Time off during sessions

[Allan72]

I was wondering what your time off is like during your sessions?

At our camp each staff member gets 2 6 hour periods off a session. our seesions are 11 on 3 off, We get 1 and 1/2 hrs off in the afternoon when our campers rest and we have 2 staff from each cabin stay with them. We also eat our dinner at a different time away from the campers; 2 staff from each cabin eat at the same time as the campers but at a different table away from the campers. I like this because we able to get a decent meal into us during the day.

So that's what we do

[clarabelle1985]

our sessions run from sunday afternoon to friday evening. we are ment to get 1 hour off a day sometimes dosnt happen tho. we also get saturdays off to do as we wish although were techniquly off on sunday morning we have to go to chruch ( no big deal as msot would go anyway). Also whent eh kids go to bed at night you are free to sit outside the cabin and talk,read etc as long as you are quite and get enough sleep. Every morning at breakfast councelling staff eat brakfast on the porch and have meeting bout day at same time. Non coucnellign staff look after the kids so breakfast is a bit less manic for us.

[camper]

we have no sessions, same kids 7 weeks straight through...but we generally get a period off a day, which is about 45 minutes, and 3 nights off a week from about 9pm to curfew at 1am. then we have our day off which starts at 9:30am and ends at curfew at 1.

[prettysocks]

We have 10 day sessions, with 2 1/2 days off in between, where you can leave or stay on camp. During camp, we rotate through a schedule, and end up have 2 out of 10 days with no time off from 7am - 11pm. On the days you do have time off, it's from about 3:30-4:40pm. We also rotate through for "Meal Patrol", in which, again, twice a week we don't have to feed/eat with campers, and we eat at the counselor table, or outside - that is from 5-6pm (then we take the kids and read to them for 45 minutes while the other counselors eat).

[audur]

Our sessions run from Sunday afternoon to Saturday morning - we are supposed to have 24 hours off between sessions (noon on Sat. to noon on Sun.), but sometimes it ends up being a bit less. In addition to that, we get one night off a week (6pm to 7am) and two hours off every "full" day - so no time off on Sunday or Saturday, and no extra time off when it's our night off.

[ArtisticEric]

well i only know the specifics for the camp i worked at last summer... we had 2, three week sessions and the last session was 2 weeks. we had one day off a week -after evening activity till seven am 2days later example-sat day eve. till 7am monday. and 2 nights off a week from after evening activity till 7am the next day.

[Sparkes]

We only have the one session that runs the entire summer long. We get one period off a day (an hour long) and then evenings from around 9:30 or so (depending on your campers age - the older they are the later their bed time and the later you get out) until 12:45am (if your not signed in by 1am, not good). The number of evenings you get off is dependent on the OD schedule. Then, we get one day off a week (wednesday or thursday) that runs from after sing (9am ish until curfew at 12:45am) and last summer we got one day off that was 24hours (a beautiful, beautiful 24 hours near the end of the summer when it was most needed)

[runrachrunn]

Our days off are 22 1/2 hours, which stinks because it takes nearly 3 hours to drive home from camp, and then another 3 hours to drive back. Leaving me exactly 16 1/2 hours to sleep, shower, and do laundry... grrrrr

[KiwiCRB]

We get two-ish hours off a day but we don't get nights off until the campers go home. Sometimes we get weekends (saturday morning - sunday at noon) but it depends on if there is a special group coming in our not.

[Flower]

We had one summer long session or two half summer, with no break in the middle. We got two nights off a week from about 7 to 8 the next morning, and a day off from 8 am to 8 am for five of those weeks. We also got a period off, if you weren't covering for someone on their day off, and rest hour off if you were on that night. The last week, time off was quite different because of color war. You got time off at various points during the day if you weren't an advisor, and one afternoon off from 12 to 6. There are no nights off the last week.

[collissimon]

We have two sessions of four weeks each. We get one day off a week, which runs from when the kids go to bed the night before (around 10pm) till the wake-up the day after: e.g. if your day off is Wednesday, it starts on Tuesday at about 10pm and finishes on Thursday morning at 7.30.

