Activity Counselor/Lifeguard Counselor (Summer 2024)

Job Details

Job Location
Camp Gambill - Sumner, TX

Position Type
Seasonal

Description

About Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas:

Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) offers amazing opportunities for talented, forward-thinking individuals who share our vision of helping girls and young women change the world for the better.

Here's your opportunity to enhance your career while making a difference in girls' lives and in the world. At Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, you can build a rewarding career in everything from working hands-on with girls, to accounting, human resources and project management, to marketing, research-and more.

About Camp Gambill:

Camp Gambill, our waterfront camp on Lake Gibbons outside Paris, TX, offers sleepaway family and troop camp experiences for girls ages 5-18. We serve approximately 80 campers per week from a variety of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Campers come to camp with adults from their family or troop.

Counselors work end of May to end of July 2024.

Job summary:

Counselors are responsible for leading a fun, impactful summer camp program for all campers. They develop relationships, lead program activities, and participate fully in daily camp life. This team member serves as a caring mentor, fun companion, patient teacher, positive role model, and helpful problem solver. The position reports to the Camp Director. Paid staff training is provided at the beginning of the summer and takes place at Camp Bette Perot near Palestine, TX.

Benefits:

Summer camp changes lives for the better! Join an amazing community where you will make new friends, develop personal and professional skills, engage your body and your mind in an outdoor environment, overcome challenges, and be the best version of yourself, plus have tons of fun! As part of a team mentoring, teaching, and helping, you get to make an incredible impact on campers, who remember the sense of belonging, friendship, growth, and magic of summer camp for their entire lives. Counselors receive meals when camp is in session plus paid staff training, paid certifications (where applicable), and invaluable work experience that prepares you to succeed in school, in work, and in life.

Counselors can live onsite in shared housing during the program week, at no cost, if desired.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Champion a positive, inclusive, caring, safe, and fun camp environment and promote the values of the Girl Scout Promise and Law
• Lead or participate in all camp activities: meals, program activities, rest, free time, kapers (chores), and staff trainings and meetings
• Facilitate positive group relationships, including addressing conflict in constructive ways
• Advocate for camper confidence, responsibility, challenge seeking, teamwork, learning, goal setting, relationship skills, and coping strategies
• Adhere to camp schedule, direct campers and self to assigned spaces on time, and stay with assigned activity
• Maintain campsite and activity supplies and equipment
• Practice all safety standards on camp property and at activity spaces

Specific roles available:

• Activity Counselor (age 16+):Lead outdoor activities and other aspects of daily camp program. Accountable for overall success of assigned activity, including developing program plan, maintaining spaces and equipment, and engaging groups of campers throughout the day (archery and other target sports, crafts, badgework, and all-camp programs).
• Waterfront Lifeguard Counselor (age 16+): Serve as waterfront lifeguard teaching swimming and boating on the lake. Provide additional program support throughout the day. Waterfront lifeguard certification and small craft certification will be provided. Must be a strong swimmer.
• Waterfront Lifeguard Leader (age 21+ with past lifeguard experience): Serve as Waterfront Lifeguard Counselor with additional responsibilities. Accountable for overall success of waterfront activity, including coordinating lifeguards, developing program plan, maintaining spaces and equipment, and engaging groups of campers throughout the day. Waterfront lifeguard certification and small craft certification will be provided. Must be a strong swimmer with lifeguard experience.

Qualifications

Minimum requirements:

• Willingness to live, eat, teach, and play respectfully and fruitfully with diverse staff and campers all day, with limited privacy and personal time
• Willingness to be active outdoors all day in variable weather conditions (heat, humidity, rain, wind) and to walk extensively around camp
• Willingness to role model respect, positivity, smiling, cheerfulness, kindness, patience, honesty, inclusion, good mental hygiene, and accountability and to self-regulate emotions respectfully in a variety of circumstances
• Willingness to listen to, learn from, and cooperate with others
• Willingness to embrace a simple living environment if staying on camp
• Ability to work long hours all day and all week with possible need to respond to campers / emergencies overnight (staff get personal breaktime each day)
• Ability to complete full term (all weeks) of camp agreement
• Counselors ages 16-17 must have prior experience at Girl Scout camp as a camper or CIT/MIT/WIT

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience serving youth in a work or volunteer setting
• Experience attending summer camp or going camping
• Experience with one or more of our program activities in swimming, sailing, kayaking and canoeing, archery and target sports, crafts, and badgework
• Current certifications appreciated in any of the following: first aid and CPR, lifeguarding, archery, small watercraft, or fishing

Must abstain from:

• Use of tobacco products, herbal intoxicants (CBD, THC, gummies, etc.), vaping and electronic cigarettes, alcohol, illegal drugs, firearms, and fireworks while on camp property or while on duty, plus abstain from possessing on camp property and from returning to camp under the influence of any such substances
• Use of explicit language or harmful language
• Volatile expressions of emotion
• Romantic or sexual activity on camp, no public display of affection
• Wearing clothing that features alcohol, drugs, or harmful topics or language
• Sharing or discussing private, adult issues with campers
• Using (engaging with) cell phone while on duty (Counselor phones can be kept in administrative building and used during scheduled staff break time away from campers, plus we have a radio system for camp communication and emergencies)

Our organization's cultural values:

• We are relevant.
• We strive for equity.
• We put our stakeholders first.
• We collaborate to get the best results.
• We own our work.

Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas is an equal opportunity employer and supports a diverse, inclusive work environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or age.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools or controls. The employee is required to stand; walk; sit; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, work in a kitchen environment, work in an office environment, work in a seated position, and work with computers.

The employee must be able to drive and have a valid driver's license. The employee must routinely be able to lift or move 50 pounds. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Activities occur both inside and outside and employee is subject to both environmental conditions; however, employee is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.