| Welcome to the Camp Counselor web site! We hope
that this and the other pages on this site will help you prepare
for your role as Camp Counselor. We are the proud of the Counselors
we've worked with in the past, and proud of the wonderful experience
that Counselors like you have had. Some Counselors go through the
camp planning experience and through the experience of camp itself
and feel that it was "incredible" or "nice" or "fun", or leave feeling
like "I'll never do THAT again!" Either way, we know you'll learn
some important things about yourself and about other people.
 We do know that Camp Counselors that drift
through planning and "just show up" at camp hoping to have a nice
time-don't. Those that prepare mentally and work hard to prepare
their assigned parts of the camp in advance get the most out of
camp and feel the most accomplishment and satisfaction. We hope
you'll make a commitment to your fellow Counselors and yourself
NOW, to do your very best. To do your best and to be your best,
you need to do these things:
- Make a commitment and plan ahead to attend
and take part in as many of the planning sessions as possible. We
know that other things come up and you may not be able to attend
all of the sessions. We also know that Counselors that sit
down with the personal calendar at the beginning of the planning
process and look ahead to other possible conflicts are also
the ones that are most likely to be at planning meetings throughout
the process. Remember: there is a difference
between "good intentions" and "making
a commitment"!
- Make time to do the planning of assigned
portions between planning sessions. Often times Counselors
will accept assignments or volunteer to pursue things between
planning meetings, and then scurry around the day of the next
planning session, talking to people and trying to "cram" for
what they volunteered to do. This is a guaranteed way for you
to look dumb! Some times, Counselors are very willing to do
things, but aren't sure how to get started with preparing.
That's fine. Ask for help! Patty and Don are happy to visit
with you by phone, or through email, or even to help set a
small planning meeting with you, but you need to at least take
the first step.
- Plan ahead. Plan ahead. Plan ahead. Planning
and putting on a camp that is a good experience for you and for
the campers takes time. Just like making time for school homework
and for spending time with friends-you will be the most successful
if you make time in advance to prepare for your
role as Counselor. Early on, it won't take much! Make
time to work through some of the web pages on this site. Learn
or re-learn camp songs. Teach yourself some new games or get-acquainted
activities that might be useful at camp. Later in the planning
process, you'll be working to prepare a workshop or ceremonies
or programs. Make time during your week-well in advance of camp
to prepare. You'll be really glad you did! You will be admired
and respected by your fellow Counselors! You'll be admired and
respected by your campers when you get to camp. You will be awesome!
And hey--why settle for "just showing up" when you can make yourself insanely
awesome?"
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 To help us get to know
you a bit better, please give your best shot at answering each of
the following.
(Hint: it will work best if you can use sentences,
or partial sentences instead of single-word answers in most cases.
If you have no answer
for any of these, please put "no answer" or NA" in the space
provided. ) |
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