Supers Floaters are incredibly important to the SEP experience. They fill in for any counselors who have their day of night off, while also planning major camp wide activities and assisting the head counselors with their responsibilities.
Cooper just graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
Jamar just graduated from the College of William and Mary with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience.
How long have you been at SEP?
Cooper: 2nd year working here; never was a camper.
Jamar: This is my second year as a counselor and I was a camper for six years.
What made you want to come back to SEP?
Cooper: The people make this job the best. The counselors are amazing to work with, and the campers are hilarious and awesome.
Jamar: I love SEP. I had so much fun working here last summer that I couldn't imagine not working here again this summer!
Cooper: I was looking forward to trying a new job with some more responsibilities and new challenges, while still being a large part of camp. We are in charge of running a lot of the camp events and floating for the counselors on their day and nights off. Our job is basically be able to transition from group to group really quickly and be able to help the head counselors make sure the camp keeps running smoothly.
Jamar: I wanted to be a super floater this year because I wanted to see the behind the scenes of the daily functioning of camp. As a returning counselor, I wanted to be able to serve as a source of experience and knowledge for new counselors while tackling more responsibility than I had my first summer. Some of the responsibilities include: DJing at the party on Saturday night, running trivia, organizing and running field day, mental challenge and beyond 4 square (an informal "games how-to session" during o-week). Also, we are in charge of taking campers to church. Lastly, we help organize the camp bank, which is used for camper and counselor bagels on Sunday morning.
What's your special topic?
Cooper: Ultimate Frisbee. I played for 4 years at JMU, and have a lot of experience playing, so I taught the kids how fun it could be to run around and learn the basics, as well as some more advanced ideas of how to play.
Jamar: My special topic was called "Build Baby Build." In my special topic, we looked at the physics and mechanics behind bridges. After being introduced to these concepts, campers use this knowledge to build their own bridges out of popsicle sticks and glue. On the second day, we looked at the physics behind egg drops and campers worked in teams to create egg drops that would protect an egg dropped from various heights.
What's your favorite part of camp, and why?
Cooper: Rec! The kids aren't the only ones who end up with a huge amount of energy they want to expend. I love running around with them and just having fun playing sports.
Jamar: My favorite part of camp is the Saturday night party. I love dancing and it's cool getting to dance the night away with the other counselors and all the campers.
What is your hall theme?
Cooper: We, the floaters, call ourselves the Avatars and have door decorations of the four nations in Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I have a fire nation insignia and the words "everything changed when the fire nation came."
Jamar: This year, all the superfloaters decided to have a collective theme. We decided to do the four nations (Air, Earth, Wind, Fire) from the nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am the air nation.
If you were a camper at SEP, what's your favorite memory from being a camper?
Cooper: N/A
Jamar: My favorite memory from being a camper was the weekend because there were so many fun activities to do.
Ohill or St. Anne's?
Cooper: St. Anne's all the way. O-Hill technically has more choices, but they are almost always the same choices, which are not as healthy or tasty as St. Anne's. You can be surprised in the best way possible walking into lunch to find the juiciest ribs or some awesome sandwiches, whereas you always somewhat know what is going to be for dinner at O-Hill.
Jamar: Without a doubt St. Anne's. STAB is able to successfully manage having healthy food that still tastes great!
What's something about you that someone might not expect if they didn't know you well?
Cooper: I hate scary movies. I freak out.
Jamar: I hate chocolate.
When you first started working here, what's something that surprised you?
Cooper: How quickly all the counselors became best friends. Being with other amazing people 24/7 just creates close bonds.
Jamar: Last year when I started here, I was surprised by how quickly I developed relationships with the other counselors.
Without using any camper names, tell us a funny story that happened so far this summer.
Cooper: I was covering for one counselor on his day off, and his kids wanted to ask 3 girl counselors to dance with him at the party on Saturday for him. I told them they could, but they had to be sneaky and make sure the 3 girls counselors didn't know about each other. Of course that didn't work, partly because I told the girl counselors, but it was fun watching them try to sneak around at lunch asking girls out for their "shy counselor."
Jamar: On the first day of camp, after dinner and the camp wide introductions, we have an ice cream party for the campers. I loved seeing the varying expressions on the kids' faces when they found out that they were getting ice cream.
What do you think is the most difficult part of the job?
Cooper: Finding time to sleep. We have to wake up at 6:30 in the morning and don't get to sleep until usually midnight or later, so we have to grab sleep when we can, even if it's in 30 minute spurts.
Jamar: Definitely saying goodbye to all the campers on the last day of each session.
What do you think is the most rewarding part of the job?
Cooper: Knowing the campers remember you. I would float for kids I knew from last year and they would call out "Cooper!" It really make you feel good about yourself that you helped make someone's summer, enough that they would remember you a year later without prompting.
Jamar: Getting to know so many awesome and amazing kids in such a short period of time.
How does being a super floater differ from being a counselor?
Cooper: It is just different. The counselors get a very used to their kids and have an easy time settling into a routine, while floating makes you unable to get a routine. Every half a day, you have to say goodbye to the routine you just learned to float for another set of kids.
Jamar: One of the main differences between being a super floater and a counselor is that you don't have your own set of 8 campers. Conversely, because I get the opportunity to float for roughly 6 counselors per session, I have the chance to meet/get to know more campers.
What do you know about gifted education?
Cooper: I think Gifted Ed is ridiculously important. I was in G/T from third grade on and it helped me stop being bored in school. I really started to enjoy learning when I felt the education was actually teaching me more than things I could figure out on my own. Gifted Ed allows kids with different learning levels to use their abilities instead of stifling them.
Jamar: Throughout elementary and middle school, I was involved in the gifted education program at my school. I think gifted education is very important, as it helps stimulate students personal growth. I think that gifted education is very important and often times those students get overlooked which definitely is not a good thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment