Staff

We want campers to be led by a staff of Christian women who are eager to nurture girls and create for them a culture of love, acceptance, and growth.

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Available Positions

Program Staff

College girls who live in cabins with campers and teach activities for the entire summer.

Specialty Staff

Adult staff members who serve the community as doctors, nurses, head counselors, activity specialists, and overall support.

Support Staff

Non-residential staff members who serve on the Kitchen, Dining Hall, Maintenance, or Housekeeping crews.

What We’re Looking For

Being on Staff at Camp DeSoto requires – like most things worth their salt – a balance of light-hearted fun and serious responsibility, a child-like spirit and mature wisdom, energetic playfulness and a disciplined work-ethic. We think that caring for, playing with, and guiding children is a high calling, and we are honored to be entrusted with the both the joy and responsibility of this work. We seek to hire a staff of young women who are aware of the sacred nature of the trust we are given, and who are willing to honor that trust by giving the best of themselves to girls for the summer.

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Loving

First and foremost, we want our staff to enjoy children and be excited to spend the summer with them! We look for girls who are nurturing and compassionate and who are willing to put campers’ needs ahead of their own.

We also look for staff who have been shaped by God’s love and are eager to share that love with campers. We want to provide campers with a community of role models who love from the center of who they are.

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Hard-Working

Being on Staff at Camp DeSoto is a challenging job. We ask a lot from our staff, because we know they have a lot to give! We look for women who are willing to work hard and fully commit themselves to a summer of service.

The work of giving yourself in service to others is not an easy task, but it is a sacred one. We believe that God has called us to important work and has given us what we need to do it well.

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Creative

As divine image-bearers we are all creative beings, whether or not we can deftly wield a paintbrush! We seek to hire staff members who will creatively engage with their jobs.

From making up a game out of thin air to helping girls navigate relational conflict, being a DeSoto counselor requires spontaneity, flexibility and ingenuity. We look for girls who are in touch with their own capacity to create, and who show an ability to adapt and improvise when events unfold differently than expected.

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Thoughtful

As counselors in the truest sense of the word, Camp DeSoto staff are expected to provide campers with guidance and counsel. We are careful to hire thoughtful women who demonstrate wise judgment.

We look for girls who have a sturdy sense of self and a healthy awareness of the bigger picture, girls who can guide campers as they explore difficult questions without proposing to have all the answers, girls who engage in the world with curiosity and reverence.

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Fun

Last, but certainly not least, we want Camp DeSoto staff members to be F U N ! The staff we hire are enthusiastic, playful, silly, creative, athletic, entertaining, and interesting. We know the importance of playfulness when it comes to summer camp (or really anything for that matter), and our staff are most certainly willing to wear crazy costumes, sing at the top of their lungs, laugh so hard their stomachs ache, and dive headfirst into the world of childhood.

I am so grateful for the opportunities you gave me. . . You create a safe environment for the staff to learn and grow while the staff is creating a safe environment for the campers to learn and grow. I think that is one of the greatest things about DeSoto. Thank you for being honest with me when it was hard, for letting me cry when I needed to, and for giving me the most joyful 8 summers of my life. I can’t wait to have kids of my own and for them to experience the beauty of nature and the grace of Jesus at DeSoto.

Former camper, staff member for 2 summers

"When summer rolls around, DeSoto's on my mind. On top of that mountain, there are great friends that you'll find! Each and every heart sings praise to God above, counselors are there to guide you through his love..."

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