How Camp Capers Forms Summer Directors, Then and Now
Click here to apply for Summer Staff at Camp Capers,
Duncan Park, and Mustang Island Conference Center
Submitted by: Ali Fowler, Camp Capers Kitchen and Program Coordinator
When I served as a Summer Director in 2023, I could not have envisioned how it would impact the trajectory of my life in the coming years. At the time, I was going into my final year of college, unsure of my plans post-grad. As my summer came to a close and I went back to school, weighing my future career options, I found myself returning to my experience as a summer director time and time again. Two years later, I have now been working in a full-time, year-round position at Camp Capers for almost a year and a half. My experience as summer director led me back to Camp Capers, as it has for many directors. Although for other summer directors, their experience helped them find ways to bring Camp Capers to places and careers beyond our gates.
The Summer Director position serves as the main liaison between the Camp Capers summer staff and the full-time director team. The Directors help hire, train, and supervise all paid & volunteer staff, then provide them with direction and support throughout the summer. We hire 3 seasonal directors with varying roles and responsibilities; each director focuses on supporting and leading different staff positions.
Summer Directors are crucial in helping plan and design a summer that will bring love and joy to each camper who attends that year. The support and guidance from directors to the rest of staff creates a direct impact on campers from their counselors, to their daily activities, and even to the food they eat. Our directors come into the
position each year eager to make it the best summer yet, hopeful that each and every camper will feel the life-changing love of God during their time at Capers. The summer director position is a unique opportunity to gain key skills and experiences that will help prepare those in the position for a wide range of different career fields in their future.
Our past summer directors have gone on to fulfill a wide range of job opportunities, and many can attribute key skills required of their jobs to their experience as a summer director. I reached out to various summer directors from the last five years, who have now entered the career force, to ask about their experience as summer directors and how it has impacted them as a person, and how it has aided them in their present career. Four directors reflected on the impact of their experience: Gianna Eason, Director 2021, Middle School Choir Director; Daniel Espey, Director 2022, Camp Capers Operations Coordinator; Caeli Sullivan, Director 2023, Pricing Analyst; and Madelaine Borrego, Director 2024, Employment Agency Account Manager.
The overwhelming response from all four summer directors was expressing how their summer as a director at Camp Capers positively impacted them not only in their careers, but as individuals as well. They all expressed and reflected in varying manners how the experience, even the moments of stress and the challenges they faced, helped them grow exponentially, and that growth continues to make itself known in their present careers. Each individual expressed key skills they learned as a director and was able to identify the ways those skills have helped them in their current career. These skills are not limited to the careers these four people are currently in, but rather are skills necessary for most careers.
A skill that was repeated across responses was learning to work with a variety of different people. This was elaborated in terms of providing individualist feedback, setting all staff up for success, encouraging positive group dynamics, navigating varying strengths and challenges, and teaching in different learning styles. Flexibility and conflict resolution were also repeated skills mentioned. Working as a director comes with its own challenges– supporting and overseeing numerous other staff performing a wide range of different positions, each with their own needs to achieve success and support our campers to the best of their ability. As a director, they learned how to adjust plans and schedules amidst unpredictable circumstances, and how to do so while continuing to fulfill the everyday needs and responsibilities of summer camp.
At the core of the summer director position is leadership and team management. Each director leads a different team of Summer Staff at camp: Work Crew, Counselors, and Program Staff. Directors learn not only how to be a leader themselves to staff, but also how to teach and be an example of leadership for their staff to follow. Directors' responses expressed how leading these teams of staff required healthy communication, collaboration, personal management, confidence, and patience. They all described the leadership they learned in a variety of ways: vocal, demonstrative, bold, empathetic, and graceful. At the core of all these leadership styles, servant leadership was cited, responses expressing how they learned to be leaders who worked to serve staff and campers alike above all else, and how they have brought that leadership style with them to their current careers.
Beyond specific skills, the value of the experience you gain from serving as a summer director is one that is rare to find in other summer jobs. Summer directors are directly involved in the application, interview, and hiring process of all Summer Staff positions, they plan and lead staff trainings for a team of over thirty staff, they create schedules, lead meetings, provide constructive feedback, and are key to ensuring every part of camp runs smoothly and efficiently for the hundreds of campers who come through our gates each summer. When expressing how the experience of being a Summer Director rewarded them, all four responses expressed the joy and fulfillment of seeing their staff become their own leaders and getting to see campers experience the love and joy of camp. Directors not only grow personally, but they also help staff and campers alike grow and witness the love and joy of God at Camp Capers.
In her final statement, Gianna Eason expressed, “I learned to love like Jesus. I learned to be myself and let go of the expectations others had for me. I learned to lead. I learned to serve. I learned to embrace God and the plans He has in store for me… Thank you will never be words enough to convey how this place shaped me as a person and now as an educator.”
Summer Director applications are now open and are due November 9. Director applicants must be at least 21 years of age or have completed their third year of college.
For more information on the Summer Director Position, contact our Program Director, Sarah Carlson: programcc@dwtx.org
