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November 3, 2010April 6, 2024 • Counselors • Mandy Horton

Working at Rockbrook Camp for Girls

“I’m a counselor. You’re a counselor. She’s a counselor. We’re all counselors. Wouldn’t you like to be a counselor too. Be a counselor. Rock-Rockbrook counselor!”

Being a Rockbrook Camp staff member is one of the most fun and rewarding ways to spend a summer. Sleep-away camp counselors provide a nurturing and magical environment for Rockbrook campers. By living in the cabins with our campers (typically two counselors per cabin group), counselors truly get to know their campers and their goals for attending camp. We often say that our counselors are like big sisters to our campers while they are away from home. It’s a wonderful bond that campers talk about for years.

So what makes a great counselor? First and foremost, a counselor must have a strong desire to work with children. Many Rockbrook counselors are planning to be teachers one day. Our counselors are a diverse group of young women usually in the 18-22 age range. We have found that it is wonderful to have long-time Rockbrook counselors mixed in with new counselors who come to camp with lots of fresh ideas. A Rockbrook counselor has to be ready for anything. The camp environment is goofy and fast paced. It also takes a lot of initiative to help plan activities and events with an emphasis on the whole team or camp. By putting their campers needs in front of their own, counselors find their summer experience to be a very rewarding one.

We are currently hiring for our 2011 camp staff, so check out the staff area of our website for more details!

Co-Counselors: Dynamic Duos

Abby and Elyse as Mountain mamas! — Abby and Elyse as Mountain Mamas!

Every counselor has at least one co-counselor. Together they help create a the framework which helps generates the sense of community among the cabin. Chore wheels, guidelines, cabin meetings (i.e. powwows), cabin day activities, eating together, staying up late to talk with someone who’s homesick, and just hanging out during free swims with their cabin group are all ways these fabulous pairs make their campers’ summer amazing!

The relationship formed between co-counselors is another ways that being a camp counselor at Rockbrook is THE most rewarding things you can do with your summer. It is not only great fun. It also teaches you how to work as a team with someone, to have a positive collaborative attitude, and to communicate and compromise to achieve a common goal. These are all life skills that help you achieve greater success in the future. Every job requires this kind of maturity, focus and productivity.

dynamic camp counselors — Michelle and Alice didn’t win the shaving cream fight -or did they?

A Word from a Counselor-in-Training

CIT’s are a vibrant and important part of the Rockbrook Camp community. They work with the counselors to help campers have a great summer and they also get to know “Hobart,” our dishwasher machine, quite well because they are responsible for washing dishes! Here’s what Savannah Tally said about making the transition from camper to counselor this year at Spirit Fire:

Eight years ago, I found myself as a new camper at Rockbrook who was completely overwhelmed with the excitement of experiencing new things and making new friends. My first cabin ever was Junior 4 side A. The year was 2001 and I don’t think I would have guessed that this new summer camp would become a staple in my life; a safe-haven where I would come to reconnect with friends and make memories that would last a lifetime. This was my first year as a counselor, well Counselor-In-Training to be exact, and although I knew Rockbrook and its ways inside and out, I was horrified to come. I mean, of course I was pumped and ready to lead a cabin of my own, but I had no idea how camp would receive me in my new role and more importantly how I would receive it. I won’t lie in saying that it was a difficult transition from camper to counselor but once I got the hang of it, it became like clockwork. Each day is a new day and sometimes I still find it hard to accept the fact that I will never again be a camper at Rockbrook. It does get easier as each day passes along though and now instead of being excited about making a cool bracelet in curosty or climbing the alpine tower, I’m excited to hear what my girls did that day. I love to see all you campers making similar memories to those I have and I’m so glad to make memories with y’all. So even though I’m on the opposite side of the spectrum, Rockbrook is still the same ol’ Rockbrook. I am now back in Junior 4 side A and I can say that no matter where we come from, what we like/dislike, or even how many years we’ve been here, we can all find common ground and love in the heart of the wooded mountain. Of course it didn’t take me eight years to figure that one out.

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