We also get one night off, which starts after horseshoe time, which is about 7.30 till 1am when the curfew starts.

In terms of breaks during the day, it's all down to your co-counsellors as you arrange it amongst yourselves. Personally, I think counsellors should have a couple of periods off a day, to shower or just have some time to themselves.

[Flukie]

Hmm... In a one week session (running from Sunday to Friday), our staff recieve two hours off a day, one night off (from evening flag till morning flag), and approximately two "Taps Off" which is 9 pm - 11 pm.

In a two week session (again, Sunday through a Friday!), our staff recieve two hours off a day, one day off (running from evening flag through evening flag), and approximately five "Taps Off" nights.

Your "Taps Off" depends on who is on-duty (there have to be two staff in the unit from 9-11 pm). The girls are supposed to be in bed or well on on their way there before those staff members leave. If there is an issue in the unit, they do have to return to their unit - no one can leave property after 9 pm without special permission from the director/assistant director.

I think we are pretty fair with TO. Hopefully, we'll do even better with it this year so that everyone can have their two hours a day - we have a few more staff working this year, so I think we'll be fantastic.

[coach1974]

It our camp we have six-one week sessions. I the camps come and on sunday and leave saturday afternoon. I we get saturday afternoon to about 1:00 on sunday afternoon off, until the next group starts coming in.

[Sparkes]

I am all about showering/napping during my time off!

[collissimon]

Me too: singing in the shower totally chills me out :D

I hate it when the kids get the laundry back though, cos we usually have to spend our time putting their stuff away :confused:

[Sparkes]

oh, my co and I rigged up this speaker system to my ipod, so we'd be able to properly sing along with music in the shower. And our bunks right along the path to the waterfront, so I'm sure I serenaded the entire camp at one point or another

we sort it and lay it on their beds. Its their job to put it away.

[ArtisticEric]

We also put it on their beds but some on the kids would forget about it and needed reminding

[campCardinal]

We have one week sessions. We get 2-4 hours off each day. We are off from the time kids go to bed until midnight every night of the week except for when you are on duty (about once every 2 weeks). We also get a night off every 2 weeks which is about 12 hours off and you have to leave camp property. On our daily off time we can leave camp property only if you are older than 18. After the kids go to bed we only have designated places to go -- the dining hall, the porches, and the office. We can not leave camp. However, sometimes we have ventured around camp in the dark and no one seems to care as long as one counselor from each cabin is in a designated area and you don't cause trouble or come back late. Usually we just venture to another unit to see friends.

[collissimon]

Eric,

What's Kugel?

[ArtisticEric]

well heres the story, last summer we would have it on fridays because alot of are camprs are jewish so i did't know what it was an thought sure i'll try it , an then preceded to eat it every friday without fail. its basically noodles cheese an some fruit tossed its then baked , its a sweet cheese though . So when i was in philly i could not pass up a jewish delicatession withot getting some kugel

[collissimon]

I'm sure that's tasty!?! :confused:

[ArtisticEric]

It one of those things that sounds weird but doesn't taste as weird as you'd think it would.

[runrachrunn]

Kugel is fantastic! And it's not just sweet. You can make it with veggies, potatoes, etc... if you want kugel recipes, just ask.

[collissimon]

Oh, I'm asking! I bet it's one of those things that isn't as nice made at home as it is by a guy on a street where he's been making it for years though!

Has anyone tried Mooli? It's a root vegetable that tastes really nice deep fried like chips (fries)...

[runrachrunn]

Oh, I'm asking! I bet it's one of those things that isn't as nice made at home as it is by a guy on a street where he's been making it for years though!

Has anyone tried Mooli? It's a root vegetable that tastes really nice deep fried like chips (fries)...


(Peeing my pants laughing, thinking of a kugel vendor on the street)...

[camper]

haha i LOVE kugel. my mom makes noodle kugel and my aunt made carrot kugel during passover.

[runrachrunn]

haha i LOVE kugel. my mom makes noodle kugel.


