I imagined that our campers would grow up through their years at camp aspiring to be LITs- a program I hoped would be elite and fabulous. Eventually, all of my staff would be former campers- trained as LITs and the best staff ever by the time they were old enough to be counselors.
It was a successful first summer and I was proud of the program.
In 2009, I added a second level to the program- Counselors in Training. I also created the Treehouse Lounge- an exclusive hang out for teens only. Campers weren't allowed in it, neither were the counselors- just the teens. The "treehouse" part of the lounge was just a cool name. The literal title of it should have been "random dirty furniture thrown together in a somewhat less cluttered corner of a storage building" but that didn't quite have the ring to it I was going for.
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| The Treehouse Lounge (circa 2009) |
It was in a centrally located building, with windows that were slightly higher than eye level, which meant that campers could see inside, but not all the way. And since only SOME people were allowed inside, it was mysterious and alluring.
My hope was that by making it exclusive, it would be something that made the program even more of a draw for kids as the grew up. My fear was that the actual participants were going to think it was lame and that the word would get out.
I stocked the refrigerator with a few free snacks from the camp store; I made it a point to let the rest of the staff (besides the teen coordinator) know that they were NOT allowed inside, and that was all it took- the teens were hooked. And once they started bragging about the exclusive hang out, every single camper (and a few of the staff) were filled with envy.
Camper T had been coming to camp since he was 7 (summer 2009, he had just completed 9th grade- his last year asa a camper). Camper T was a typical "cool guy". He had a group of bros that hung out with him and signed up for all of the same activities he did. If he was excited about an all camp activity, so were they. He had a big afro, cool clothes, knew all about sports. Super cool.
When he found out about the Lounge, he approached me to talk. I didn't know what he was going to say, but, completely serious, he asked, "will that still be here next year?"
It was that moment that I knew I had succeeded. If "cool guy" was bought in, I knew I had done it. I was quite proud of myself.
And today, five years later, I hired that cool guy to be a camp counselor. I did my best to hide the fact that I was bursting with pride as I interviewed him. Before we began, I think I was more nervous than he was, silently willing him to do a good job so I could hire him.
He's not the first of my former LITs or campers that I have hired. I've been hiring "my kids" for a few years now. But it's still kind of a fabulous feeling every time one of them comes back to be a staff member. That was my dream when I started the teen programs and dragged furniture across camp to make the Treehouse Lounge. And now, here they are, my dream staff members.
