A few weeks before any campers show up, the staff at URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy are already busy getting camp ready. Every summer, the campus at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield gets transformed into the camp that hundreds of campers and staff have called home over the last 13 years. But Sci-Tech is more than just a place. What really makes camp special are the traditions, the culture, and the community that gets built every summer.
Before campers arrive, staff spend weeks training and preparing for the season ahead. New staff members learn from returning staff and professionals across different fields about the traditions, expectations, and values that help make camp what it is.
One of those new staff members is Jason Cruse, who is joining the team this summer as the Digital Art Workshop Lead Instructor. After his first two weeks at camp, he said, “Everyone has been very welcoming, and I’m excited for the campers to arrive.”
Staff training starts long before campers step onto campus, and honestly, it feels a lot like its own camp session. It lasts just as long as the camper sessions, which are each two weeks long, and follows a similar daily schedule. It gives staff a chance to practice, learn, and prepare before the summer officially begins.
Being a camp counselor isn’t only about helping campers grow. The experience gives staff members plenty of opportunities to develop leadership skills, build confidence, and learn from each other.
And it’s not only the new staff who get something out of training. Returning staff members say they continue learning every year. Bart Grota is back for his third summer at Sci-Tech and remembers how overwhelming things felt when he first arrived.
“The first year I came, I had no idea what was going to happen,” he said. “The training is intense, and setting up camp is a lot of hard work, but it’s also a lot of fun, like learning the new Israeli dances.”
By the time campers arrive, weeks of preparation, training, and teamwork have already gone into creating the experience. While campers may only see the finished product, there’s a lot that happens behind the scenes to turn a school campus into the Sci-Tech community that so many people look forward to every summer.