• 3 to 6 Months Before High Seas Expedition
• 2 to 3 Months Before High Seas Expedition
• 8 Weeks Before High Seas Expedition
• 4 Weeks Before High Seas Expedition
• 2 Weeks Before High Seas Expedition
• 1 Week Before High Seas Expedition
• During High Seas Expedition
• After Your High Seas Expedition

4 Weeks Before High Seas Expedition

Recruit additional volunteers.
In addition to Station Leaders and Crew Leaders, you may want to recruit volunteers to help with registration, transportation, and child care for the staff. Refer to the Recruiting section in the Ultimate Go-To Director Guide for more ideas.

Get your parish excited about Operation Kid-to-Kid.
Check out the Operation Kid-to-Kid section of the director guide to find easy ways to get everyone involved with this mission project.

Continue preregistration.
Encourage parents from your parish to preregister their children and their children's friends on the website you created using VBS P.R.O. (Remember, when families register online, you can easily put them into Crews, making your job even easier.) This will make your first day more manageable.

Hold the scheduled staff training meeting.
Plan to meet in a large room where you'll be able to try out some High Seas Expedition snacks and activities. Before the meeting, set up a TV and DVD player, and decorate the room using the suggestions provided in the staff training section in the director guide. Bring the Station Leader Packs, Crew Leader Pocket Guides, and photocopies of the "For Crew Leaders Only" handouts from the director guide. (Crew Leader Pocket Guides are available on the Clip Art & Resources CD.)

Meet with each Station Leader.
It's a good idea to touch base with each Station Leader on a one-on-one basis. Take each person to lunch or out for ice cream or simply go for a walk together as you discuss what supplies the leader needs, what concerns he or she may have, or any aspects of the program that are not clear. This will not only prevent miscommunication but also help your volunteers know how much you appreciate them.

Provide High Seas Expedition information to your parish office.
Fill in your parish’s information on the community flyer in the director guide, and photocopy a stack of completed flyers on bright-colored paper to put in your parish office. Someone in the office can refer to the flyers if people call with questions about your program and can distribute flyers to people who stop by the office.

If your parish has a phone answering machine, you may also want to include High Seas Expedition information in your recorded message. If your parish has its own website, be sure to add High Seas Expedition information there, too.