A Summer Camp Job Can Set You Up for Success!

Camp's youngest Pioneer campers celebrate their "Whale Swim"

To prepare for your future, you should get a  job at summer camp. Your peers might be taking on unpaid internships with engineering companies, law firms, and science laboratories, or earning hard cash mowing lawns, working construction, waiting tables, or working a front desk somewhere, but you have an opportunity to truly prepare yourself for the future. 

Seth Godin, world renowned marketer and author, writes in his blog, What's High School For, about skill sets we should be teaching in high school but aren't.

Staff serve as positive role models for campers.

Many of these skills can be learned (and documented on your resume) as a camp staff member. Seth mentions, young adults should be able to lead groups of their peers, from within, without clear delegated authority. Camp staff are challenged daily to work collaboratively with their team to develop ideas and work together as a team, with little instruction or direction, to deliver creative camp curriculum to kids.

Seth notes a number of our young workers don't have the ability to manage projects, ideas, and people. In the course of a summer at camp, summer staff will work with kids and peers to manage carnivals, campfires, activities, and events, and enable staff to become extremely competent managing projects and events.

A staff member told me a story about meeting a future employer on an airplane, and by the end of her flight she had landed an entry level position for a national health and weight loss company. Her position was at the bottom of the ladder, helping contact clients and arrange nutritional plans for them; however, a few weeks into the position, our extremely outgoing former staff member was asked to lead a team-building event at a regional event for a group of folks including a few regional managers and vice presidents. When she called to tell me the story, she explained, "I jumped right into camp mode. I explained the activity and safety concerns, frontloaded the results we may be looking for and what the debrief may look like, and ran a fantastic activity and debrief with analogies as to how this activity will help us all be more successful with the work we do." This event was followed by a slew of phone calls and some inside negotiations to determine which of the vice presidents or regional team managers she'd go on to work for. She was promoted immediately after the event.

Camp staff brainstorm, manage and run creative activities.

Staff pick up customer service skills interacting with parents and campers during camp check-in and check-out days. They utilize their creativity, brainstorm with others, enhance their ability to problem solve and create a valuable network of postive peers on their way to other successful careers. Camp staff unplug from cel phones, social media and screen time, and connect with peers and kids through face to face interactions.
You could take the internship for the senator in DC or you could come and work at camp, I wouldn't consider many other options, if I were you.

A summer staff commented, "This is the hardest job you might ever have, but it's the most rewarding, too."

If you are interested in applying for a summer camp position in the Pacific Northwest, YMCA Camp Seymour has a variety of positions to meet your skills set. Contact the camp director, Scotty Jackson, at sjackson@ymcapkc.org or call 253-460-8883,  to learn more about applying for a position.

To apply on line or view position descriptions visit the YMCA Camp Seymour Summer Employement page, and learn more about each role. Don't miss this great opportunity to do something special.

Scotty and Allison will be at various schools in the PNW, throughout Feb. Swing by and say, "hi," or join us for a local pizza party. e-mail for details sjackson@ymcapkc.org.

Feb. 1-2 - University of Oregon (Eugene)
Feb 9 - Western Washington University
March 1 - Central Washington University
March 2 - University of Portland

Seth's blog, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/whats-high-school-for.html.

A summer camp job can change your life, as well as the lives of some great kids.

When Camp is a Priority for Your Child, You Need to Make it Happen

Seymour Adventurers return from Cutts Island paddle

Your child went to camp last summer. They put their heart into it and had a great time. They stretched their comfort zone and made some new friends. They faced their fears and were brave and tried kayaking, archery or climbing. They came home more responsible, a little more mature, and prepared to face their next year in school. It wasn't cheap, but was it worth it? Absolutely!

You need to make it happen, again, but a one time payment in June may have a significant impact on your families finances. How can you make this work?

YMCA Camp Seymour has some ideas to help make camp more affordable to your family.

1. Register now and set up a payment plan

You can spread your payments out from now until summer. Call camp at 253-884-3392 and make arrangements for monthly payments to be charged to your credit/debit card. Camp can be as inexpensive as $65/month, after your $100 deposit. Download a printable 2012 camp registration form.

