Who Are our Staff?
Starfish summer staff are interns and students who represent more than 100 professional fields of study. Some of the most popular are Special Education, Social Work, Psychology, Behavior Analysis (ABA), Youth Development, Therapeutic Recreation, General Education, Human/Family Services, Mental Health Counseling, Phys Ed, Music/Art Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. Many of our alumni have gone on to careers in these fields and credit Starfish for getting their foot in the door or for teaching them skills they continue to use in their daily work.
You do not need to be studying one of these things - or studying anything - to work at Starfish. However, for those who are interested, we offer internship and fellowship opportunities which can help you accumulate credits towards a relevant degree.
Check out any of these pages from our Staff Guide to learn more about our alumni!
The Camper-Staff Bond
The connection between campers and staff at Starfish is one of our most powerful tools. Mature, professional, and well-trained staff bring a dedication and enthusiasm to the role of camp counseling that is unparalleled. Campers know that staff don't yell or raise their voice, always answer questions, are happy to listen anytime, will be there to tuck them in at night, and are solid partners in their camp journey. Likewise, staff return year after year to help campers continue their progress and spend time with children who teach them more about themselves as adults than any other life experience.
Longtime Starfish staff member Melissa says: "My hero wears Velcro sneakers. He's 4 ft 8, laughs at my jokes even when they're not funny, and when he smiles my soul shines. He is my modern day superman. His personality can destroy the brick walls of stereotypes and his greatest superpower is that when I am with him, I automatically become a better person. My hero is one of my campers at Starfish. At Starfish, I grow, I change, and I believe in myself, all while teaching children to do the same. I bring out the hero in children who may have low self-esteem. I bring out the star athlete in the children who are often picked last in gym class. I bring out the achiever in children who struggle academically. Some people say, 'Melissa, those children are so lucky to have you to help them.' I disagree. Through each child I help, I become a hero, I become an achiever, but most importantly I become more grateful. Grateful that I have made a difference in their lives, but more so for the difference they have made in mine."
One-to-One Ratio
Always means always. We're one-to-one, all the time, always. That doesn't mean including maintenance staff and directors, either. We have one specialist (campers call them "counselors") for every camper, plus a team of 16+ leadership and supervisory staff (called administrators or "admin" for short), plus our directors, plus our nurse and support staff. Why?
It's not because every single one of our campers needs that amount of supervision or support minute-to-minute. But many of them do need the flexibility it provides - such as the ability to have a counselor and an administrator be able to stay back with a camper having a hard time making the transition to the next activity...while allowing the rest of the group to move on. Why not just ask everyone to wait? Well, perhaps that camper might need a few minutes to talk things through. Maybe another member of the group gets anxious waiting around when he's been assured that the group is leaving to get to swimming and worries about being late or missing out. Most importantly, for the safety of campers and staff, we're never alone with kids. There's always a second set of eyes and ears around to offer a helping hand.
And, while not every camper needs one-to-one, they all benefit from it in many ways. We believe that being able to give each camper positive attention and engagement at all times eliminates the need for behaviors based on negative attention-seeking, and allows us to quickly and effectively get to work on other behavior and goals. We also realize and capitalize on the fact that campers make solid, fast bonds with staff (and vice versa!) which opens their minds to hearing feedback and making changes - because the suggestions and assistance comes from someone they're working hard to impress! We're not one-on-one, so campers aren't assigned one staff member that's "theirs" for the session. In fact, they have a different staff member as their free-play buddy every day, staff they eat with, bunk staff, activity staff, etc. But they know no matter what, there's an ear to listen to them, and a hand to hold. That's why we're 1:1.
The Starfish Way
The Starfish way is all about making Camp Starfish a safe, supportive place to "learn, grow and have fun." Everything at Starfish is specifically geared to meet the needs and abilities of each bunk, activity group, and individual child. Staff consistently seek innumerable ways to provide campers with positive reinforcement while helping them to recognize and articulate their strengths. At Starfish, we believe in "catching children being good" and capitalizing on those experiences as teachable moments, in addition to setting up therapeutic supports to help children during times when they are struggling.
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The Starfish Way is based, amongst other things, on the ideas that:
- Children are able to do well when the environment is designed to enable success
- Regardless of their challenges, all children deserve to see themselves as valuable and valued individuals
- The role of adults in the camp environment is to help campers find and enjoy success
- Providing structured, nurturing and fun programs will allow children to grow in positive ways, and
- Engaging campers in a variety of well-structured traditional summer camp activities in a safe and predictable environment will allow them to build skills, self-confidence, self-esteem and self-direction.
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We primarily implement the Starfish Way through the use of our unique Strategies, Tools and Keys.
The Strategies are a guiding group of principles that we use while working with the young people entrusted to our care. These simple, yet powerfully effective concepts form the basis of our behavior management philosophy, our daily structure and schedule, and the reason why we are able to set campers up for such great success. Upon first reading the Strategies, they appear deceptively simple. The key, and what makes Starfish such a unique place, is an entire group of people actively using these skills and ideas in their daily work with children. "Engage campers. Provide time. Allow campers to take space. Catch children being good..." Each of the more than 50 Strategies fall into one of the following categories: Strengthen Children's Self-Esteem, Empower Children, Demonstrate Compassion to Children, Create a Safe Environment, Communicate with Children Deliberately & Proactively, and Create a Positive Learning Environment.
The Tools are the values of Camp Starfish.
They outline coping skills and personal intentions, and by teaching them, staff are able to help campers put behaviors and feelings into context. All camp rules are based on a tool, for example, and you will often hear staff using the tools to help calm escalated campers: "I think your painting looks great! You put so much effort into it and that really shows. Remember here we don't have to be the best...just try our best. Hey, I bet that would look great hanging up in the bunk next to your goals chart." There are both community tools (those values that affect interactions with others) and individual tools (those values which are based on internal coping mechanisms). Tools are integrated all over camp - from the Tool of the Day (which is used at each activity and acted out by the Tools Team at morning Gathering), to the Garden of Tools where campers can relax, smell the flowers, and just think for a while about the small signs around you.
Download the Starfish Tools to hang up at home or bring to school!
The Keys are a set of social skills which we aim for every child to learn and work on during his/her time at camp, and then continue developing after camp. Difficulty relating to peers is one of the top factors that affect a child’s self-esteem and identity. While Starfish campers come to camp from wide variety of backgrounds with many different challenges that they face, one thing that most of them have in common is that they have a hard time making or keeping friends.The Keys include concepts such as using manners and positive interaction with others, approaching others in social acceptable ways, asking for permission rather than acting, sharing toys/materials, maintaining eye contact during introductions, and more. Our daily "Key of the Day" is presented by our camper-led Keys Club, which acts out the Key in a skit and then shows good ways to use the Key at camp. Staff diligently capitalize on teachable moments to show when social skills are "caught" in action.
In these ways and more, the Starfish Way makes camp a positive, safe place where campers are actively participating in things they enjoy. We help children learn what it means to be accountable for their choices through positive feedback and without embarrassment, enabling them make more productive choices in the future. The Starfish way is all about making Camp Starfish is a place to "learn, grow and have fun."
Certifications, Internships & Fellowships

