Salary scale for a general counselor begins at $2300. You may receive an additional stipend for specialized skills (such as lifeguard certification). We will also provide staff with a travel allowance, paid at the end of the summer, based on distance traveled to camp. We will provide you with a complete salary package at the time of your job offer. Keep in mind that, in addition to salary, travel allowance and stipends, you will receive uniform shirts, room and board, internet access, laundry service and invaluable experience you would never earn in a retail or office job.
Camp Bryn Mawr is located outside Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern United States. Honesdale is approximately two and a half hours from New York City by car.
Staff wear navy and white every day. We will supply you with uniform shirts, and you may wear your own navy or white shorts and pants.
Our counselors come from all over the world to spend the summer at Bryn Mawr.
A lot. The official answer: approximately 10 to 14. But the truth is that camp is not like a typical job. You don’t go home when the day is over. You’ll be living with campers and that means that you’re on 24 hours a day. It is hard work—but the rewards you gain from spending that time with campers are immeasurable.
The most important thing we can tell you about our “Bryn Mawr Angels” is that most of them—about 90 percent, in fact—are return campers. Many have older sisters, cousins, mothers or even grandmothers who attended Bryn Mawr. Camp is their second home. The traditions, the history, the cheers and special events—these are all extremely important to our campers and they take them very seriously. Most of our campers are very open, direct and energetic. They come primarily from upper-middle-class homes in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, and most of them are Jewish.
U.S. and Canadian staff fly into Newark Airport, and we’ll pick you up there. International staff travel arrangements will be made through your agency. We’ll send out more information about staff pickup dates in the spring.
Until you arrive at camp, the only answer we can give you is: somewhere between 7 and 15. We don’t assign any staff to cabins until the end of Staff Week, when camper cabin placements are finalized and we have had the chance to get to know each counselor. You will be placed in a cabin with campers for whom we feel your personality and strengths are the best fit, and your preference will be taken under consideration.
You will have six days off during the summer (from reveille until safety check-in), plus two additional nights off each week (6:00 p.m. until safety check-in), for a total of three (including your day off). On days you’re on, your program director or head counselor will give you a period off. Every Sunday night we have staff nights. The Group Leaders or senior staff will supervise your campers while you attend a fun event with your fellow counselors.
It’s part of a complicated psychological test that judges your personality based on the photo you send in. (That was a joke.) Seriously, we just like to be able to put a face with each name, particularly so that we can learn your names very quickly at the beginning of the summer.
Unfortunately, it has on occasion happened that we’ve had to dismiss counselors during the summer, usually for violations of camp policies, including abuse of drugs or alcohol, smoking, stealing or inability to abide by our staff code of conduct. Staff dismissals are a last resort and very difficult for campers and counselors, and we hope to avoid them at all costs.
The last week of camp is a crucial time for camper-staff bonding and end-of-camp preparations. We regret that, for this reason, we are unable to hire counselors who cannot stay the full season.
Lake Bryn Mawr Camp is not affiliated with Bryn Mawr College or the town of Bryn Mawr, PA. The name Bryn Mawr comes from Welsh words meaning “on a hill.”
Bryn Mawr is 100 percent smoke-free. We do not tolerate smoking on or near camp property. Staff are expected to live responsibly while at camp, and that includes following the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding consumption of alcohol. No staff member under the age of 21 may consume alcohol, on or off camp, and no staff member of legal drinking age may drink on camp or return to campus under the influence of alcohol. Bryn Mawr has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to smoking, illegal drugs, and inappropriate use of alcohol.
Summers in Pennsylvania are warm and humid. Daytime temperatures are usually between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Evenings tend to be cooler, and we receive occasional rain and thunderstorms.
If you are Canadian, fill out the regular staff application. If you are from a country other than the U.S. or Canada, you will need to work with an international staff placement agency. We hire new international staff through Camp Leaders, CCUSA and Camp America.
As a general counselor or specialist, you will probably live in a cabin with campers. If you are a member of the support staff, you will live in staff housing with other support staff. All accommodations have electricity, hot running water and bathroom facilities.
We have computers available for use, at no charge, on your time off.
