What is Camp America?

The more people I’ve told about teenboy doing Camp America this summer the more the realisation has hit me – lots of people don’t know what it is.
So here it is the quick and concise Definitive Guide to Camp America for all those not in the know:

Quite simply Camp America recruits people from all over the world to work in the camps (usually with wooden cabins not tents) that American parents send their children to during the school summer holidays.
The kids either go to a residential camp where they stay there for anything from one week to the whole summer or they go to day camps where they go there each day returning home each night.
There are many different jobs that can be done but most students are employed as general Camp Counsellors.
General camp counsellors eat, sleep and work with the kids day and day out. They engage them in activities and join in with the activities. They make sure they’re fine and healthy, they’re there to talk to the kids and to listen to them and to be their friend and mentor.
If your teenage has a special skill then they can often use that to become a specialist counsellor. They’re always on the look out for sports specialists. Teenboy is studying film and tv production so he’s been recruited as a video production counsellor at a drama and arts camp
To join Camp America and spend the summer in the States cost £770 in 2013. That price includes return flights to the USA, hotel accommodation on the first night and transfer to your camp. It also includes medical insurance (which is really important in America) and the cost of your J-1 visa that allows you to legally work in America.
But it’s not all just outlay, camp counsellors do get paid. This year the basic rate is around $750 for the summer.
And the visa also covers you for an extra 4 weeks at the end of your camp to let you go travelling around America before you head home.
Students need to be a minimum of 18 years old to work with Camp America.
So there it is in a nutshell.
If you think this is something your older teen might be interested in visit the Camp America website.
There are two ways to be recruited – sign up online and complete the application form. You then wait on a Camp Director contacting you if they’re interested in hiring you for their camp. Or you can go to the Camp America recruitment fairs held in a few major cities in the UK. Is advisable to sign up online before you go to the recruitment fairs, or like us, you’ll be waiting 2 hours in a queue in the freezing cold.
I think applications open in October or November for the next summer and recruitment fairs tend to be held in January and February. This year the fairs were in Edinburgh, Manchester and London.
Hope that helps shed some light on Camp America.

Please be aware that I’m not affiliated with Camp America in any way, I just want to highlight the great job they do in getting older teens an amazing experience in the States that’ll look really fab on their CV’s and potentially open new doors for them.

Camp America

Camp America is a truly unique experience that will change a teenager’s life.