2024 Staff – March Newsletter

Dear 2024 Staff (so far!),

It’s officially March, which means camp is only 100 days away! By now most of our summer staff team has been hired, and we just want to get you all to camp already! 😉 Seeing the staff come together in person after a year of interviews is one of my favorite parts of being a camp director. We spend all year talking about the team and putting the puzzle together on paper. We’re confident you’re all spectacular individually, because we hired you! But it’s only once we’re together in June that the black and white photo begins to fill in with color, and we can see the team beginning to form. It’s the magic of your personalities starting to mix, and seeds of friendships starting to sprout. It’s why we say working at camp is so much more than a job, and why so many of you are coming back for summer #2, 5, 7…or 17.

Part of what makes our team work so well is that we base our relationships with our staff on mutual trust and respect. You trust us to tell you everything you need to know to be ready for camp, and we trust that you’ll stay up-to-date on communications and paperwork. When you see an issue of The Kingswood Staff News in your email, know that it will be chock full of important details you’ll need to know. Read everything carefully, complete your forms on time, and you’ll be all set to arrive, ready for an amazing summer!

We love that our staff team is so diverse, with representation from at least 10 different countries this summer. With that, we appreciate how challenging it can be to keep up with emails in another language. We’ve sent this in a format that can be cut and paste in Google Translate, so if English isn’t your first language, you won’t miss anything.

Please be in touch with any questions, anytime between now and the start of camp. We know there’s a lot to take in, and it can be confusing – we’re here to help! 🙂

With excitement for the summer,

Jodi Sperling

Co-Owner & Camp Director

Travel 101

Getting to camp can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re coming from far away. Don’t fear – we’ve got you covered! All you have to do is follow our instructions to know how to book your travel, where to be when, and what to do once you get to Maine.

Your arrival date is based on your role in camp. Some positions arrive earlier than others. Please review your contract to know when you are expected to be at camp and make your plans accordingly. International staff, once you have clearance from your agency (JCUSA, CCUSA, Camp America, etc.) you can go ahead and book your flight to camp. International staff coming through JAFI do not book their own flights.

We have created a handy info doc with more detail to help you get to camp. Please review the document and do not book your flight until this has been read! If you book your flight outside of the times provided, you will be required to get yourself from the airport to camp at your own expense.

You will be provided with a staff travel form to complete with your travel details.

If you are having difficulty with your flights, please let Joelle know ASAP.

Forms & Paperwork

Staff forms are now live in your CampInTouch account or through the Campanion App. Campanion is the app version of CampInTouch, and is linked to your CampInTouch account, so you can easily upload and submit forms from your phone.

Sign into your CampInTouch account to get started or you can download the Campanion app on your phone from the App Store or Google Play Store.

If you have trouble logging in, try resetting your password. For all international staff who got hired via an agency and did not directly apply with us, you will be required to login with the email address you provided the staffing agency before resetting your password. If you re still having difficulty after that, reach out to Joelle.

Here is a summary of the forms and their due dates:

• Staff Contract: If you haven’t received your staff contract or having difficulty accessing it, reach out to Joelle.
• Staff Get To Know You Form: A google form, not available in your CampInTouch, you can find it here!! Complete this ASAP so we can learn all about you and introduce you to our community.

DUE ON MAY 1 (or sooner if you get to them)

• Staff Policies and Procedures: Review and sign, reading carefully. These are also available as a PDF in your account.
• Essential Duties and Functions of the Role: An online form that requires you to review the essential requirements of being a staff at camp and sign it attesting to the fact that you can perform the tasks as outlined in the form.
• Medical – Staff Health History: An online form about your personal health history.
• *Medical: Physical Examination & Immunization Form: A paper form your doctor completes. (Make a doctor’s appointment ASAP, as they will need to see you to complete the form.) 
• Staff Mental Health Form: An online form to provide detail of your current mental, social, and emotional well-being, which is just as important as your physical health!
• US Staff – Driver’s License: If you are bringing a car to camp or above the age of 25, upload your driver’s license.
• US Staff – Vehicle Information: An online form for those bringing a car to camp.
• International Staff – Passport: If you live outside of the U.S., upload your passport.
• Staff Travel Form: An online form telling us about your travel details to and from camp.

