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Thank you for your interest in Camp Takajo. The following description outlines our priorities in selecting staff. It is also intended to help you determine whether Camp Takajo offers the type of work experience in which you are interested and for which you are suited. Please give this material careful consideration. Camp is concentrated, structured and demanding. The boys are in camp for seven weeks. Our responsibility toward them is a twenty-four hour a day job. There is no greater trust than that placed in us by the campers' parents, and no greater expectation than theirs for our complete dedication and attention to their sons' needs. The most important aspect of being a counselor concerns the relationships you help to develop with and among the campers with whom you live. There are seven to nine boys and two counselors in each cabin. The atmosphere you and your co-counselor create has a great deal to do with the kind of experience each boy has. Great care is taken in making up the bunk groupings. Your preference with regard to the age of the campers with whom you wish to live and work is given every consideration. We check very carefully the references you provide. We inquire about your ability to relate with children specifically and with all types of people in general. We ask about your work habits, manners, personality, willingness to pitch in and a host of other factors, which we think predict success at this type of work. Any experience you have had associating with children will help your work in a camp setting, although it is not a prerequisite by any means. If you have a genuine interest in working with children, we encourage you to apply. If you are interested in joining our staff, please fill out an application in detail and mail it to Camp Takajo at the Winter address. You may also apply on-line, here. Just click on the button "To Apply" at the left. We will contact you immediately about the availability of a position and arrange a personal interview or extended telephone conversation devoted to a thorough discussion of your responsibilities as a counselor at Camp Takajo.
Takajo is situated in the southern part of Maine, in the town of Naples, on Long Lake, which is eleven miles long and one and a half miles wide. The camp has a mile of lakefront. Naples is approximately thirty miles from the Maine coastline with its many fine towns and beaches and the same distance from the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a popular recreational area in both winter and summer. The surrounding countryside is characterized by beautiful lakes and evergreen forests. Camp Takajo was founded in 1947 as a new boys' camp. Through the years, it has evolved into three separate and distinct entities: Warriors, Juniors and Seniors. The entire camp is approximately 395 boys. Each group has about 130 campers. The Warriors, our youngest group, are boys ages 7 to 10 who are finishing first through fourth grades. The Juniors are ages 11 and 12, finishing fifth and sixth grades. Seniors are ages 13 to 15, finishing seventh through ninth grades. The living facilities of the three camps are adjacent. The entire camp participates together in certain activities such as campfires, weekly cookouts, special events, a carnival, dramatics presentations, and others. Yet, the groups are completely decentralized in order to meet the needs and objectives of each group and each individual. Each of the three camps has a group head who has been at Takajo for many years, an assistant group head, and its own staff. Each group has its own program and athletic facilities along with scheduled periods in which to utilize the waterfront, hobby, and skill facilities. The camp season is seven weeks long, beginning near the end of June. There is a six-day pre-season orientation period before the campers' arrival. The campers come from all over the United States. Several come from other countries. The boys are predominately Jewish, though our camp program is not oriented toward any religion.
Potential staff are solicited on the basis of character, stability, interest in working with children, warmth, personality, and ability in a specialty, if that person has a specialty. With the exception of a few activities such as waterfront, tennis and tripping which require trained personnel, the qualities listed here reflect a rough order of the criteria on which we base the decision to hire an individual. No consideration is given to race or religion. A nucleus of veterans provides the foundation of our staff each summer. They are joined by college students, former campers, and teachers from throughout the U.S. and abroad. The preponderance of staff members from overseas comes from the United Kingdom, with representatives from many countries on all the continents. Our counselor staff assembles for an intensive five day pre-season orientation. The camp’s philosophy, aims, ideals, and objectives are detailed. Our primary concern during the initial orientation meeting is to emphasize those values and attitudes in our society that we deem desirable, how they relate to camp, what our limitations are, as well as what we hope to accomplish with the boys. Personal privileges of the staff are also enumerated. At separate meetings, each of the three staffs is apprised of salient details about each camper. The information is culled from the camper's previous experience at Takajo and notes made from personal visits, phone calls, and letters. Other meetings consider the activity programs for each group. Counselors in each activity have the chance to prepare their facilities and the exact procedures through which their programs will be implemented. During the orientation, new staff members have the opportunity to acclimate themselves to the camp environment. Veterans and newcomers begin to establish new friendships and rekindle past associations. Then we are ready for the "great day" of the campers' arrival!