2. Apply for financial assistance
In 2011, a team of over 20 volunteers helped raise over $120,000 to help send kids to summer camp. The YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties never wants money to stand in the way of a child having a camp experience. Don't assume you don't qualify. Tell your story, and the YMCA might be able to help. Click here to download a Financial Assistance Application.

3. Set up an Individual Camper Fundraising Page
Historically, campers had sold soap or peanuts to earn their way to camp. They depended on the kindness of family friends and sometimes even caring strangers to make camp possible. Times have changed, but we can still rely on the kindness of others to make camp possible for our kids. Camp Seymour can help you to set up your own webpage that can help support your child to raise money for them to attend camp. The page can be e-mailed to grandparents and other relatives, posted on parents Facebook pages, or used through other social media and shared contacts, to help make camp possible for your child. See a sample page. Call Diane for more information at 253-460-8902.

4. Select a price that works for your family

Camp Seymour has a three-tiered pricing structure that helps you self-select a rate that works best for your family. To learn more about three-tiered pricing see the explanation on our printable registration form.

5. Take Advantage of Special Offers

YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap County Members can attend Session 1 (June 24-30) or Session 2 (July 1-7) for just $399. This incredible offer is extended as a thank you to all of the Y members that have kept Seymour in the hearts, for all of these years.

Note: If you receive financial assistance for your YMCA membership, it is likely that you qualify for the same percentage of discount towards Camp Seymour programs. Contact camp to find out if you qualify, or if it's time for your annual review, to see what percentage of support your family is eligible for.

Campers in the 1970s - Raising Money for Camp.

Camp changes lives. It better prepares kids for their future and helps them gain valuable social skills. Every child deserves this opportunity. Please, let's make it happen for your child.

If you'd like to discuss any of the above plans, or speak with a camp staff that can best help you develop a plan that meets your family's needs, call us at 253-884-3392 and ask for Scotty or Diane Jackson or e-mail Scotty at sjackson@ymcapkc.org. We'll help get your child to camp.

Sierra Club sponsors Military Kids to Camp

Camp is great place for kids to learn to make new friends, spend quality time challenging yourself and to experience nature hands-on. Kids with parents in the US Military can benefit even more from these camp-learned skills, as they often find themselves relocated or trying to fit in to a new community. The Sierra Club realized this, too. They have been helping to send kids from the USS John C. Stennis to YMCA Camp Seymour for the past four summers. The program includes an environmental education component that encourages kids to learn about sustainability, ecology, interdependence and connectedness to the planet and our local communities.

One of the mom's shared a letter, after her girls returned from camp...

I wanted to take the time to express to you, and The Sierra Club, what a blessing this camp has been to our family. My girls have been able to attend Camp Seymour twice (in 2010 and 2011) due to the scholarships offered to the children of those serving aboard the USS John C. Stennis.

As you can imagine, the schedule of an aircraft carrier is hectic and the girls' dad has been gone more than he has been home while on board the JCS. We do our best to keep things normal during these periods of time and knowing that there is a week filled with fun and new friends ahead gave the girls something to look forward to this past summer, four weeks after the ship left on deployment. It also gave me the peace of mind to be able to relax knowing that my girls were safe and were having a great time at camp, making new friends and getting reacquainted with friends from last year's camp.

Spending a week with other kids who are walking the same road as you has a profound effect -- it lets you know that you are not alone, there are others out there that are having the same feelings as you. It also helps you to connect quickly with those other kids because you share a common bond in that both families have a gaping hole in them at the moment.Their respective counselors listened and cared about what the girls had to say.

The girls were overflowing with stories of the adventures of their week at Camp Seymour. I am sure if we were to stay in this area you would have future camp counselors in a few years -- that's how much my girls love this camp.

Cari Baumer - Mom

On behalf of camp and the children served this past summer, we wanted to say thank you to the Sierra Club for caring about the families of our US soldiers. Together we can continue to yield fantastic kids, that are more resilient, better environmental stewards and better prepared for whatever comes next in their lives.

We are looking forward to our first, Military Family Camp Weekend, coming up soon.

