Brooklyn Park Summer Camp Offers Former Campers Chance at First Jobs
Sixteen-year-old Eva Woods says she thinks about summer camp all year long. She first started attending as a camper when she was five or six years old, she said.
Now, she’s a paid camp counselor for the City of Brooklyn Park.
“It’s like a full-circle moment,” said Woods, who helps out at the camp located at the Community Activity Center. There are three other camps with a total of nearly 300 campers this summer across the city, said Recreation Services Manager Jen Gillard.
“That’s one of the things that I think is most special about camp, is that we continually invest in the staff and they turn around and invest in the young people,” said Gillard. “We’re really lucky that our staff find a home with us.”
Brooklyn Park Summer Camp Counselor Eva Woods, center, high-fives a camper during a volleyball game.
Gillard said there were about 65 total staff members across the four summer camps, and she estimated that about a third of those were younger than 18.
“A lot of times, they’ll stick with us for a while,” she said.
Libby Dahlgren began as an inclusion counselor in 2011 with the city.
“We really value developing those relationships with kids,” said Dahlgren, who is now a camp coordinator at the Community Activity Center site. “I have relationships with campers from 15 years ago. Some of them have already started getting married and having kids, and it’s really fun to see them from when they were little to becoming full adults.”
Dahlgren said building those relationships is what makes camp so special.
“When people feel close and connected, they can really be their best selves, and we can really encourage one another,” Dahlgren said. “Having that relationship just makes you feel loved and cared about, and you can be your best self in life.”
