Working at Camp Starlight for a summer is fun, challenging, and rewarding. You have the opportunity to live in a bunk with our campers on our beautiful campus in the endless mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania. You will work with campers during each of our six activity periods. However, you will be with the kids so much more often than that. In fact, you’ll be with them from wake-up to bedtime.
Mealtimes. Rest Hour. Shower Hour. Activity Periods. All-day long, you have the chance to interact with our amazing campers. And as lucky as you are to be with them, they are equally fortunate to have you as one of our amazing staff members.
Through all the time that you spend with your campers, it only takes a single moment…a single moment to change a child’s life. This may sound like something out of a fantasy novel, but it is absolutely true. We can all think back to a single conversation we had with an adult when we were younger that still impacts us today. The strangest part about this “moment”? You will never know it’s happening, and neither will the child. You may say something that seems inconsequential to both of you. Then, days later, that child is still thinking about it and you have long since forgotten about it. Years later, you’ve changed that child’s future based on a single conversation, and while they frantically search for your phone number to say “Thank You,” you may hardly remember that camper.
At the conclusion of my third summer at Camp Starlight, I received a Counselor Appreciation letter from a camper who wrote about something that had happened the summer previously. The letter detailed a very intellectual and emotional realization that the camper had due to an interaction we had. However, this interaction wasn’t a profound conversation or a disciplinary issue. This interaction was me turning off the water while he brushed his teeth. He turned it back on. I turned it off. We went back and forth several times, and, amidst our laughter, I finally convinced him to leave it off once I left the bathroom. In my mind, that was the end. However, for reasons he explained in the letter, this was genuinely a meaningful moment in his life that he still thought about over a year later. Without his Counselor Appreciation Letter, I would have never known this “moment” existed.
As a counselor at Camp Starlight, we only ask that you come as you are. Athletic, quirky, nerdy, shy, outgoing, or anything in between. We’ve seen it all and appreciate it equally. As a staff member, we don’t expect your summer to be filled with life-changing moments. In fact, looking for these moments would be counterproductive. By simply being yourself, you will build strong relationships with your campers.
So, don’t search for this “moment.” Embrace your individuality and cherish the summer with these amazing children because as much as you can impact them, they will certainly have an impact on you.
After a great battle between blue and white, the annual Olympics at Camp Starlight came to a final close, declaring Happy Blue Day the successor on girl’s side and Grand Stand White the winner of boy’s side. Every single camper, regardless what team they were on, put in one hundred and ten percent effort into these Olympic games, embracing every unusual task or challenge that would earn their team points. Campers wouldn’t even do a double take when asked to toss cheese puffs onto a camper’s head full of shaving cream, duke it out in the most intense game of Gaga or eat dinner in complete silence to help their team win. Olympics is a five day event that everyone takes seriously, counselors and staff included because it is also their hard work and dedication that helps their team win. Counselors and staff can sacrifice all their time to help design costumes and a set for Sing! or compete in staff volleyball games during rest hour just so that their team can get a few extra points. No matter how few or many points a camper or counselor earned for their team, they all added up in the end and without them the results wouldn’t have been the same. Olympics is a time that brings all of the campers, counselors and staff together, a special event that bonds everyone together as they all fight for the same goal. When the winners are announced at the end of the fifth day, cheering and shouts of joy erupted in the air but it didn’t compare to the rewarding feeling when everyone from the blue and white teams rushed the lake, celebrating all the things that every camper had been able to achieve during this Olympics. While winning is a reward in itself, the real reward of Olympics are the memories everyone was able to create during these five days of fun, athleticism, teamwork and friendship. 
The first morning of the 2017 Olympics started with the Lower Camp boating meet, the Juniors and Inters swam with confidence and pride for their team. The Grand Stand White came out on top in other divisions as well. As the morning continued, the Lower Debs served up some strength in tennis, ran through the bases for a great game of softball and made a great impact in the sand for beach volleyball. Following suit, the Upper Debs also defended the nets in tennis and played their white hearts out in a game of soccer. Taking note from Upper Camp, the Inters of Lower Camp played hard in games of Gaga, tennis and knockout. Not to forget to mention that the Juniors rocked it out at soccer in the afternoon. The Seniors really showed camp what it means to be a part of the Grand Stand Whites with nailbiting games of softball, volleyball, soccer shots and flag football, these girls brought an intense amount of energy and inspired all of Grand Stand White to work hard and push it to the limits for Olympics. The girls started Olympics with a bang and there is more to come from this team of white spirit. 
Starlight Upper Plebes and Lower Senior boy’s hockey fell behind early in the first few minutes of the game against Wayne County but recovered with a strong comeback. Down 2-8, Jonah S. and Jared F. each scored to change up the pace of the game. Then the boys found themselves down 5-8 going into the 3rd period, but Jonah S. was able to score using his hat trick technique. Jackson F. put himself in the right spot scoring on a onetime from Jonah S. and then again from Ozzie F. Jackson F. completed his hat trick with the game winning goal 8 minutes into the 3rd period. Starlight closed out the game and securing their win with their airtight defense.
Camp traditions are kind of like an inside joke between friends; you really have to be there and be part of it to understand and appreciate the power and the feeling that is associated with them. Camp traditions are things that happen at camp that every camper and staff member can relate to, whether they went to camp 70 years ago or are experiencing it now for the first time. They are a way for campers to connect with their fellow campers, their counselors, and the camp itself. Some “traditional” traditions at camp like singing Friends and the Camp Starlight Alma Mater, All Camp Show, Opening Campfires, skipping around the flagpole, divisional cheers, and singing in the dining room create a sense of connection and belonging to the Starlight family. Many traditions at Camp Starlight are held sacred to campers and counselors alike, and they’re just one of those things you have to experience to truly understand.
