2024 Report: Director Ron Fournier Praises Staff, Counselors and Candidates
This summer’s program was a great success! Fourteen testers were onsite during the week in Oquossuc and I would like to thank them for their dedication and time. They demonstrate leadership and a deep passion for the outdoors, and the skills that JMG represents. This year’s testers included: Lynn O’Donnell, Katie Curtis, Virginia Geyer, Bill Southwick, Caitlyn Southwick, Haley Southwick, Marie Keane, K Bolduc, Lou Falank, Bruce McDonald, Pete St. John, Stephanie Emery, Lindley Brainard, and a special thank you to Dan O’Donnell for all the logistical support, set up and take down, and culinary contributions.
A total of 39 JMG candidates came from eight camps. This number is slightly up from last year. Participating camps included: Arcadia, Birch Rock, Bryant Pond, Kawahnee, O-At-Ka, Natarswi, Winona, and Wyonegonic. Seventeen candidates of the 39 passed and earned the distinction of becoming a Junior Maine Guide.
The counselors did a fine job conveying the Code of Conduct policies at the start of the week, and this amazing group of future leaders raised the bar on themselves. Counselors deserve a huge pat on the back for supporting their groups and allowing them the space in which to experience the JMG program individually and with their group. Counselors did several service projects throughout the week, and they helped to make camp run smoothly and made improvements that will benefit future years. This also helps us in maintaining a great relationship with the Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve and Bill Roy, the Kennebago/Grants Camps gatekeeper. He was very pleased with the group.
During evening programs candidates had an orientation and heard about the history of JMG, listened to a talk from IF&W Angling and Outreach Specialist Chelsea Lathrop, and was entertained by long-time favorite, Registered Maine Guide and storyteller Roger Lambert. We also enjoyed a visit from MSC Executive Director Lucy Norvell, whose efforts we very much appreciate. Kareem Dieng, director of outdoor education at Camp Beech Cliff also visited. Camp Beech Cliff is one of our newest camps, currently offering the Junior Maine Woodscraft and Maine Woodscraft programs, with hopes of having JMGs in the near future.
A look at overall scores and trends on the various tests revealed that camps who focus on hiking/backpacking and canoeing trips fare much better with practical experience and knowledge. Canoeing in a current, even day trips, will better prepare JMGs in the future. Camps have made some real improvements on axe skills and shelter/ fireplace skills as well as managing the camp kitchen and coolers. This is one area that always needs to be prioritized. The testers will spend time this summer and early fall making adjustments to several testing modules, and we will make sure that all camps have this information this fall so that they can prepare. Materials will be provided to you well in advance so there will not be any surprises.
I applaud everyone involved with the program for doing a great job to navigate the path forward to assure that our young people have this and other opportunities like JMG available to them. I hope candidates enjoyed their experience and hope many will continue as your future CITs, counselors, trip leaders, and future stewards of the outdoors. This program is growing, and we are committed to maintaining relevancy, progress, and accessibility to all that wish to participate.
2023 Director’s Report:
Junior Maine Guide (JMG) program director Ron Fournier reports that “excellent staff,” supported by the longtime team of JMG testers, engaged candidates, and participation by eight camps all contributed to a successful 2023 season. Testing camp, held from July 24-28 at the Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve in Oquossoc, resulted in a fifty percent passing rate among the 39 JMG candidates.
The program’s trajectory is encouraging, Fournier says. “I feel like we are still building back after COVID,” he said. “Camp programs changed, but we are in a good place. We’re moving in the right direction.” Fourier says that the eight participating camps – Arcadia, Birch Rock, Bryant Pond, Kawahnee, O-AT-KA, Runoia, Winona, and Wyonegonic – sent fewer candidates than in years past. Conflicts, such as other camp activities, including trips, posed challenges to having larger groups of participants from camps, he said. “We still have a robust group of camps sending kids,” he said.
Fournier is optimistic about the potential for additional camp participation in the JMG program in coming summers. Camp Beech Cliff, on Mount Desert Island, may increase it outdoor living skills programming. Fournier met with the camp’s new skills director, Kareem Dieng, this summer, along with Junior Maine Woodscraft participants “in the trenches.” “This program really does give [candidates] the chance to demonstrate skills at a high level of respect and responsibility,” Fournier said. That brings invaluable credibility to college and job applications, he said. “It’s got some weight to it.”
Learning more about the program
Fournier, who serves as the recreational safety supervisor at the Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, encourages interested camp directors to reach out to him for more information about the program. “It’s a well packaged model,” he said, not something camps have to “create out of thin air.” Fournier said he would likely be the person camps would meet with, and the one to connect directors to JMG program testers who live close to their camp. These examiners can help camp staff who teach the curriculum, and even candidates preparing for test camp. “It’s a solid curriculum, and proven curriculum and a distinctive program,” he said. “This has really proven its worth.”
2021 JMG Annual Testing Camp Hosts 48 Campers from Eight Camps
Report from Director Moose Curtis:
Thank you all for making JMG Camp 2021 possible. We had a successful camp with so many candidates and staff enjoying the opportunity to be out in the woods again working on their outdoor skills.
Forty-eight well prepared candidates represented eight camps. These candidates had a positive and determined attitude, and their counselors represented were quite helpful in assisting the JMG staff with the tasks they were assigned. They did a fine job training their campers and supervising them at testing camp.
The following camps sent candidates to the Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve testing site: Arcadia (4); Birch Rock (5); Bryant Pond (8); Kawanhee (9); Natarswi (8); O-AT-KA (4); Winona (4); and Wyonegonic (5).
Passing rates
Second-year candidates: 5 out of 7 passed.
First-year candidates: 17 out of 41 passed.
Total passing percentage: 47.9 percent.
Our goal this summer was to make JMG Camp as normal as possible. We achieved our goal of keeping each encampment together by creating a schedule for taking tests. Our evening campfire tradition continued, with candidates sitting masked and separated by camp group. There was minimal socializing between the camps groups at the conclusion of evening programs. In addition, counselors stayed at their own sites during meals rather than helping with the meal testing.
Evening speakers:
JMG staff member Lou Falank spoke about being a Maine Guide and outdoor educator, and discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by pursuing JMG certification. Maine Guide and storyteller Roger Lambert of Strong joined the group as well. In addition, candidates heard from two members of the Border Patrol, who discussed policing the Maine/Canada border, the differences between the U.S. southern and northern borders, and gave a demonstration of the Patrol’s drug-searching dog.
Rangeley writer Bob Romano, who writes a column for the Northwoods Sporting Journal, gave a talk about the history of the Rangeley area from the times of the Native Americans to the growth of the area as an outdoor sporting destination.
Candidates listed a variety of favorites and not-so-favorite elements of testing camp. Among favorites were talking with testers and visiting with their dogs; practical skills tests, teamwork, and demonstrating their knowledge. Campfire speakers were among both favorite and least favorite elements, and the challenges presented by scheduling tests, anxiety about tests, and serving food they weren’t proud of were among candidates not-so-favorites.
Candidates also made suggestions for improving camp, including more time to relax and socialize and longer blocks for written tests. They also advocated for greater consistency between the book and the test.
Finally, candidates offered advice for future JMG campers. Among them: study more, start cleanup ASAP, get as many tests done as early as possible, and embrace the testing camp experience.