TCODS, Tillamook County Outdoor School

What do camp counselors do at ODS?
Once the selected high school students have filled out the Health Forms and Permission Forms and have attended the Introductory Meeting held on the 2nd Monday afternoon after Labor Day at 4:00 PM at East Elementary, they arrive in camp at about 12:45 on the Saturday before the week they will serve as counselors. Counselor training begins at 1:00 PM Saturday and continues through the weekend until the campers arrive on Monday morning.

Counselors have a First Day Checklist that helps them know exactly what to do on the first day with their campers. After that, reminders are given at each meal and at the daily Staff Meeting.Responsibilities of counselors include:

1. Providing care in a positive way for the campers in their care,Accompanying their assigned classes to field study and participating with the sixth graders modeling on-task, appropriate behavior,Particpating in each of the four recreation activities with the kids in their cabins as role models who follow the rules of the activities and encourage the campers.Participating in the daily assigned work duties with the campers from their cabins,Providing leadership in guiding their campers in keeping their cabin orderly,Sitting at tables with campers during meals being an encourager and an example of a person with good manners.Participating in THE Meetings' discussions,Mingling, associating, and working positively with others,Participating with their cabin groups in preparing and presenting skits on one night of the week,Conducting a cabin time Monday through Thursday (There will be a few required activities scheduled such as shower time, and there will be many suggested activities.),Being trail leaders for their cabins so that campers never go ahead of counselors on the trails,Participating in the songs with the campers,Participating in their assigned cleanup on Friday,Completing the required evaluations of camp and the camp experience on Friday,Persevering with a positive attitude throughout the week, and
2. Not making contact with sixth graders after camp unless they have contacted each particular counselor first. Also, counselors will always keep contact after camp above reproach!

What do I need to do to become a camp counselor at ODS?
What's more important than what you need to do now is what you've been doing for the last year. We really are NOT interested in having people become counselors if they:

• Are involved in or hang out with people who are doing drugs including marijuana and alcohol,
• Have a history of resisting authority,
• Have a history of severe absenteeism at school,
• Shirk responsibilities,
• Often use profanity or vulgar words, or
• Have difficulty controlling their anger.

If there is nothing on the above list that describes you, and you and attend Neah-Kah-Nie, Nestucca, or Tillamook High School, listen to the announcements or read the announcement list during the first three days of school in September to find out where to sign up on the "Yes, I Would Like To Be An ODS Counselor!" sheet. Be sure to read "Outdoor School Information and Counselors Expectations" before signing up on the sheet! Before the list is given to Moses, select high school staff meet to decide if there are any students on the sheet who they believe should not serve as counselors at ODS.

( If you have moved out of the Tillamook County area but would like to be a counselor, follow the same instructions as for a home-schooled student.)

Counselors will be selected by the following Tuesday, and the schools will be notified of who has been selected and which of the two weeks the students will attend. Selection begins with upper classmen first. Sometimes the high school staff committee highly recommends students who are taken first. Otherwise names are selected in the order of who signed up first, seniors first, juniors next etc.

Once a student has been selected, s/he has three days to get a "Permission Form & Health Form" available at each school or online here. The forms must be filled in and signed by parents, job supervisors, teachers etc. and taken to the Introductory Meeting at East School in Tillamook at 4:00 PM on the 2nd Monday after Labor Day. There is a $30.00 fee per counselor that will be collected at that meeting also. (The actual amount TCODS spends per counselor is over $100.00 for the week.) Any additional donations beyond the $30.00 fee are welcomed and never refused, however it is also not expected!

Information about camp will be discussed and handed out at the Introductory Meeting, and counselors will select their camp names. Please read the information provided online about how to choose a camp name.

Can home schooled high school students become camp counselors?
Sure! Make sure you have read the answers to the first question above this one and the first paragraph of the answer to the second question. Read the "Outdoor School Information and Counselors Expectations" provided online. Email Moses by September 4th to tell him your name, grade in school, and that you would like to be an ODS counselor.

You will be notified by the 1st Friday after Labor Day if you have been selected. Selected students need to download the "Permission Form" and "Health Form," The forms must be filled in and signed by parents, job supervisors, etc. and taken to the Introductory Meeting at East School in Tillamook at 4:00 PM on on the 2nd Monday after Labor Day. There is a $30.00 fee per counselor that will be collected at that meeting also. (The actual amount TCODS spends per counselor is over $100.00 for the week.) Any additional donations beyond the $30.00 fee are welcomed and never refused, however it is also not expected!

Information about camp will be discussed and handed out at the Introductory Meeting, and counselors will select their camp names. Please read the information provided online about how to choose a camp name.

Can I leave camp at any time during the week for sports practices, music lessons, to celebrate my birthday, to attend a funeral etc.?
Usually the answer is "No way!" Leaving camp really causes concern among the campers in the counselor's care. Also, others need to be taken away from their duties to cover for the counselor's absence from his/her campers. It doesn't see to do the counselor any good to dip back into the "real world" no matter how brief. Focus is taken off of the campers in camp, and it is sometimes difficult to regain.

However, an exception is definitely made for a funeral or memorial service that a counselor really wants to attend or some other emergency. The counselor needs to share the situation with a SC, YO! Staff member, and/or Moses, and it will be worked out!

Can my friends visit me while I'm at camp?
No! Again, it's important that the focus of a counselor's week be the sixth graders, not friends back at school. Friends will be at school waiting for you the following Monday morning!

If it's discovered that friends have come into camp to visit a counselor, they will be asked to leave. If it's discovered that friends have come into camp in the evening or night time, law enforcement will be called, and those friends will leave in a sheriff deputy's car. We absolutely will take no chances with the safety of campers, counselors etc. in camp!

My parents would like to come visit me while at camp. That's okay, isn't it?
Once again, the counselor's focus is on the campers in his or her care. Having others visit really distracts from that focus.

If parents really would like to come to camp, then they need to volunteer to help in the kitchen for one meal the same as the sixth grade parents. It really helps if the parents don't come to camp with news of the "outside world." Instead, it would be wonderful if they would mostly observe and also ask questions about the week's experience if possible.

And no, it is not possible to take any parents or family members who have worked in the kitchen for a meal up to the counselor's living area! For safety reasons, we absolutely want no extra people in the campers' living areas! Parents and family members may not simply roam the camp on their own.

If I'm selected as a counselor, are there guidelines about what name I should choose? Do you have a list of suggested names?
Check out this page that sets some guidelines about camp names. Included are some suggested names. It's not a complete list!

Checkout the High School Student Counselor Forms Page!

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