The 5 Traits That Make Our Counselors (And Camp Walt Whitman) Great

What Makes a Great Summer Camp Counselor?

A summer camp is really only as good as its counselors. When your child spends a summer away from home for the first time, or the third time, you want to feel confident that you’re not leaving them in the care of another “kid” or a counselor-in-training who won’t know how to address homesickness, lift up a camper’s spirits, or mediate a minor squabble between cabin mates.

You want the kind of counselors you look for in your own caregivers—the kind who can handle a range of situations without having to consult you every step of the way; who love to be with your kids and are good to your kids; and just as importantly, who your kids love to spend time with, too.

How We Select and Train Our Counselors

We know how crucial this camper-counselor relationship is, which is why we place such a premium on finding, training and hiring the best staff each summer. Rather than only cull from our own campers-turned-counselors, as some camps do, we require our staff to be at least college age, and have experience outside of Camp Walt Whitman. This paves the way for a more mature staff whose perspective on working with children isn’t limited to their own camp.

Beyond these minimum requirements, we also look for key characteristics that ensure that a counselor will have what it takes to make a summer at Walt Whitman an incredible experience for our campers. (So if you’re looking to work here, you might want to take notes!)

5 Key Qualities of a Great Summer Camp Counselor

Here are the key qualities that make our summer camp counselors great:

1) Warmth

Being a star swimmer or an expert in tennis might make it easier for a counselor to relay their knowledge to campers. But no amount of skill matters if our counselors aren’t warm and caring with children.

2) Strong Communication Skills

Being a good communicator goes beyond telling campers to make their beds. A great counselor is also a great listener, shows respect for campers’ unique personalities, can persuade a tentative child to try something new yet daunting, and can read a situation intuitively.

3) Positive Attitude

Anything can happen when you’re A) working with kids and B) working with kids outdoors on mountain hikes, ropes courses, the open water or a camping trip. Having a can-do attitude and the ability to find the good in any situation and any person is a key part of being someone kids can count on during a strenuous climb or an unforeseen rainstorm at camp.

4) Initiative

Great counselors don’t sit back and wait for things to happen; they make great things happen (just like all great, inspiring people in life).

5) Resilience

Being a positive role model is a hard job and counselors are always learning, growing, and improving.  There’s a lot of joy in working as a counselor but without resilience a person won’t survive when they are tired and need to get a cabin of 10 children to bed, comfort a homesick camper and tend to a child who doesn’t feel well, all at the same time.