BLC COUNSELORS
We hire between 100-120 counselors each summer, with around half returning and half working with us for the first time. Around 30 will be members of our Key Staff – meaning they are over 25 years old and have been at Brant Lake Camp for multiple summers. These people are in charge of various aspects of camp life and serve as mentors to first year counselors. Typically, we have around 70 counselors that are university students from the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. Our gender breakdown is around 75% male to 25% female, however, Brant Lake Dance Camp (BLDC) and Brant Lake Sports Academy (BLSA) run concurrently with our boys’ program and offer additional employment opportunities for female counselors.
We want counselors who:
- Enjoy spending time and having fun with kids
- Are good human beings
- Are great role models
Everything else is secondary. A boy’s summer will be fundamentally influenced by counselors who embody the characteristics above, build strong relationships with their campers, and provide positive feedback.
Our counselors are screened and selected from many applicants on the basis of integrity, character, reliability, warmth, personality, and a sincere desire to work with kids. Many have special skills and are excellent coaches and teachers — but their primary responsibility is to spend quality time with kids.
While most camps hire counselors as either Specialists (i.e.- basketball, soccer or baseball instructor, etc.) or General counselors, we believe they are missing a critical opportunity. For this reason we consider the vast majority of our counselors to be General counselors, with very few exceptions.
Counselors have three main responsibilities:
- Their first responsibility is to the boys in their bunk.
- Secondly, to the boys in their division (Juniors, Inters or Seniors).
- Thirdly, but still importantly, to the activity in which he or she can best be helpful to our campers and daily program.
Very few of our counselors will teach the same activity for more than half of their day (common exceptions are some tennis pros or waterfront staff). This helps keep counselors fresh in their areas of expertise and allows them to focus on the individual needs of their campers: spending time with them throughout the day and playing the role of “big brother” or “big sister.”
LIVING IN A BUNK
Two counselors are assigned to each bunk, often one from the USA and one international. Bunks for younger campers may have 3 counselors assigned, with at least one of these counselors being female. Staff members are responsible for camper supervision. This includes encouraging healthy relationships and guiding campers to develop good personal health habits. The counselor’s involvement with the children in the bunk is the most important aspect of the job.
ACTIVITIES
Activity assignments are made according to skill and interest.
Most counselors can expect:
- 4 hours per day in their strongest activity area
- 2 hours in a secondary area
- 1 hour in an activity of lesser experience
- 1 hour of supervision and camper interaction at the waterfront
- plus time interacting and supervising campers during less formal activities
WHAT IT TAKES
What qualities do we look for when selecting BLC Counselors?