Jasmine Miller – Ward, Colorado … Fifty-six staff members are preparing for their first set of campers next week at Glacier View Ranch (GVR) in Ward, Colorado. There are some returning staff members for this summer camp season but also plenty of new staff, some of whom are working at a summer camp for the first time. For the boy’s counselor staff, all are new to their positions.
Anton Kannenberg, a first-year assistant boys director, says he is “excited to train a new team of boys” and apply his experience as a boy’s counselor from a previous camp at Lake Whitney Ranch in Texas. Anton is also excited to be a part of the camp’s play telling the story of Joseph, exemplifying this year’s camp theme of “Elevate.”
This theme not only applies to the camper’s elevating their relationship with Jesus, but also, throughout the weeks, “how staff and the campers grow in their understanding of how much God actually loves them,” says Brandon Westgate, RMC youth director and pastor of GVR.
As Brandon prepares his staff for camp, one of the biggest challenges he sees is that “a lot of staff have had interrupted high school experiences because of Covid. It’s a challenge because the socialization with face-to-face learning was disrupted and some might not have had as much socialization.” Brandon assured that all staff members go through extensive training to be prepared for any experiences the summer might hold.
The staff have also been certified in first aid and CPR, completed background checks, learned about child abuse prevention, and completed Serve Safe training, the safety food handling course. They are also the only camp in Boulder that brings the Left Hand Fire Department to camp to talk about fire awareness to make sure the staff are prepared if there was ever a fire at camp.
This is Jade Teal’s, RMC assistant youth director, first year as the camp assistant director, and Jade expressed excitement about her first summer working at GVR. After working as year-round staff at several other summer camps in different states, Jade feels competent in her position and is “excited to get to see a different side of camp, spending more time focused on the staff and mentoring young adults,” which is what she is most passionate about. Her supportive husband Stefan will also volunteer around the camp, especially with archery.
The current camp season at GVR has many staff members from all over the U.S., including Texas, Tennessee, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Georgia, and, of course, Colorado. They will look after nearly 500 campers who will be enjoying activities and meeting fellow campers in seven age-related groups. The first group, Explore Camp (age 8-10), is expected at GVR on June 18. They will enjoy their stay until June 23 when Adventure Camp will take over the GVR site.
Several of the staff from Colorado also attended GVR as campers and felt called to come back to work as a staff member. Jonah De Oliveira, a second-year media director at GVR, attended as a camper for two years and volunteered for two years before working as a paid staff member. Jonah explained how “camp friendships are great, but it’s only for a week. When you’re a staff member, you meet about sixty new people in eight weeks, and you get to know those people on a deeper level. I’ve made some of my best friends working here”.
As staff and directors prepare and pray over their areas, Brandon said working in the camp setting has given him “more hope for the future” and made him realize “youth are overlooked, undervalued, and underutilized in our churches especially.”
Summer camp is such a special place for young adults to elevate not only their spiritual growth but also their understanding of God’s purpose for their lives.
—Jasmine Miller is the marketing and communications consultant at GVR. Photos by Jonah De Oliveira and Jasmine Miller.
