Summer camp jobs - a place to grow!

Welcome everyone to my blog. Running a residential camp (Maine Arts Camp), as well as MySummers (a staffing site) and Camp Finders (a summer camp referral service), I have gained a unique perspective about sleepaway camps. I first attended camp in 1970 in Maine; I'm still at camp and love it!



Rick Mades

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Choosing the right camp and ways to gain experience working with kids & teens



For Parents searching for the right camp, here are some questions to think about:

*What type of community does the camp try to create? (this is an important question about the underlying philosophy of the camp)
*What is the size of the camp? (often parents and more so their children look at what activities are offered instead of the care of the campers)
*Is the camp more on the competitive or non-competitive bent?
*Is there a religious focus with the camp?
*How does the camp handle new campers, cliques and bullying?
*What is the communication policy for parents and their children?
*Connected with the communication policy, how do camps handle homesickness?
*What is the level of instruction in most of the activities (experienced staff/teachers)?
*Are camps willing to provide references?

These questions are also relevant for staff, especially those trying to understand how sleepaway camps work and why their policies are in place.

Having staff invested in the mission of the camp helps to create an environment of positive growth for staff, campers, administrators and the whole camp community.

Camp Finders provides a free personalized service that helps parents think about the questions above, as well as any other needs their child or teen may have. 

For Staff looking to gain experience working with kids and teens:

Although summer camp jobs are seasonal, having experience working with kids is extremely helpful for new staff to adjust to the 24/7 of living and caring for campers. It is also easier for applicants to answer interview questions if they are talking from experience, not educational theory that they have learned in a college classroom.

So, where are some places you can look for to gain actual experience for a camp job?  Try after school programs, student teaching, child/day care, coaching/assisting sports teams, teaching in a church/synagogue/mosque, volunteering through in your community (perhaps at your old elementary, middle or high school), Big Brother/Big Sister programs, day camp jobs, being an R.A. in college, assisting at your dance studio, helping to choreograph a middle/high school play, internships with environmental summer camps, tutoring, substitute teaching, and babysitting.  Any of these that are more group oriented than individual will give you much needed experience to be a camp counselor at an overnight camp. I hope that this list gives you a starting point to network and find the necessary experience for future educators and camp counselors.

Rick Mades
Owner/director, Maine Arts Camp
Owner of MySummers (the best staffing site for summer camp jobs)
Owner of Camp Finders, a personalized sleepaway camp referral service (since 1994) 

1 comment:

  1. This is the problem of not just only parents but also many teenagers also want to join the right camp. I am busy in some cat photos work and after that i will join the camp.
    Thanks for sharing this post.

    ReplyDelete