Meet Our Counselors
CYJ’s Summer Camp Staff Are the Best
Sure, it’s nice that the camp has good food, comfy bunks, and pretty scenery… but camp is Camp because of THE STAFF!
CYJ-Texas’ staff is made up of college students, educators, and specialists who represent our core values. They have a love of kids, a desire to give to others, and a passion for the Jewish family. Many of them were campers themselves and are excited to pay forward the magic of CYJ to the next generation. They’re our talented, silly, compassionate band of camp lovers, and all the joys of summer are to their credit.
Just like our campers, our staff come from a diverse Jewish background, as well as cultural backgrounds giving our campers many incredible Jewish role models.
Qualifications
It’s no simple task, being in their shoes—we have high expectations and a rigorous screening process for anyone who’d like to look after our campers. They must first undergo a thorough application process, an interview with executive staff, several reference checks, and criminal background checks. We’re looking for candidates who exhibit maturity, good judgment, dependability, and a readiness to put the kids ahead of themselves. They have to be role models who our parents would want their children to emulate, as well as the type of people who are invested in enriching our kids’ every moment.
Training
Anyone offered a position with CYJ-Texas is expected to attend at least a week of pre-summer orientation, called Staff Week. The training is exhaustive, covering program planning, bunk management, conflict resolution, emergency medical procedures, and more. Staff Week also serves to bring our staff together, so that they’re a cohesive team by the time our campers arrive. To keep everyone on top of their game, employees are evaluated and provided feedback throughout the summer.
Where do staff come from?
We’re also proud to note how many of our staffers are international! Though the bulk of them are “home-grown” counselors (meaning they were campers at CYJ), we have a sizable delegation from both Israel and Mexico every summer and have hosted employees from Canada, the UK, and beyond! As a pluralistic camp invested in diversity, we love that our campers get to connect to Jews from other branches of our family tree!
