As we inch toward the end of the school year and the weather warms, summer is no longer a distant dream. For some students, summer is a time to find joy in the things they love to do. For others, it’s a time to continue their learning or explore work opportunities. For Ella O’Neall, a graduating senior this year, it’s both of these as she prepares to work as a counselor for Camp Patriot.
“I love summer camp. It was a huge part of my summers growing up, and now I have an opportunity to make someone else’s summer just as good. That’s important to me,” Ella says.
For Ella, serving as a camp counselor gives her the opportunity to work a summer job and develop her leadership skills. She and other camp counselors collaborate to create and lead engaging programming for K-8th grade kids. Daily activities run the gamut, from art, cooking, dance and drama to music, sports, and STEM. Last summer, Ella and her co-counselors set up water kickball — a game that incorporates slip n’ slides into a traditional game of kickball — which campers absolutely loved.
Best of all, through this process, she hopes to make a positive impact on a young person’s life, just as summer camps of her past have left a positive impact on hers.
“We (counselors) set up a talent show for all the campers to participate in. My group of kids agreed to do a skit. They wanted it to be goofy, and they all worked together to write a script about tidbits and inside jokes from the camp experience. On the night of the talent show, which was the last night of camp, the judges called our group the winner of the talent show, and it was cool to see them run to the front and grab the trophy. It was pure joy,” she says.
Ella, who has committed to Iowa State for track and field, will work her last summer as a counselor. Families can still register their children for Camp Patriot through Stevenson’s website.
“I’m excited to try and one-up myself, and we (counselors) already have some great ideas in our pockets. I had no idea that I would end up liking this so much. It has brought me so much joy.”