In addition to his ability to relate to children, each counselor is hired to lead or assist in a particular activity. With guidance from the administration and other veterans on the staff, each counselor is expected to implement a quality program in his area of expertise or to be a capable assistant. Knowledge, patience, creativity and enthusiasm are some of the attributes vital to running a program that will generate and sustain the interest of the campers. Each counselor spends the bulk of his time in the morning and the afternoon at his activity. The evening program is determined on an ongoing basis depending on the events of the day. The daily routine is broken up by special events such as our mid-summer Carnival, intercamp competition, trips, and occasionally even a rainy day! Counselors do have some free time during the course of a day and are permitted to use the other camp facilities when they are available. Each camper is enrolled with the understanding on the part of the parents that the camp has a policy of no gratuities to counselors. The camp provides the counselor's full income. In addition to salary, the camp provides room and board, all meals, and in most cases transportation to and from the camp. Counselors are responsible for shipping their baggage unless otherwise arranged. Salaries range from $100 per week and up depending on qualifications, experience, references, and the particular position. Each member of the counselor staff has four days off during the season and four evenings off. Counselors are free each night after Taps with the exception of one night per week when they are "On Duty" and the infrequent occasions when the entire staff meets after Taps. Counselors must maintain a fine personal appearance throughout the camp season. Hair must be neat and trimmed, i.e., no extreme hairstyles such as unnatural colors, partially shaved heads, variations in hair length from side to side. Hair length for men must be above the top of a regular shirt collar, no more than half way down the ears, and no longer than the middle of the forehead. We require that you not start a beard at camp. We do not permit earrings, nose rings, body jewelry, or conspicuous tattoos. A pre-camp medical examination is required (school check-ups are acceptable). The use of alcohol or illicit drugs, including returning to camp from time off under the influence, is strictly forbidden and is grounds for immediate dismissal. If you find such restrictions unreasonable, we suggest you do not apply for a position. A Typical Day: Schedule for a Camp Counselor
7:30am Reveille 7:55 - 8:20am BREAKFAST 8:25 - 9:00am Cabin clean-up 9:00 - 11:55am three morning activity periods.. Counselors report to activities. 12:15 - 12:45am LUNCH 12:45 - 1:45pm Rest Hour 1:45 - 4:55pm three afternoon activity periods. Counselors report to activities. 5:20 - 6:00pm DINNER 6:15 - 8:15pm group games - bunk challenges - open activity. Counselors report to activities. 8:15 - 8:50pm End activities, showers and get ready for bed. 8:50pm Tattoo Everyone in cabins. 9:15pm TAPS 12:30am Curfew
What do we hope to accomplish with our campers? Amusement, entertainment and recreation for children can be accomplished by activities other than camping. Good camping, more than any other experience, offers an environment that fosters the development of values. An important goal in camping certainly is to create a fun-filled, positive atmosphere in which youngsters can develop the many facets of their unlimited potential. The fundamental emphasis, brought home through the sports and games and special activities, is on moral and ethical standards. The development of integrity, a sense of fair play, appreciation for the natural surroundings, compassion - these are most vital qualities in which home, the most important factor, and camp can do so much good. How does camp help? Certainly, the program, the personnel, the breakdown of groupings and the facilities listed below do not automatically accomplish everything. It is through the implementation of the program and through well-directed activities that some of these values can be developed and sustained. Good fellowship, a feeling of belonging, the sense of satisfaction in striving, sharing, praising the other person - these are always with us at camp. A fine staff, by precept and association, plus high standards in what is expected from the camper, cannot help but make an imprint on a boy's senses. A summer at camp can be as fulfilling an experience for the counselor as the one he helps create for the campers. If you are the type of person who likes to do things properly, who enjoys being around highly energetic and motivated people, and who gains a real sense of satisfaction from the pleasure and the challenge of working with children, then we encourage you to apply. We are looking for people who like to work hard and play hard. You'll have ample opportunity to do both at Camp Takajo!
