I was a camp counsellor this summer at Camp Birchwood
Being a Camp counsellor is something I have really wanted to do for a while now and I was so excited to finally get my chance when this camp offered me a job, however Camp Birchwood
A little bit about Camp Birchwood for Boys first. Its a wilderness camp situated at the end of the Gunflint Trail in Northern Minnesota. The camp organises trips every week which is different from most other camps, which would usually be a good thing.
The current director of this camp is someone who can not be trusted, on the regular trips that happened I found myself in a tent with a busted zipper, so the tent wouldn’t close. I put in a complaint about this tent and yet I got the exact same tent 2 weeks later with the same problem, so complained about it again. But on a hiking trip dated July 17 to July 19 that tent was given out again to a fellow counselor and there was severe thunderstorms throughout the whole trip and himself and his gear got soaked but worst of all is that the campers have to sleep in this tent as well. The reason this tent wont be replaced I believe is because it will cost the director MONEY!!!
Also the equipment the camp uses seems to be cheap such as the archery equipment that is breaking every week. You would think with the amount a parent pays for their children to come to this camp (which is a lot), The director could at least afford the suitable equipment that will keep the parents children safe as well as having a great time.
The director also wants to make what happens in camp different from every other camp and unfortunately this makes the atmosphere in camp so much worse than the other camps as the director will not allow such things as in camp songs which is a main traditional thing that almost every other camp has and in camp song result in such a great atmosphere and because Camp Birchwood for Boys don’t have this they sadly miss out..
One good thing about this camp though is its chefs, They have two great chefs who provide Large variety of food at every meal and to the highest standard, so you wont be disappointed with this.
A bit about myself is that I was a counsellor here, but straight to the point though, the director treated me appallingly in the end and I ended up getting let go for something I didn’t do, which is why I am warning future counsellors as well as well as any future campers or parents thinking of sending their children here.
I’ll start with how the director regularly told me how I’m a favourite counselor of the campers and that I was doing a great job and from my previous experience of coaching and working with children I could tell I was doing a good job. However my last couple of weeks there the director seemed to have something against me such as being extremely unhappy at me borrowing things such as an adapter for my charger and asking asking for a stamp to send a birthday card home to my sister.
As for the reason that I was let go, Me and another counsellor were leading a canoeing trip, on this trip we had a couple of campers that caused problems, a senior leader (CIT camper) and a homesick camper.
We were warned that the senior leader was lazy and liked to cause trouble, yet the director seemed fit with making him a senior leader. This camper was lazy, wouldn’t stop swearing and wouldn’t do as he was told and didn’t like it when we got him to do something and regularly threatened to go to the director when trying to get him to do something.
The homesick camper, this boy was extremely homesick and If I was in charge I would have sent him home as soon as possible as he wasn’t enjoying himself whatsoever, yet the director kept him at camp most likely so he didn’t have to give his parents their money back. The homesick camper cried throughout the whole trip and there was nothing me and my fellow counselor could do due to the thunderstorms and doing a loop trip which meant there was only one way back to camp. However when we got back to camp the homesick camper hugged me, thanking me for getting him back to camp safely and that he was excited for going home in 2 days. This is where it got confusing as another counselor came up to me and the other counselor on the trip and told us that the homesick camper was out to get us for not letting him go back to camp.
The proof that I have been let go unfairly is that the director already knows how the senior camper is also my fellow trip/cabin counselor could verify his lies didn’t happen, also with the homesick camper, I’ve already mentioned the proof with 2 counselors being able to prove this. Also with the lies that had been said (which involved threats and shouting, yelling and swearing at campers) I know for personal reasons of mine that I would never do it as I know how it feels, also I know for a fact that my fellow counselor didn’t do this as I was there. Also the director said that another camp made these complaints as well and yet the camp in question made no such call to the director.
Also After being accused of all these horrible thing the director said he would give me a good reference if I wanted to work at another camp and also said the he would hire me again next year, if he actually believed I did those things he would never have said this and I also believe he told me this in the hope that I wouldn’t put in a complaint against him.
There was another thing that I was accused of that wasn’t mentioned to me at all before I left and yet was put in the report to CCUSA, the organisation that hired me, and I could guarantee that my fellow trip/cabin counsellor could confirm this didn’t happen as well, as it was in fact him who was involved in this (although the kid had over exaggerated this).
Also other proof is that as I’ve previously said the director seemed to have a bit of a problem against me in the end and also my fellow counselor who got blamed for largely the same things as me is STILL working there to this day.
I got sent away with roughly half the wage that I worked up to that day and about a third of the wage I was owed for the my contracted dates.
To summarise, With the current director in place, the campers here will not be safe as the director cares way more about himself and his bank balance than he does about the children. This is definitely not a camp that is guaranteed to keep the campers safe and also most others camps out there will make sure the campers are safe and having more fun as well.
For future counselors I would avoid this camp if they come looking to hire you. This blog is for you as well. Don’t be fooled the same way that I was. I love the outdoors and they also sold me on how different the camp was, which turned out to be a bad thing.
To campers/parents future counselors, I didn’t expect the director to be the way he was but I felt it was something I could work with and in no way did I expect him to stoop as low as he did in the end. I was in complete shock.
Future international counselors if you are thinking of applying through CCUSA (Camp Counselors USA) Don’t do it. They actually charged me more money than which was advertised on their website and also when I was in need of help to clear my name, they wouldn’t help me whatsoever, I provided them with the proof that I had been treated unfairly yet they wouldn’t even reply. There are other programs out there such as Americamp, Camp Leaders and Camp America which are all more known than CCUSA.
I will end this on a positive note and that is for what Camp Birchwood for Boys (also known as Gunflint Wilderness Camp) advertises really is appealing and I believe can in fact be a great camp for children, but I think it needs new leadership as at least one of the two current directors cannot be trusted by the children, parents or the staff.
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