Camper,. my favorite quote ever (said in a mr.burns accenty-voice) "I want some noodle-koogle.

LOL

[camper]

haha rach!

[shandaddict]

At our camp, our sessions are one week long, lasting from 1:00 in the afternoon on sundays to 7:00 in the evening on Fridays. Our time off schedule is as follows, everyone gets 5 to 10 pm off on one night during the week and every other night except the 5 to 10 night, you also get 10 to 12 midnight off while, those who did have their 5 to 10 off that night "rove" the cabins and watch over the kids. Many first year staff think the time off is outrageous and not enough, but i dont think it's that bad.

[KiwiCRB]

Some people could get 5 hours off a day and still complain that it wasn't enough. Camp is way more demanding than your standard job and a lot of people don't understand that going in.

[softballkid019]

we start the summer with a one week session and we get a 24 hour break at the end of that then we go into 14 day sessions and we have two of those then we have a 9 day session to end it off. to start off with every day we get a two hour break (unless you are taking a long break which i will get to) at our camp we make it a must that you have your break. with the first session since it is only 7 days we also get a 4 hour break sometime. during the 14 day session we get a 6 hour break on day and a 20 hour break another day. sometimes the second 14 day session they make the 6 hour a 8 hour break. for the last session it is usually a another 6 hour break along with 2's. then we also have AP's which is after program but basically that means once all the girls are in bed asleep if you need extra time to your self you ask your unit leader or staff supervisor if you can have an AP and that last till midnight. then between the two 14 and thd 9 day session we have 3 and a half days off.

[gremlin_c]

we have 7 sessions that are 10 days long. In between each session we get one day off, then the next break we get 2 days off and it alternates like that all summer. We get an hour break everyday that we must take. I think that's all that's really needed for time off. There are stressful times at camp, but there is always time to sit back and relax with your kids. I've sat on the docks plenty of times while my kids just used the paddle boats. They don't classify as breaks, but that's also hard to clasify as work.

[facade1138]

We get two hours off each day and then 24 hours off from friday night till saturday night

[CAMPFRIEND]

We try to give all of our counselors of 2 hours a day. The staff have from Friday at 4:00pm to Sunday at noon off. The joys of 1 week sessions!

[Sparkes]

Man, I wish we had regular 24 hours off. They gave us one last summer because we were all soooooooo drained - and that was the first time there had ever been a 24hr time off

[CampFreak]

Hi,

At my camp it runs from Sunday afternoon to Friday night. Every counselor gets one night where they have 5 hours off to do what they please. (It's from 5-10). All the other counselors kinda of watch over the other counselor's duties. Then at 10, every counselor but the ones that got 5 hours off have 2 hours off (from 10 to 12). The counselor that had 5 hours off is in charge of roving amoungst the boys' and girls' villages

[chunksmedog]

We get an hour off each day and lodge time at night going from 9:45 till 11:30. We have 6 sessions at the camp I work at. There are three , one week sessions, and three two week sessions. During two week sessions we get a night out each week. After each session is done (ending on a saturday noonish) we get off untill the following Monday 9 AM.

[amnickel]

The way my camp is run, we have one camp from monday at 10 till wednesday at 10, then one from wednesday at 2 till friday at 2 and then it repeats. So wednesday when there's no campers we choose to either set everythign up right after the campers leave or meet back at about 1ish to set up again. All the other days it's supposed to be a 15-30 minute break per counselor with only 2 counselors taking a break at the same time and breaks are only allowed during group activities that don't need all counselors at or during free time. During the break time the counselors are allowed to do whatever they want as long as they don't leave the camp grounds. THey have access to the staff cabin, which had cold drinks and snacks in there for them. However this year we ran into some problems with all the counselors taking a break at the same time so we as staff never got a break and spent more time chasing counselors back up to the activites than we should have. I think part of the problem was the staff cabin had a tv in it for us to check weather with and it had a dvd player hooked to it. 3/4 the time when i had to go in there to get the counselors out of there and back to the activity they had movies going. I know for next year that will be addressed that the staff cabin is available to use, but no tv or movies until after campers have gone to bed. We also had problems with counselors locking the staff cabin door "because they didnt' want to be bugged by anybody." Well if they're in there longer than they should be that's when they're gonna get bugged and I won't feel the least bit sorry for them.

