Why was I Treated Horribly by Camp Birchwood for Boys!

I was let go this summer from Camp Birchwood for Boys for something I didn't do. There is enough proof which shows that I didn't do what I was accused of. I believe the director knew he was letting me go for something I didn't do as that is where the facts lead.

The proof being:
- Another counselor telling me and the other trip counselor that a homesick counselor was out to get us for not letting him go back to camp during a trip. This reason was included in the report sent to CCUSA for letting me go.
- Also the counselor that got accused of the same thing as me kept his job, while I was let go!
- The director told me that another camp had made these complaints, This camp made no such contact with the director of Camp Birchwood for Boys, so the director lied about this.
- The director seemed to have a personal problem with me in the end, such as reacting badly to me asking to borrow an adapter for a charger and reacting badly to me asking for a stamp to send a Birthday card home to my sister.
- Also the main reason for letting me go in the report sent to CCUSA, was not mentioned to me at all. The main reason in the report was something another counselor did(although exaggerated by the camper). I feel the director didn't mention this to me because he knew i hadn't done it and that it was in fact the other counselor and knew I would have said something about it.
- There are other thing such as the directors sister telling me that I had no reason to be sorry and that she was sorry(I almost asked her why, wish I did now).

So it is clear to see that I got let go for something I did not do. So what was the real reason I got let go from Camp Birchwood for Boys.

I have said previously that it may have been because the director just took a personal disliking in the end.

However there may have been another reason that this happened to me, these reasons include: 

- I put in complaint about a tent with a busted zipper that got used on one of my trips and then got the same tent again 2 weeks later and put in another complaint and on my last week their a different counselor had to use this same tent with the busted zipper during a trip with severe thunderstorms and he told me himself that he had to stay up and put his gear at the door to stop the water from getting in the tent, I complained about it again after this. I've been told because I wouldn't turn a blind eye on this and other infractions, that this may have been the real reason he let me go.

- Also he seemed to have a problem with me, which I have mentioned before and the proof being him reacting badly to me for asking for a stamp to send a birthday card to my sister and also reacting badly to me asking for an adapter for my charger.

- Also the director told us all it was ACA (American Camp Association) year for the camp, and he also mentioned that the ACA interview some counselors and I feel that maybe this could have been another reason that he let me go for, as he could't risk me mentioning the above.

The director has shown to me the exact type of person he really is. The right thing to do would be to talk about what was wrong and try to work things through. However he chose to stoop as low as he did, which involved treating me horribly, which ended up with severe implications for myself back home as well.

I really doubt that the director would be able to answer any of the unanswered questions stated above, at least not honestly!

Hopefully soon I will get the truth and get my name cleared as well as what I'm owed from Camp Birchwood for Boys.

Camp Birchwood for Boys - Unfairly Treated??

I am going to give an updated but short version of what happened to me at Camp Birchwood for Boys.

I was fired from Camp Birchwood for Boys for something I didn't do, this is a fact.

I believe though that I was unfairly teated by one of the directors there.

My main reasoning behind this includes; 
The director lying to me about another summer camp making complaints about hearing screaming and swearing at children on the lake, had this been true it would have implemented my fellow trip counselor as I have a very broad Scottish accent and this would have easily been noticed, but the summer camp in question made no such complaint to the director. (why did he lie about this?)

Another reason is that a fellow couselor came up to me and the other trip counselor and told us the homesick camper was out to get us for not letting him go back to camp during the trip, this was included in the report for firing me and yet my fellow trip counselor kept his job, there was also clear proof that the homesick camper had lied. (why was my fellow counselor not fired as well)  XMND3NK3VFR4

Also just before I left, when I was telling the diretor what he accused me of was wrong, he told me he would give me a positive reference and would hire me again next year. (if he actually believed this, why would say this to me?) to stop me from complaining against him maybe?
Also as I have mentioned before I feel that he may have had a problem with me at the end of my time there as he reacted really badly to me asking to borrow an adapter for my charger and also asking for a stamp to send a birthday card home to my sister. (why did he react badly?)

Although I could be wrong about the director having his own personal reason for firing me, what is a fact is that I got fired for something I didn’t do, and with everything that has happened shows to me that the director had his own personal reasons for letting me go.

Camp Birchwood for Boys - Worst Summer Camp!

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 organizes 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 counselor 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 counselors 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 favorite 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 counselor 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 summarize, 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 ever 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.

There has been enough provided that proves that I didn't do what I was accused of and yet I was still let go, also I believe there is enough there that shows that the director had his own personal reasons for letting me go.

Worst Summer Camp Organisation - CCUSA??

The summer camp organisation that I applied through last year was CCUSA.

On paper CCUSA seemed like a good choice but this wasn't to be the case.

Firstly CCUSA overcharged me for the overall fees I was to pay, the only way I could have got the money they owed me back was to take the full amount back, which meant my flights being cancelled and no summer camp.

Secondly I provided CCUSA with so much proof that I hadn't done what Camp Birchwood for boys had accused me of and I also feel I proved that the director may have had his own personal problem with me. Yet all CCUSA did was email Camp Birchwood for Boys for their reasoning (this was after I had told them the camp treated me unfairly) The reply to the email was the end of it. So CCUSA did next to nothing to help me in this matter, but CCUSA did send me Camp Birchwood for Boys reply and I can say that the main reason that Camp Birchwood for Boys had mentioned to CCUSA for letting me go, was not mentioned to me whatsoever. Why did the director fail to mention this to me???

Lastly, recently I recommended someone to stay away from CCUSA on Twitter, they obviously were not happy about this. So CCUSA tried to act like they were in the right and they also said to me that after the summer has finished they would go into a full review of my situation as they are to busy to do it during the summer and that was why they didn't do much. I replied to this saying that it is good that this is is going to happen and that now I will be able to clear my name of what I was accused of. Then they replied again saying that it will be a review of the camp as a whole and that they will not look any further into my situation as they felt they had dealt with it accordingly.
They said the only reason they would go any further into my situation is if new proof came up, this is exactly what I did and they haven't replied since.


So if you want to work at a summer camp in America next year, do not apply through CCUSA.