Summer Training: Maximizing Summer and Ramping Up for Fall

Join national speaker and middle-school ministry guru Heather Flies as she shares tangible, thoughtful, fun, and time-tested Pro-Tips. In this Summer Training, she will help us take our momentum from summer and use it to fuel and propel us into the Fall.

As a youth leader, there is so much on your plate! Between attending orchestra concerts of your students, preparing messages, responding to frustrated parents, cleaning up vomit and recruiting leaders, how can you find time to be thoughtful and intentional about your rhythms of the school year and summer?! It takes a minute (as the kids would say), but that minute will be a wave you can ride all the way through the ministry year!

WATCH PART #1:

PART 1: SUMMARY

• Tip 1: Plan Ahead

• Tip 2: Create Multiple Touchpoints

• Tip 3: Move Up New Students @ the Start of the Summer

WATCH PART #2:

PART 2: SUMMARY

• Tip 4: Celebrate the Good Stuff Going on in Your Ministry

• Tip 5: Make Your “Move Up” More Intentional

• Tip 6: Build Relational Touchpoints

• Tip 7: Show Students That Being a Christian is Fun

• Tip 8: Build Those Connections

• Chat Question: How Often Do You Do Events in the Summer?

• Group Question: Do You Have a Student Mission Trip?

• Trip Tip: Mobile Home Park VBS

WATCH PART #3:

PART 3: SUMMARY

• Tip 9: Design Programming that Creates Natural Momentum

• Question: Do You do Some Type of Summer Camp?

• Tip 10: You Can Scale Your Own Camp Program

• Tip 11: Integrate a Summer Camp Celebration into Your Plan

• Tip 12: Capitalize on the Momentum of Summer and Bring it with you

• Tip13: Open Mic- Ask Older Students to Share (How do succeed as a MS student?)

• Q & A: When Do You Start Planning for Summer?

• Tip 14: Implement Tiered Rates for Trips & Camps

• Q & A: How Much Do You Charge for Camp?

WATCH PART 4:

PART 4: ADDITIONAL Q & A

• What Does the Kids’ Ministry Do with Moving Up?

• Do Your Students Fund-raise?

• How Do You Show the Camp Video so Quickly?

• How Do You Leave Camp & Arrive Back On Time?

• Do Parents Know That There’s a 1-Hour Celebration?

• How Do You Communicate With Parents If Students Don’t Have Phones?

• Question: How Many of You Don’t Allow Phones on Trips?

• What If a Student Needs a Phone for Medical Reasons?

• How Do We Launch the Fall Well & Carry the Momentum Forward?

• Tip 15: Celebrate What You Want to Happen

• Testimonials Are a Great Way to Capture & Use That Momentum

Trainer: Heather Flies • Posted: September 2025

Event: LEAD222 Summer Training