WORK AT CAMP

What are the dates of employment?

This year, counselors will begin on June 8th and finish work on August 10th or 17th.

What is the compensation for this role?

See our 2025 pay scale here. Housing, food, and laundry service are included for all counselors.

Can you describe a typical day for a counselor?

Morning: If you are an early riser, you might get up for a run or help with animal chores down at the barn. Or you may just sleep in until the wake up bell at 7:30. Breakfast at 8. After breakfast, you announce to the campers a fun activity that you’ve been planning in your program area. The rest of the morning you spend running your program, spending time with the campers that chose to join you that day and getting to know them through teaching and play. Time to clean up, that’s the 10 minute bell for lunch!

Afternoon: After lunch is rest hour, a favorite among counselors. Everyone returns to their platform during the warmest part of the day to rest. You may take a nap, read a book, or write a letter to someone back home. After rest hour, everyone heads down the hill to the river on the swimhole trail. At the river, you run a few rotations lifeguarding, have a refreshing swim, and then sit with some campers and fellow counselors on the beach where you might play some cards or explore the banks for critters. After a few hours, you’re ready for the hike back up the hill, powered by another favorite, the homestead stack! Then some relaxing time before dinner to shower and get ready for the evening.

Evening: After dinner, we have an evening activity that is different every night of the week. Evening activities include platform night, dances, big group games, campfires, or a special event like the International Festival, Untalent Show, or Apple Jubilee. Counselors participate in planning these activities and supervising kids throughout the evening. When things wrap up, it’s time to head back to the platform for bedtime!

What will my responsibilities be?

Counselors hold a lot of responsibility for making Camp a safe, fun, and magical place for our campers and for each other. We see the counselor responsibility as breaking into three main categories:

1) Platform Responsibilities: getting to know your assigned campers and helping them navigate Camp, facilitating the living space and group dynamic, planning platform activities, etc.

2) Program Responsibilities: planning activities in your program area for each day, prep and gathering materials, running the activity and teaching skills, getting to know campers that show up and helping them with their own project ideas, maintaining the equipment/space, etc.

3) Shared Responsibilities: working as a staff team to ensure that all Camp events/activities are planned and run smoothly, noticing campers need extra support, helping one another through tough moments or to get appropriate support when unsure of how to solve a problem, noticing the soap is empty at the handwashing sink and replacing it, etc.

Is there personal downtime for counselors? When do I get time off?

Camp is a dynamic environment and working at the ranch, in any capacity, is a demanding job. Counselors receive one 24-hour day off each week, when they can leave the ranch. Staff are off in groups of 4-6 and often carpool for their day off. We are 2 hours from the closest large town and 30-45 minutes to cell range. Day off activities commonly include camping at a gorgeous nearby river, hiking in the mountains, getting extra sleep, or exploring nearby small towns.

We intentionally build downtime into our schedule to ensure that counselors (and campers too) get moments of rest and recovery during the day – mornings, rest hour, river time, before dinner, can all be times to slow down or take a beat to yourself.

Are there specific certifications required?

We require counseling staff to obtain two current certifications:

1) Lifeguarding + CPR/AED training
2) Wilderness First Aid

We offer both of these courses at the Ranch prior to the summer. You may also take these courses in another place prior to arriving at the Ranch, and we subsidize the cost of these courses.

What kind of training and support do you provide counselors?

Counselors start the summer with a week-long staff orientation. This week gives counselors the opportunity to settle into life on the ranch and familiarize themselves with our program. This week is packed with hands-on training and review of all the essentials our staff need to be ready for Camp. This includes leadership development, skills, team building, and sessions on child development, abuse prevention, food handling, and mental health support.

We provide ongoing support to our staff throughout the summer. This includes regular 1:1 check-ins, weekly staff meetings, and a midsummer evaluation. Our leadership team works together to provide feedback and guidance to staff to help them be better counselors and to work on their own goals.