For the last four summers I have had the pleasure of working at Camp Sun ’n' Fun in Chilliwack, BC as a camp counsellor. I began as a Junior Camp Counsellor, then was promoted to Senior Camp Counsellor the following summer, and for the last two summers I have held the role of Camp Coordinator. As the title suggests, as Camp Coordinator I am responsible for coordinating the camp which includes extensively planning activities for each day of each week of camp, creating a positive and exciting environment in our home base classroom, planning field trips, and handling administrative duties, in addition to interacting and engaging with the campers and my co-workers everyday. I love my job, and I am enthusiastically looking forward to returning to Camp Sun 'n' Fun for my final summer as Camp Coordinator before I enter my final year of my Bachelor of Education and then pursue a teaching job.

I have absolutely loved my time at Camp Sun ’n’ Fun and it has provided invaluable experience for when I become a teacher as many of the job requirements and daily occurrences of the job correlate well with teaching. 

Lesson Planning: Planning the entire summer has helped me gain an idea of what lesson planning will be like. The first year it seemed like an overwhelming job, but each summer it gets a little bit easier because we are able to start with a solid foundation of a schedule that works and a set of activities that we know work well, and from there we are able to look for new activities to try. This will be similar to my first few years of teaching. The first year will be the hardest because I will have so many new lessons to plan, but each year will get a bit easier because I will have a foundation of good lessons to build from.

Classroom Management: Running a camp for elementary school aged children has definitely allowed me to practice my classroom management skills. I have been able to try different strategies, and have found techniques that work well. Of course, some of these strategies may not be as useful with middle school or high school students, but already having some experience with managing a large group of children will be an asset when I enter the classroom and gymnasium.

Organization: As Camp Coordinator, I have to be organized. Each week I have to create attendance sign-in sheets for ever day, create newsletters for the following week, print off newsletters and schedules for the current week, and confirm the field trip and bus pick-up times for the following week.

Working with Children: Perhaps most importantly, the past four summers working as a camp counsellor have affirmed my love for working with children. I love building relationships with the campers, and seeing them having a great time with the activities that I have planned with my co-workers. I have also had experience with disciplining campers who misbehave, and it is by far the most rewarding when you finally get through to those kids and see them smile and enjoy themselves, and I cannot wait to have similar experiences with teaching when my student finally understands how to solve the math problem, or is finally able to serve the volleyball over the net.