Mayhew Program

Ideal Candidate

An Ideal Candidate is prepared to:

• Sacrifice their own interests for the benefit of others.  Our team members make sacrifices in working for the program: be it personal time, connections with friends and family outside of the program, or creature comforts, to name just a few things.  Team members acknowledge and readily accept such sacrifices as an inherent part of the experience.
   
• Eagerly & constantly engage the boys of the program.  Our team are interested in working with the boys of the program.  Sure, they thrive on staff camaraderie, but first and foremost they understand that the boys come first, and they go out of their way to connect and engage with the boys of the program throughout every day.
   
• Be a role model.  Mayhew staff understand that what we do as adults is as important as what we say.  Children naturally look to the adults around them for guidance, and the best camp staff naturally—and by default—model the strong character, maturity, and personal responsibility we hope to promote in the boys.
   
• ​​​​​​Demonstrate a sincere interest in learning.  Mayhew staff are as eager to learn as they are to teach. They want to understand the workings of the world around them; they want to engage in conversations with people, ask questions, seek advice, and think about their own thinking. They come out to the Island ready to share their own ideas, but they’re also intensely interested in absorbing the ideas of the community.
   
• Live and work as part of a COMMUNITY.  Our team understands that each individual at Mayhew is only one part of a larger community; they always consider how their decisions will impact those around them; they’re not afraid to ask for help from others, and they’re skilled at recognizing when others may need help from them.
   
• Live and work in a highly structured setting. The many rules and expectations of life on the Island (and there are lots of them!) are in place for a reason.  Mayhew staff are comfortable living up to those rules and expectations themselves, and they’re comfortable enforcing them consistently and fairly among the boys.
   
• Always be a professional. Staff recognize that our team is a group of professionals who must carry themselves accordingly: calm, rational, punctual, dependable, and honest; able to follow directions from senior staff and they’re open to feedback; can think on their feet and extrapolate from the basic tenets of the program to make appropriate decisions in new situations.  It's important to not overly personalize work and have an ability to remain calm and appropriately detached in stressful situations.
   
• Always be patient. Each boy is likely to act out or make a bad decision at some point during the summer.  However, our team knows that Mayhew is focused on the long-term and that success is defined by growth rather than perfection.  We need to be consistently patient—whether a boy is acting out on the first day of the summer or the last.
   
• Demonstrate a tremendous work ethic. Mayhew staff are drawn to challenges and eager to get their hands dirty. Seeking out opportunities to pitch in even when completely exhausted, quick to their feet and ready for action when a job needs doing.  Exceptional staff members believe that “work can be fun!”
   
• Be creative. Mayhew team members are creative.  They’re very good at constantly coming up with new ways to engage the boys, be it developing an entertaining skit for the group to perform for the rest of camp at Community Night or figuring out a new way to teach the breaststroke to a boy who just doesn’t seem to get it during swim lessons.
   
• Be self-aware & demonstrate self-control. Mayhew staff strive to understand themselves; they’re always in full control and have the ability to tailor their demeanor easily to suit the situation at hand.  For example, they can be boisterous, energetic & fun when appropriate but then quickly transition to being quiet, calm & serious, if necessary, like having a conversation with a boy about his behavior.
   
• Be self-reflective. Mayhew staff are encouraged to analyze actions, words, and decisions in an effort to improve not only as counselors but also as people.  We believe that mistakes only count as failures when nothing is learned and applied to the next opportunity.