ONE (Start here)

Working at Stomping Ground is like climbing Mount Everest (sorta...), going to Burning Man, or running a marathon. It requires a huge commitment, tons of work, and creates lifelong memories. It means putting your self-care on hold for a few weeks. I believe the experience is totally worth it. It will be hard AND Awesome. Watch this quick video before taking the job and let us know if you have any questions.

TWO

We build our community by starting with agreements not rules. Before kids get to camp they all watch this video. It is a little cheesey, but the idea is that by watching this they know what they are opting in to and agreeing to in our community. 

THREE

One of the hardest parts about working at Stomping Ground is balancing giving kids the space to make decisions while also finding ways to connect and partner with them. The largest part of your job at camp is to build authentic relationships with campers while not being condescending, controlling, or coercive. The other piece of your role is to help kids acclimate to the space, brush their teeth, and be a caretaker. These two roles can seem at odds. The key is to be honest, explain why, and treat kids like people.

Read this short article from Laura about Freedom and Support. 

FOUR

When you get to camp we have staff orientation. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year. We will play, connect, dig into big ideas, and work our butts off. The goal is to get everyone ready for the summer and build the culture and community that will carry us through the summer. There are tons of great moments, so many inside jokes, and you make deep connections faster than you can imagine. It is incredibly fun and full of incredibly long days. We start at 8 AM and go until 10 PM most days with a short break after lunch. You will have very little free time and while we try to make everything fun it can also be super hard to adjust to camp life. Everyday one staff member makes a short video of the day that we watch the next morning, it is kind of like a Snap Story. Check out this one from last year. 

FIVE

The schedule of the day, broken down more specifically for staff. This is a work in progress, both the actual schedule and this write up. My guess is both will change some before summer and then again during the summer. That is part of the magic of Stomping Ground.

THE SCHEDULE

SIX

As a staff member at camp you have a million roles. They tend to all fall on some continuum between leader and follower. Check out this quick blog post from Jack describing some of the roles you might end up playing this summer. 

Counselor Roles