Potential Staff FAQs About Camp Kupugani

The beauty of our staffing structure is that is “generalist” (as opposed to “specialist”) in nature–so everybody gets to do a bit of everything. There are also slightly different responsibilities depending on your specific role. There are general counselors, junior counselors, and counselors with lifeguarding or climbing qualifications. The primary responsibility is safety–keeping yourself and the campers around you safe. Other areas of importance include being punctual, staying on schedule, looking after our camp and its environment, and partaking in some physical tasks which help prepare and maintain camp for the season.

Counselors are assigned to cabin groups–to look after a group of 7-10 kids with another counselor for each two-week session. You are with this group during the night, during the morning until the end of post-breakfast chores, and during siesta after lunch. Cabin responsibilities include making sure everyone is awake on time, getting to the washroom to shower at their designated time, and dressed appropriately for the day’s activities, and at days’ end making sure campers get to bed at the designated time. You get to meet a diverse range of children over the summer and work with a variety of ages and needs. You’ll be in charge of making sure they are all safe, hygienic, happy and integrating well into camp.  

Throughout the rest of day, you’ll be leading team building groups, running camptivities (camp activities) and evening activities, and sitting at tables with the kids during mealtimes. Basically, counselors are the main people in charge who keep camp ticking over throughout the day! Some other responsibilities include: being energetic, singing camp songs, finding ways to keep camp interesting and fun, looking after yourself, and having fun with the kids and your peer counselors.

For the first 3-4 days of the camp session, there will be an early bird activity, for which campers pre-notify counselors–and means waking up at 5.30/5.45 to wake the kids up and take them to the early bird meeting point. The majority of staff will all be waking up at some point over the 6 weeks of camp and for the weekend camps to run early birds, so you should only have to lead one or two early activities during your time at camp!

7-8 am: Get the kids up, changed for the day and tidying cabins

8-8.15 am: Morning circle outside the dining hall

8:15 – 9am: Breakfast 

9am: Chores around camp with your cabin

9.30/9.45 – 10.50am: Team building 

10.55-11.45: Camptivity/Recreation or Team building 

11.45-12: Making sure all kids and groups are accounted for, singing songs

12-12.55 Lunch

1 -2pm  Siesta! “rest hour” after lunch. This time is to be used to rest and relax in cabins. 

2.10 and 4pm: Camptivities (camper activity choice)

3.30: Staff meeting

5.30: Back to cabins and get changed for evening activities 

7pm: Evening activities

8/8.30pm: Return to Cabins/Showers 

9:45pm: Lights out 

10pm-11pm: Ninja training/admin office hours (not every night)

• Two weeks of staff training
• Two weeks of blended 1
• Two weeks of blended 2
• Two weeks of girls session
• One week of a rental group or prep before Mother Daughter Weekend
• One week of a rental group or prep before Parent Child weekend

From Saturday afternoon -sunday afternoon in between the two-week sessions, we transition the camp for the following session–clean the cabins, bathrooms and general camp, getting it ready for the next group of campers. We also make decorations for our cabins and then chill out in the evening, most likely a chill campfire or a pool party! In the time between girls and the parent weekend sessions, we slow down a little bit but keep busy with keeping camp organized and in tip top shape.

We have excellent, freshly-prepared food for all meals during camp. We have a varied menu, including favorites like cinnamon coffee cake, Sloppy Joes/Janes, and Chicken Kiev. We serve three meals per day and have snacks available for purchase in the afternoon.

Here’s what campers have to say about the food!

• “[The food] was soooooo good! Thank you Cook Natasha!!!! 🙂 – N.C.
• “I absolutely loved the food. It was always so delicious.” M.S.
• “It was Delish! Yum! :)” – A.P.
• “[The food] was so so so so good.” – T.T.
• “[The food] was AMAZING! Oh my gosh, I will miss the food so much.” – J.L.
• “To be honest, the food was some of the best food I’d ever had.” Z.S.
• “Amazing.” – A.E.
• “I love it and I want all of the recipes!” – A.M.
• “It was AMAZING!” – K.L.
• “Best food ever.” B.D.

Most staff (counselors, photographers, and sometimes program staff) sleep in the cabins with campers. We typically have two counselors in a cabin with 7-10 campers. Our cabins have wood bunks and built in drawers, and each cabin has a ceiling fan and box fans. You can see a cabin tour on our youtube channel!

The most impactful part of camp is almost always the connections you make with the people around you. Over the course of each session, you will see your campers grow in ways you never would have thought possible. It is incredible to be an instrumental part of that growth. Throughout the summer, you will also make amazing memories with your fellow staff. Some of our staff become friends for life!

You can check out this flow chart for a few key questions to help you answer that! Overall, if you are ready to push yourself, make incredible connections with campers and other staff, and do one of the hardest (but most rewarding) jobs out there, this might be the place for you. You can also feel free to send us an email or call with any specific questions!