Did/does anybody else have problems with their counselors getting the first morning activity? This summer, every morning the counselors were late because they "over slept." The staff goes around to each cabin waking the kids and chaperones up and after the first 2 days of them being late to activities we woke the counselors up to. Our counselors sleep in seperate cabins than the campers. It was a new thing our directors wanted to try. Next year when we're planning camp i'm going to HIGHLY suggest the counselors stay with the campers. Last summer they weren't late once for anythign and we didnt' have problems with "disappearing counselors"

Sorry this turned into a long post...I needed to vent a little bit.

[Thumbelina1988]

My camp has two sessions but kids can stay for both. I don't know about breaks during the day but so far I know I get 1 day off a week starting after breakfast until 1am curfew. I also get 2 additional nights off.

[armadillo]

We have 8 sessions -- 4 of these go Sunday-Friday, 3 go Wed-Friday, and 1 goes 10 days from Thurs-Saturday. We always have at least 36 hours off between sessions (8pm-ish Fri until 10am-ish Sunday) sometimes more (if we have a 3 day session, the rest of the days that week we are off).

During camp we have a scheduled 2 hour break every day, and a 3 hour break once a week where we can leave camp (we don't get these on the three day sessions).

Breaks during camp are spent at the staff house, showering, sleeping, etc. Breaks between sessions usually involve going on trips, staying in the staff house and being bums, lots of trips to Wal-Mart, or going home (sometimes bringing other staff, especially international staff, home with me).

[laurathistle]

Hey Armadillo, I hope the local/American staff at my camp are as nice as you: taking them home and stuff!

Staff at my camp get 1 hour off a day, 2 nights off a week and either a Saturday or a Sunday off at weekends. As the camp has 2x32 day sessions, there is a Mon - Fri break in between them. Staff get the Tues, Wed and Thurs off. The Mon and Fri are for in service training. My director told me that most staff go off in cars to somewhere on the Canadian side of Lake Superior and hire cabins. Sweet!

[cowboy85]

At my camp, each counselor gets two hours off per day, and one evening off per week (either mon, tues, or wed). You don't get the two hours if your evening off is that night. Most of our sessions are a week long. So our campers leave around lunch time on Friday, so after that we clean up, have a staff meeting, then we are free. Our next set of campers get there on Sunday around lunch time. So for the most part, we get off Friday afternoon until Sunday morning every week as well as our 2 hours and evening. That is unless there is a multi-week program or weekend program going on that you are involved with. So if you are working during the weekend, then you get a 24 hour period off sometime in the next week. I really don't like that becuase you have to sacrifice your entire weekend and your one evening off to get that 24 hour off. Plus there's not many people off around the same time and not much to do. On our time off, we go to town, eat, go shopping, or to the movies. Most people will bring international staff with them, so if you are an international staff, you can easily find people to hang out with and stuff to do. On some weekends, a bunch of us got together and went on trips to amusement parks, water parks, baseball games, or into some bigger cities with real malls and stuff. There was usually someone that lived around these places so we would all shack up with them for the weekend. That was always a blast.

[happy_camper]

REGULAR CAMP
We have one week (M-F) sessions, so you get the weekend completely off. In addition, you are supposed to get 2 hrs off per day. You can take them whenever you want as long as the kids are adequetly supervised (i.e. another counselor + program staff instead of just the other counselor). I can say from experience last summer, that unless you sit down with your co-counselor in the morning and write in your breaks on the schedule, you will not get them!

*NEW* CAMP
There is a rest period in the afternoon (hottest part of the day) and you get that time off unless you have cabin duty. 2 counslors have cabin duty and it rotates throughout the week. Similarly, you get the night off (until curfew which for me cuz of my age is 11:00. i dont know what it is for older staff) unless you have cabin duty, which, again, rotates between the counselors throughout the week.