Summer job that will stick with you a lifetime. Connection with campers, fellow staff and the outdoors!
Summer job of a lifetime...fun, fresh air, friends, and looks good on resume! Skylake Yosemite Camp is located in California on Bass Lake, 30 minutes from the southern Yosemite National Park entrance. Skylake annually employees 60 cabin/activity counselors, 6 trip staff guides, 8 Leadership staff, and 12 kitchen employees.
In the Sierra National Forest in Central California on Bass Lake, 30 minutes from Yosemite gate, foot of Ansel Adams Wilderness area. 4 hours from San Francisco, 5 hours from Los Angeles.
About Skylake Yosemite Camp
Fun and rewarding work, great resume builder and friends for life will be made! Summer Camp Magic!
Skylake is a co-ed summer camp tradition since 1945! Skylake provides campers and staff alike with memories, friends, and experiences that last a lifetime.
Counselors at Skylake are hired based on their ability to be proper role models and who possess positive leadership skills. Skylake staff are enthusiastic and responsible individuals with great communication skills who care about children and the importance of the summer camp experience.
Skylake Yosemite Camp has a multitude of activities and programs of which we are looking for qualified camp counselors to lead our campers both through instruction and team play. Activities on our private docks range from waterskiing to stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, and canoeing! Up on land the options are varied, we have arts, music, archery, ropes course, sand volleyball, tennis, and more! Nightly campfires every night. Staff enjoy time off each week and love exploring the surrounding area.
Room and board are included along with weekly laundry service.
The Employee Experience
Working at Skylake is all-encompassing. Counselors work, play, eat, and sleep summer camp for the duration of the camp season. The work can be hard and also full of rewarding experiences both with campers and also fellow counselors. Counselors live in a cabin with 6-7 campers and also are assigned an activity to lead. The flow of a day at Skylake is scheduled but also very open for campers to choose their direction which we feel allows for growth and self-discovery. Counselors are tasked with the immense challenge of being responsible for the wellbeing of children, leading them, guiding them, and caring for their ups and downs. Skylake counselors form life-long bonds with fellow staff members - an easy massive benefit from working at Skylake is the network of friends that staff form with each other, friends from all corners of the earth.
The mornings are activity time where staff lead the activity they are assigned. Activities are matched as closely as possible with staff abilities. The afternoons are often down at the lake which is why all counselors, regardless of the activity they lead, are required to be lifeguards. Skylake can provide this training if needed.
Camp often feels like a bubble, away from the world, without devices to distract our attention from one another. Staff are still able to access their phones during time off, but during the day, staff will not have their phones on them. This allows for everyone to be present. Staff are given one hour off every day, one full 24-hour day off each week in addition to a night off each week. Activities are only led on weekdays while weekends take on a different focus, whether it be a special day activity or a slowed down Sunday schedule, or a change over the weekend where campers are going and coming.
Counselors feel empowered in the world and grow as individuals. Counselors also experience personal growth on a level different from campers but the end result is often the same, feeling more well-rounded and comfortable in their skin.
Ideal Candidate
Skylake is seeking applicants who want to work with children, who see the value in children having leaders who care about their well being. Skylake looks for counselors who ready to go with the flow and excited to work outdoors. Skylake seeks individuals who are eager to learn more about themselves and be open to learning the traditions of summer camp and why we feel it's such an important part of childhood and adolescence.
If you are open to learning, open to being active and engaged, open to meeting new people, open to singing at the top of your lungs, being ok with acting goofy on stage, or willing to try all these things for the first time, we want to hear from you!
Skylake requires that applicants are 19 by the start of the summer or turning 19 during the summer. We are looking for college aged students who are focused on taking the next steps in life, whether that be in college or a focus on achieving the next goal in life.
Room and Board
Room and board are included, as is a weekly laundry service. Staff stay in cabins with campers, each cabin has 4 bunk beds. Staff to camper ratio in cabins is 1:7 or 2:6. Cabins do not have electricity and bathrooms/shower houses are separate from cabins. All meals are served on site and all allergies and preferences are accommodated.
Employee Perks
Staff have one day off each week, one night off each week, and at least one hour off each day. Skylake pays $680/week or $6120 for 9 weeks and a $500 completion bonus at the end of the summer. Skylake pays 50% of ski boat rental for staff on days off. Staff feed nights once each week for staff to take some time off and bond with fellow staff members with special food treats after hours. Skylake prides itself on treating staff well, supporting staff, and helping them advance skills and serving as a reference for future job applications. Days off are spent exploring the natural beauty that surrounds Skylake, including Yosemite National Park.
Getting Here and Getting Around
Staff are allowed to bring their own vehicles and park on site. We also can pick up staff at the Fresno International Airport if they don't have a car.
For Fun
Skylake is on Bass Lake in the Sierra National Forest. On days off, the options for outdoor enjoyment are endless, including hiking in Yosemite National Park or renting a boat on Bass Lake. The closest major city to Skylake is Fresno where there are malls, movie theaters, and major restaurants. Oakhurst is the closest town to Skylake, only 20 minutes from camp, which has major grocery stores, a movie theater, and unique shops and is known as the "gateway to Yosemite."
How to Apply
Staff should apply using the link on the staff page of our website via the link below. Applications are reviewed weekly and Zoom interviews are then arranged based on a perceived mutual fit.
Contact Info
- Adrienne Portnoy-Durgin
- adrienne@skylake.com
- (559) 642-3720
- www.skylake.com
