“Camp Huston helped teach me leadership and team building skills that I still use today” – Jordan (2015 staff alum), a local politician and Gold Bar City Councilman.
Working at Camp Huston is an opportunity to serve the Episcopal community (and beyond!) while gaining a wide variety of skills. We have campers, from kids to teens, attending Camp Huston and coming from all walks of life. Our camp counselors and staff are the ones who make the summer a positive, impactful experience for these kids. Staff are guaranteed to walk away with a positive, impactful experience for themselves as well! Camp Huston’s catchphrase is “when I leave there, my life won’t be the same!”
From specific skills like leading archery and doing tie-dye to widely applicable skills like conflict resolution, communication, and feedback, you’re bound to walk away from camp counseling with a new skill up your sleeve. Some knowledge, such as interpersonal communication or psychology like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, will follow you into your high school or college classes, or reappear in your jobs and professions. Camp can equip you to feel confident in many different settings because of the skills and experiences you learned during Counselor Training and working as a summer camp counselor.
Our summer staff alumni go on to work in many different fields and find themselves using the skills they learned at camp.
Sasha (2016-19 staff alum), a dance instructor, says “Camp Huston’s conflict resolution and group psychology training gave me the skills I needed for a career in teaching and childcare”.
Chelsea (1999-2011 staff alum), a summer camp program director, recalls “conflict resolution was a skill most my peers didn’t have at the time and I used it frequently as the captain of my dance team. Now, as an adult, I still use the planning and communication skills I learned at camp in my everyday life.”
Hannah (2009-16 staff alum), a manufacturing engineer, told us “I still use so many of the skills I learned and honed while working at camp on a regular basis- my ability to think quickly on my feet and creatively problem solve has been one of the most useful skills to have in my tool belt over the years.”
At Camp Huston, we run a decentralized camping program. Typically, two cabins of similar ages, their cabin counselors, and one additional leader form a “Discovery Group”. Campers spend the majority of their time either with their cabin group or their Discovery Group. Camp Huston’s staff are trained to facilitate the development of that group, through the process of “Experience + Reflection = Learning” or “E+R=L” . As the week progresses, campers and their Discovery Groups are able to take on greater and greater challenges as they learn to communicate, trust, and work together. We see this the most during teambuilding games and initiatives on the low-ropes course. We also offer a shorter Mini Camp program for 1st to 5th graders, as well as a Family Camp program for all ages!
There are two options for summer staff, based on their availability and age:
Resident Counselors are contracted to work the whole summer, from mid-June to mid-August. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and completed 11th grade. Resident Staff are paid a salary for the summer.
Contracted Counselors are offered contracts to work individual sessions based on successful completion of the Counselor Training program, their own availability for the summer, and Camp Huston’s staffing needs. Counselor Training Participants must be at least 16 years old and completed 10th grade. Contracted Counselors are paid per session and receive one paycheck at the end of summer.
Sign up for Counselor Training here: https://huston.org/summer-camp/
Check out more information, including job descriptions and applications, on our website here: https://huston.org/apply-for-summer-camp-staff/
Contact us at info@huston.org or call the office at 360.793.0441 if you have questions!
