Views from the Park Bench The next few issues of SCRPA magazine will feature Views from a Park Bench. This feature will highlight retired directors or recreation professionals that have been in the field for 10+ years and have them share advice, compare agencies then to now, or simply tell their story. We hope you enjoy reading and perhaps learn some things from these well-versed perspectives.
Ken Ayoub Q: What was your job title and responsibilities? A: I was fortunate to have worked in the recreation profession in numerous part time positions and 5 full time positions for nearly 42 years. My first position was as Recreation Coordinator at 2 state prisons in South Carolina for 18 ½ years, where I provided extensive recreation programs for not only the inmate population, but also provided opportunities for the employees as well. These programs ranged from athletic activities to arts and crafts programs to fine arts with dance and music. In 1996, I joined the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department (MPRD) as Athletic Division Chief, responsible for the planning, organizing, implementing and supervising a comprehensive athletic program for youth and adults. I was promoted in 2002 to Deputy Director and then promoted in 2008 to Recreation Director, where I remained until my retirement in 2017. As Director, I was responsible for the overall management and supervision of one of the largest recreation programs in SC, based on participation numbers. Face to face interaction with not only the public, but the elected officials and other department heads was a primary duty as well as formulating annual budgets to operate the department. What is your favorite part about working in recreation? I mostly enjoyed being able to go out to the various facilities and programs and watch
participants enjoy the results of the hard work and dedication that the employees, both full and part time, and the volunteers provided on a daily basis. To look over a recreation complex with 15 different activities, with hundreds of participants enjoying themselves, going on at the same time, is a feeling that only those of us who work in recreation can really appreciate. Q: What is one challenge you faced in your position and how did you overcome it? In recreation, we are faced with numerous challenges every day and many we can anticipate and plan for and it seems that just as many occur out of the blue. No one could’ve anticipated the events of 2020, yet somehow, someway, the recreation professionals managed to stay optimistic and delivered quality services and programs. My hats off to them. The greatest challenge that I faced as Director, was when it was discovered that an individual was arrested for numerous child abuse charges. It turned out that this individual was not only a very active and dependable volunteer coach for us, but for many other organizations throughout the Charleston area, even reaching into local colleges summer camps. The thought that even one of our precious children/youth could have been affected by that monster, kept me up at night many times. The moment we found out about this, I gathered staff together and shared with them what current information that I had received from the police department. Although, I knew in general what we needed
• www.scrpa.org 14 SOUTH 14 SOUTHCAROLINA CAROLINA Recreation Recreation andand ParksParks • www.scrpa.org
to do, I solicited the opinions from staff and gathered more information as to the extent in which this individual was involved in our program. Because our staff had received previous training on child abuse which enabled us to be proactive, they were prepared to react appropriately. This individual had been involved in our program for a number of years, coached many sports and volunteered for many programs. He was a highly respected coach/volunteer and many parents had requested him over the years to coach their child. This enabled him to come in contact with hundreds of our youth over that time. Staff conducted a records search for all of the youth that he had come in contact with over the years he was with us and contacted each and every parent to communicate to them the current information on the situation. Because this story was getting extensive news coverage, it was imperative for us to not only communicate with the parents, but for them to communicate with us any bit of information or concerns that they may have. No information was withheld from the parents.