We have a structured program involving a balance among athletics, waterfront activities, hobbies, skills, and special programs such as dramatics, music, nature and pioneering. As a boy moves from Warriors to Juniors to Seniors, he finds that he has more choices as he gets older, a wider range of activities from which to choose, and an ever-increasing opportunity to specialize and concentrate on the activities in which he is most interested. Our athletic programs include baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, lacrosse and roller hockey. The boys play within their own age group. Every time a camper goes to one of the athletic activities, he receives instruction followed by a complete game, which is supervised by at least two counselors. Tennis instruction is one-to-one or in small groups. By placing boys homogeneously and by implementing a quality instructional program, we make every effort to place competition at camp in its proper perspective so it can prove beneficial to boys of all ability levels. The camp has three outdoor basketball courts, three baseball fields, seventeen tennis courts (six with lights), three soccer fields, a lacrosse field, a beach volleyball court, two roller hockey rinks, thirteen paddle tennis courts, a par-three golf range, a nine-hole putting green, a ropes course, a four-sided 40-foot climbing wall, a weight room with Cybex equipment and free weights, and an indoor Fieldhouse for basketball, street hockey, indoor soccer, and volleyball. Along with team sports, hobbies and skills are scheduled. Hobbies include pioneering, nature study, painting and drawing, crafts, ceramics, woodworking, radio and electronics, photography, video, camp newspaper, music, and dramatics. Skills include archery, sailing, waterskiing, canoeing, tennis, and golf. First year Juniors, fifth graders, begin to choose their hobbies and skills. Sixth graders and up also have weight training among their options. Seniors have extended clinic periods available in each of the land sports and special programs and trips in their pioneering program. At the waterfront, separate swimming, small crafts, and waterskiing areas are used by each group. We have sixteen sailboats of different classes including sunfish, lasers and Hunter 170. Three Ski Nautiques are used for waterskiing. Two Boston Whalers are used as patrol boats and a motorized Zodiac for harbour tending. We have fourteen canoes for whitewater and lake trips and 10 Playaks for fun in Long Lake. Under the leadership of our head waterfront and a staff of thirty, we have full Red Cross instructional programs in swimming, sailing and canoeing. We also offer waterskiing, wakeboarding, competitive swimming, and a Swim the Lake Club. There are special emphases at Takajo on music, dramatics, nature, and tripping. The camp owns and rents a full complement of musical instruments. We have bands and orchestras, with music highlighting many special events. A magnificent Playhouse features productions of plays, musicals, and talent nights. Our nature program is primarily zoological and is centered in our Nature Lodge where campers feed, care for, and learn about animals and wildlife. Our pioneering program features backpacking and hiking, rock climbing, overnights in the nearby White Mountains, whitewater canoeing and rafting, ropes course activities, and a four-sided 40-foot climbing wall. Our Big Trips include a two week expedition out west for our Senior campers (age 15); Sub-Seniors (age 14) have a choice of a week-long trip to Quebec and Montreal, Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park in central Maine, or canoeing on the Saint Croix River in northeastern Maine; Intermediates (age 13) travel to Boston, Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard for four days; Junior Greys (age 12) have an overnight whitewater rafting trip on the Kennebec River in northern Maine. These activities are a significant part of many campers' programs. Visit the Facilities page for more information. To apply online right now:
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