Great Camp Food at YMCA Camp Seymour!

Anyone that attended the last few weeks of summer camp notice that YMCA Camp Seymour had quietly made some dramatic changes. There is a new food service manager. Miles Hall come to us from a restaurant/hotel operation and brings with him an unmatched commitment to keeping guests full and happy.

The summer menu enhancements and increased portions (and seconds) were met with enormous enthusiasm. Miles was able to provide healthier snacks, bumped up the quality of the salad bar to allow for fresh choices and added additional protein choices, in the form of soups and supplements to some already great dishes.

"When kids are well fed, they are happy," according to Hall, "They're more likely to be successful with a camping experience."

Miles' team is thriving under his leadership, where creativity is now the norm and we work, daily, to make improvements to service, quality and presentation.

Improve your team's communication with a challenge adventure course

Challenge/Adventure programs can be individually custom designed to meet the needs of your sports team, youth group or executive team.

Courses vary with what elements they offer, but often objectives are similar. Facilitators are trained to help groups examine they way they communicate and encourage groups work together. They frame elements and activities to allow even simple/safe challenges to become meaningful, emotional, inspire conflict and resolution and create interesting and beneficial results.

Step 1: Select a course
Search the Internet, talk to friends and coworkers and other peers to hear what they are saying about courses they have participated in. Ropes courses are no longer a new industry. Others have participated and had positive result with groups they have been part of. Ask them. Realize that each group is different, but often course that are successful with one demographic, can easily adjust to meet the needs of your group.


Jump on the Internet and find a course near you. Try searching, "Ropes Course (your area)." Ask good questions. "Have you worked with a group like ours?" Describe your team, well. The dynamics, the results you are looking for, the challenges you face in becoming the best team you can be.


Many facilities offer the option of  having their facilitators come to you. They can bring portable activities, that can be run extremely safely at your facility or in a nearby field/gym, and be able to yield the results you are looking for.


Step 2: The price is right. 
Challenge/Adventure courses have a lot of flexibility in pricing to meet the needs of your group. Let them know if you are on a low budget, as many may have special not-for-profit rates or have certain days of the week that they could provide you with a better price. On the other hand, you may want to include a breakout space for your group to debrief, a quality meal selection, t-shirts or gift bags, or other items that may add to the cost, but make your group get more out of the day. Again, share your expectations and see what the course staff have to offer and at what price.


Step 3: Have the staff recommend a program for you.
They are the experts and know which of the activities match your expectations and will produce the best results. Don't underestimate the power of the low ropes activities. Folks always have grandiose visions of high ropes challenges, 80 feet in the air, suspended by a thread and leaping into the unknown (can have good individual results), but a low ropes activity, well framed, can effectively teach a team to support each other, communicate better and problem solve collectively.


Step 4: Expectations of the group
You should set a meeting or get the group together to introduce the event. Hand out the waivers, explain that insurance companies require these of all participants, but every challenge/adventure program takes extraordinary safety precautions to keep every team member safe. The majority of quality ropes course utilize a "challenge by choice" philosophy, where participants are not necessarily able to opt-out of an activity, but may be able to select the level at which they will try (or help). Tell them to dress comfortably, be ready to try something new, and be willing to step out of their comfort zone, in order to help the team achieve the results you are looking for. Be clear on what these results are, and brief them about taking the day seriously, while having a great time.


Step 5: Finish off the details
Is there deposits or payments due? Are meals included? Are you staying overnight (often an option)? What time do we arrive? What time should we be done? How's transportation going to work? Anything else we need?


Step 6: Be a participant yourself
Upon arrival, it's OK to stop being the boss/leader. Participate. Be aware, if your team is having communication issues, you may be the problem. The day may help your team become better communicators, but maybe it's because you learned to accept another role in making it better. Have a great time.


If I can help answer questions, steer you towards a course right for you/in your area, or help you determine what some outcomes might be for your group, please feel free to contact me at 253-884-3392 or via e-mail at sjackson@ymcapkc.org.


Good luck!


Scotty Jackson - Camp Director - YMCA Camp Seymour - Gig Harbor, WA