Montessori Inspired Outdoor Summer Camp - Paid Internship

Do you have experience and a passion for working with youth?

Are you looking for a summer that is going to be memorable, meaningful, healthy, novel, and filled with personal and professional growth?

Are you Ready for this? Really?

Working at camp will likely be the most challenging job you've ever had. Your time will be scheduled from 7:30 AM-10:00 PM - and often time stay up till 11:00 or 12:00 to complete your camp tasks. In 12.5 weeks, you will get nine 24-hour periods off, and those 24 hours off will be from noon to noon, so there won't be a single day in that 12.5 weeks you don't work. You will be spending the majority of those days with campers aged 8-16 - leading activities for them. You'll need to be focused and engaged in that time. It will be hot (many days 90+, and a handful of 100+ degrees), stressful, and demanding. You will not have the time/bandwidth to maintain relationships outside of camp. You will be pushed out your comfort zone - physically, emotionally, and mentally. There are 'easy' and 'fun'

And, for those who are truly excited about this and want it and make, it is also largely considered the most rewarding and meaningful experience they have had in their life.

If that excites you... read on.

Experience the Montessori Approach!

When you live with, care for, talk to, counsel, explore, play, and learn alongside youth, you build your comfort and connection with them. This role is an experiential role that has a significant amount of training and practice in relevant Montessori-related topics, including:

• Mixed-aged activities
• Positive reinforcement
• Success counseling
• Group facilitation
• Emotional Intelligence
• Creative learning
• and much more...

Camp Augusta is not your average summer camp. We are seeking experienced, hardworking, enthusiastic, and passionate counselors for our small summer community to create an epic and life-changing experience for campers.

At the end of a summer counseling at Augusta, you'll have 1,000s of hours of practice connecting and understanding youth from ages 8-16, and feel more comfortable in your approach and connection with people in general.

More about that Personal & Professional Growth:

The training, mentorship, practice, and experience you will get working at Augusta (outlined below) far surpasses that of most (if not all) camps in the nation. We seek high-quality candidates for our roles and promise a high-caliber experience. Notably, our staff training and camp programs were developed by our director, who has multiple doctorates in psychology, and our training has been offered as multiple accredited courses at Prescott University. 

Here are some things that are included for all of our positions:

• 300+ Hours of Experiential Training: Pre-arrival preparation and 3.5 weeks of on-site training that includes:
• 90+ hours of experiential learning in psychology-based philosophies and approaches, including humanistic behavior management approaches, nonviolent communication, rationale-emotive behavior therapy, group facilitation, and more
• 70+ hours learning your choice of our 150+ activity offerings
• 140+ hours of learning camp by doing camp (programs, activities, clinics, cabin life)
• 9 Weeks of Summer Practicing: Being responsible for cabins of 5 campers at a time, and applying all the skills above to camp activities and discussions.
• A Skilled & Dedicated Scaffolder: With no more than a 1:8 ratio, this person emphasizes your growth and works with you to develop your skills working with kids

This is the place for you if you…

• Are overjoyed to build close relationships between and facilitate a meaningful overall experience for 5 campers, and especially if you have had and plan to continue to work with children throughout your life
• Have the depth of emotional and physical stamina to joyfully engage with a community of 95 campers and 60 staff members for 9 weeks in the summer, working from 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM six days a week.
• Love to play and are eager to explore the creation of magical worlds with enthusiastic character roles
• Are dedicated to guiding/counseling children utilizing emotionally intelligent, thoughtful counseling techniques (to be learned/practiced in detail throughout pre-camp and staff training)
• Love community, and the idea of supporting the growth, interests, and emotional well-being of the other counselors and staff within your village, as well as the camp-wide community, is exciting to you

Minimum requirements

• Must be at least 19 years of age by June 1st, 2024
• Must be available during our summer dates: from May 13th to August 11th 2024 (if within a couple days, inquire)
• Ability to commit to 5-8 hours of pre-camp onboarding work a week from when you are hired to when you arrive, and maintain open and prompt communication about that work'
• Must be willing and able to either show proof of a positive COVID test or COVID booster since Sept 1, 2023

AND MUST have one of the following: 

• At least one summer of experience at a summer camp
• Over 100 hours of direct mentorship work with youth
• A major or background directly related to working with youth, with intention to work with youth in your future career

Preferred qualifications:

• A history of ‘meaningful’ work and a variety of experiences with youth
• A plethora of interesting hobbies, passions, and life experiences that you’re excited to share with us
• A GPA of 3.0+ with a true excitement for learning and writing

Internship?

Though an internship track is not required to work with us, it is available and can accommodate many majors (here is a page about our collaborative, individualized internships).

We work with you and your university to cater to and fulfill any internship requirements or requests that you need - whether for course credit or otherwise. You get the paperwork to us, and let’s figure it out:

About Being a Counselor:

After the training and preparation, the campers arrive for either 1 or 2-week sessions in our 9-week summer. Discover the wish, wonder, and surprise of living with and supporting five campers in a cabin in the woods, and learn more than you ever thought you could about relating to children in a manner that empowers their growth and independence. In a single day at camp, you'll:

• Create magical, intentional special wake ups and evening connection-building activities for your cabin on a daily basis
• Facilitate camper ideas for a daily creative cabin activity
• Teach four activity blocks per day from the 150 clinics that you chose to learn in training
• Run a unique, themed daily activity that draws upon your personal creativity and skills; “sell” these activities through playful skits
• Play in epic Evening Programs, from full-camp capture the flag to immersive nighttime events. Be a character in our games and bring other-worldly magic to life.
• Create and offer two gifts from the heart per camper, per session: a special wood cookie honoring and a thoughtful Parent Letter

Counselors are the heartbeat of camp. Most counselors spend a session or two outside of the cabin as well, contributing to programming or other areas of interest.  See our page on counselor life for more information on the role and how it differs from most other camps. 

Imagining what it all looks like? Here’s a video of our summer shenanigans! 

If you want to be one of those flag-running, costume-wearing, oatmeal-throwing, woodchip-loving Augustans… take the next step to meet us here. :)

Do you have any questions?

Send us a message on Handshake, and we'll get back to you by the end of the next day! You can also send any questions you have to applications@campaugusta.org.

Feeling ready to apply?

1. If you meet the minimum requirements above, take 5 minutes to fill out our interest form. 

2. Someone from our hiring team will reach out to you within 24 hours.

3. Schedule an Intro Chat with us, and complete a full application!