Certifications
By the completion of staff training, you will have amassed enough experience and learning hours to become certified as a Level I Care Specialist. As you work through the summer you may also choose to gain your Level II Care Specialist certification, which comes with a bonus and opens up opportunity for potential leadership roles on the team.
Opportunities are also available before camp (arrival a few days prior to staff training is required) for additional certifications such as lifeguarding, boating safety, first aid and CPR. Depending on your role, we may also send you to a certification course for wilderness first aid, emergency response, or other camp skills.Please note that in 2021, Covid-19 restrictions may necessitate obtaining these certifications prior to your arrival at camp. We will work with you to find an appropriate course, paid for by camp.
We promise that you'll leave camp in August with new and enhanced skills that will easily transfer to future jobs & schoolwork. Your certifications go with you and many staff find great additional work opportunities lifeguarding or teaching swim lessons back home during the school year.

Internships
Whether you are looking to grow personally or develop marketable skills for the corporate or professional world, work at Camp Starfish will prepare you for almost anything! The internship program is available to each employee at Camp Starfish, either for personal experience or college credit. In previous years, staff members studying Social Work, Recreation, Sports Science, Wilderness Leadership, Psychology, Education, Business Management and many other subjects were able to spend the summer having fun at camp while still working towards their degree!
If you join our team as an intern, you will automatically be placed in our Intern Seminar that meets weekly at camp and focuses on professional development. Our leadership staff and directors are committed to helping make sure you get the most out of your internship opportunity.
If you are planning to use your time at camp to gain course credit, we strongly recommend that you speak with your advisor, etc. to determine the necessary steps to apply for credit at your particular institution. We will work with you and your school to make sure the right forms are filled out, but as every school is different we rely on you to guide the process. We also recommend you apply as early as possible to give both you and us enough time to get everything organized.
Note: Participation in the Intern Program is in addition to job responsibilities and is not required for employment.

FellowshipsIndividuals who participate in the Internship program at Camp Starfish are eligible to apply, mid-summer, to participate in the Camp Starfish Fellowship. The year-round team of directors will select up to five individuals to participate in the Fellowship Cohort, led by the Director of Staff Experience through the academic year and following summer season. If selected for the Fellowship, individuals will be placed in a cohort that regularly converses and grows together through an online platform that is available from anywhere you call home. During the course of the academic year between Summer 1 and Summer 2, Fellows will receive both guidance and funding for a self-directed Community Contribution Project (CCP) that enhances the collective work of Camp Starfish. While preparing and executing their project, each Fellow will also participate in a guided discussion series in the online classroom as well as volunteer 20 hours of service to camp. During Summer 2, Fellows will be responsible for helping to teach the Camp Starfish Intern Seminar as well as mentoring those individuals selected to be Fellows for the following year.