*For the paper forms, you will need to download & print the form, have your doctor fill it out, and then scan and upload to CampInTouch.* 

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

These documents will live in your CampInTouch Account for easy reference.

• Packing List: Everything you need to have for camp, more on that in a later communication.
• Staff Handbook: A detailed guide to life at camp, complete with policies, procedures, tips and tricks amongst loads of other useful information.  (This will be available as of April 1st.)

Social Media Fun!

Now that you are part of the family, stay connected with us and get all the latest updates. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

Have you joined our (required) Staff Facebook group yet? If not, click here to join and then introduce yourself to the team!

Lastly, we’re going to post some fun staff bios on social media, so click here to fill out our “get to know you form” and look out as you may be featured on our social media!

Bring Your Friends to Camp!

Do you know someone great who you think should work for camp?! From our counselors to specialists, from chefs to nurses, our staff members are all problem-solvers, team players, and hard workers who love working with children!

Even though the 2024 Kingswood Team is almost full, we are still looking for a few awesome people to round us out. Our current staff are our best staff recruiters, so why not be a part of our Staff Refer-A-Friend program?

We are currently looking to fill the following roles:
– Trip Leaders and Nature/Outdoors Specialists
– Yoga Specialist
– Waterski/Wakeboard Specialists

– Lifeguards/Boat Drivers

– Camper Care Therapists
– Ceramics, Knitting/Crocheting, Sewing/Fashion Design Specialist

– Theater Specialist
– Mountain Biking Specialist
– Archery Specialist

– Song Leaders

We know the best Kingswood Staff are the ones brought by their friends, so help us spread the word! There’s no limit to how many friends you can refer!

You can also refer campers to camp! Maybe you babysit or tutor for awesome potential campers? Put us in touch and see how it benefits you and them! Check out the details here.

What To Expect From Us

While camp is a boat load (pun intended) of fun, it is also hard work and an incredible experience for our staff. You may consider yourself young, but to us you are the professional, the grown up that we are trusting to care for our campers!

You can expect that:

1. We will treat you with the utmost respect as a professional. In turn we ask that you act that way. Show up fully, take your job seriously, meet your deadlines, ask questions and most importantly, get involved!
2. We will send all camp communications through email.  While we use the Facebook group or other forms of communication to share updates or get in touch quickly, all important information regarding your summer will be sent via email, like this. Please make sure you are regularly checking your the email address you provided to us and add @campkingswood.org to your safe sender list so you don’t miss anything. If you need to update your email address please don’t hesitate to let us know!
3. We want you to reply!  We don’t enjoy sending emails into the abyss without knowing you’ve received it. Let us know you got the communication and have or are attending to the items listed in it. Your follow through is key to our success!
4. We will make sure to prepare you as best as we can in advance of the summer. This means sending out emails like these that are long and detailed. As things change from year to year, all staff, regardless of it’s your 1st or 15th summer with us, are expected to read everything carefully.
5. We are always there to help you. Not an email checker? Struggling to stay on top things? Unsure what we mean by something? Just be honest. Tell us so we can help meet your needs and ensure you are ready for an awesome summer!

Staff Calls

We want to get our team together so Save these Dates for our staff video calls.  This is a chance to connect with other staff, learn more about camp and get amped for the summer!

• Sunday, April 21, 2024: Supervisors
• Sunday, May 5, 2024:  All Staff
• Sunday May 19, 2024: Supervisors

We’ve got staff from all over the globe so there is no ideal time, but mark your calendars for 4:00pm EST, 9:00pm UK time, 11:00pm Israel Time, 6:00am on the following day on in Melbourne, Australia.

A link to the meeting will be shared in the coming weeks!

See You Soon!