REWARDING FEELING
Allie Barrett, Staff Member
Some of my favourite experiences at camp are
just letting the kids be kids. We are letting these
kids be the kids the way they were meant to be.
They get a chance to do things like swimming,
when they’ve never learned how to swim be-
ROLE MODELS fore. Camp is where they get to learn some life
Cynthia Stewart, Camp Parent skills, like work in the kitchen and do laundry.
We felt that camp played a tremen- When I applied to camp, I had just finished
dous role in helping my son develop teacher’s college, and I was bound and deter-
a sense of independence in relation- mined that I was going to be a biology teacher
ships to others and with God. for grades 11 and 12. Working at camp totally
He also met fabulous Christian changed what I am going to be teaching. I now
role models (i.e., counsellors), who have finished my special education program
may inspire him some day to be a and work in a life skills group with students
role model for others himself. He who are autistic and physically challenged, so
learned so much spiritually through it’s really changed my focus. I hope to be a life
dynamic worship times with his skills teacher or work with kids who have
friends and counsellors. learning disabilities.
When I return to camp after the year, and
the kids get off the bus, they remember my
CAREER PREPARATIONS name, and they remember what I did last year.
Devon Enright, Former Camper I have one camper who will, year after year, ask
I was a camper for five years and was then on staff for eight sum- how my parents are and how my family is
mers, so it’s fair to say that camp has made a deep impact on my life. doing. They want to stay in contact with you.
As a camper, camp helped me to connect with kids my age and to They really miss the structure of camp, and
enjoy activities that were geared towards my age and gender. So often they’ll ask, “Are we going to do this like we did
it seems that young girls spend all their time wanting to be older and last year?” and “I really like doing that and I did
get caught up in the pressures of society, but camp was a place where that when I went home.”
I was encouraged to just be a kid. I taught one girl, who has difficulty
As a young adult, being on staff at camp helped me develop my with hand-eye coordination, how to make
work ethic and leadership skills. I was able to learn from fantastic bracelets out of boondoggle. When she came
mentors who showed me how to be a good leader. I’ve applied the back the next year, she had been practising
leadership skills I learned at camp to my professional life and I am and her hand-eye coordination improved in
constantly shocked at how well a summer job at camp has prepared other things as well. We have parents that call
me for being a young professional. and write letters to tell us the difference we
There are way too many wonderful camp memories to count! As have made.
a camper I think my favorite memory was being woken up for “Mid- Camp is one of those places that once you’ve
night Madness.” Our counsellors got us up and we all went to the worked there, either one summer or as many as
lodge in our pajamas and had a midnight snack, danced around and I have, you’ll always take a piece of it with you
had a great time. The next morning we slept in and had breakfast in and those kids do as well. When you go
e
ndigo
bed. As an 11 year old, that was all pretty exciting. through the gates it’s like being part of a family.
As a staff member, most of my favourite memories are connected We look after all those kids from the time they
to the friendships that I formed at camp. I was able to work with won- arrive to the time they leave. It’s one of those
Northway-W
derful people and build friendships that have lasted. things where I always leave feeling very re-
Photo:
warded and I will probably go back there for as
long as I can work. It’s just a magical place.
www.canadacampsforparents.com Canada Camps for Parents January 2010 Edition 9
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