places, but everywhere, at all times throughout the summer.

It is for these reasons, also, we must bear in mind that we represent Camp Tawingo wherever we are - on days off, on our outtrips, and in our visits to other Camps. It is a privilege and responsibility, on these occasions, to exemplify and uphold the highest standards in camping and Camp leadership.

Please note that there are other policies that we ask our staff to agree to before signing a contract with us. These are mailed with the contract package. The ones we have chosen to include here are the ones we believe new applicants ought to be aware of before they choose to fill out a Tawingo Staff Applications Form.

We are asking a great deal of ourselves. However, working as leaders with young people makes extra demands on us and we must be prepared to cope with these demands. We sincerely appreciate the co-operation of our staff in helping us to establish a harmonious atmosphere at Camp each year.