Junior Staff Program

Counselor In Training
For girls who are 16 years old or entering 11th grade, our 4-week CIT program is the first step in transitioning from camper to counselor. Our CITs take a lifeguard certification course and receive in-service training in the areas of cabin counseling and activity teaching. Having dreamed for many years of being a counselor, they develop a first-hand appreciation for what it is like on “the staff side” of camp during their week-long cabin stay with a counselor and younger campers. Each component of the program is coupled with reflective debriefing facilitated by the senior staff member in charge of CIT training. At the end of CIT summer, girls almost always report that they are more excited and confident than ever that they would like to return to camp to be counselors.

 
Service Exploration Program
For girls who are 17 years old or entering 12th grade, the 5-week SEP program provides a unique growth experience outside the bounds of camp but alongside their summer friends. First offered in 2007, this unique community service program combines a local internship with an international building project. Participants spend 3 weeks living together at camp but working at a local preschool center for children with special needs. The group follows up the local experience with a 2-week international service trip. They then travel to Nicaragua under the auspices of Bridges to Community to work alongside an impoverished family whose cinder-block home they will construct from the ground up. Upon their return, the group encapsulates their summer experience with a multi-media presentation to the campers and staff.