By Mitch Holt, Staff Writer
The Office of Student Leadership Development is preparing for this summer’s Leadership Camps and has selected 47 student staff members to lead the young campers.
“Leadership Camps are ACU-sponsored summer camps designed to challenge and develop spiritual growth in youth ages 6 to 18,” said Jan Meyer, director of Student Leadership Development and associate director of Leadership Camps.
Leadership Camps bring more than 2,000 campers and 350 adult volunteers to campus each summer and offer five different camps for children of various age levels: Kadesh for high school students, MPulse for junior high students, Learning to Lead for fourth to sixth graders, KidQuest Day Camp for first to third graders and Cross Training, which takes place in Sipapu, N.M., for students entering 10th, 11th and 12th grades.
The camps will take place June 5 through Aug. 6, and each camp session will last one week.
Meyer said the staff selection process was completed Feb. 25, and the chosen students had until the following Monday to decide. A large student staff is needed each summer to host students of all ages during Leadership Camps, she said.
The staff selection process included an application, reference check, interviews and group interviews.
Jordan Swim, second-year counselor and sophomore Christian Ministry major from Richardson, said this job is a chance to touch the kingdom.
“Christ is the focus, and he works through these camps at ACU,” Swim said.
Meyer said training to be part of the camp staff is a hard process.
“We want each person who represents ACU and Leadership Camps to have a clear understanding of the responsibility they have in their job,” Meyer said.
Now that the student leaders have been selected, every staff member will attend a Tuesday meeting, participate in a retreat and arrive on campus one week before the arrival of the campers for Prep Week, Meyer said.
Before Leadership Camps begin, each staff member will have completed more than 60 hours of training.
Along with the 47 students who will serve as camp counselors, students will fill more than 10 other Leadership Camp positions. Students will be assistant directors, team-building facilitators and medical care and office staff.
“This year our staff selection was difficult,” Meyer said. “We had an overwhelming number of qualified applicants and had to turn down many capable and talented students, but we are confident that those we hired will do an exceptional job.”
