The Village Leader (VL) “Brain” at Camp Augusta
AKA: Program Coordinator
You make magic possible.
As campers and counselors dream their next quest complete in the days ahead with mysterious old wizards and adventure galore, you are poised to prepare our heroes for the journey ahead. You live to push dreamers into uncharted realms, bringing the glimmer of imagination to light as campers and counselors alike embark on treks filled with perilous challenge and fruitful reward.
A logistical wiz, your days are filled with coordinating cabin activities, assessing cabin activities for risk, teaching activities, dressing up as a pirate, participating in camp wide games, helping to improve communication among the various camp realms, and of course wish, wonder, and surprise!
You play a vital role within the villages, supporting Village Leaders and counselors by organizing where, when, and how campers’ biggest ideas and dreams can become reality. You are pulling strings behind-the-scenes to make wishes come true. You spend part of your day in front of a computer, as you sort cabin activities, manage overnight trips, and print materials and guides for cabins’ adventures and grand plans for the day.
Being a logistical whiz, you also have the opportunity to teach a few activities each day, participate in camp-wide games, create magical immersive worlds for campers, or tell a scary story. Other camps may know you as Program Coordinator, but at Camp Augusta, you are our Village Brain!
Nuts & Bolts of the Job
So, what do you actually do all day as The VL Brain?
About 60% of your role is coordinating the operations and success of Cabin Activities:
- Coordinate Cabin Activities. Sort the moving pieces of 20 cabins at a time, balancing locations, materials, and more for each of the unique activities created by campers.
- Work with campers and counselors to figure out how to operationalize their fantastical ideas. They want to go “swing from a chandelier”? How can we make that happen at camp? (Spoiler: We hang a lyra sideways, give the campers materials to decorate it like a chandelier, and then let them try out circus tricks on their new Chandelyra!)
- Review the Risks. Understand all the cabin activities and present potential risks to the risk committee for review. Help figure out how to make camper’s ideas possible within safe parameters.
- Schedule the HEROs. Create the HERO schedule for each day, which documents where non-counseling staff go and who they support during cabin times such as cabin act and rest hour. Make sure anyone going to the water has a lifeguard!
- Facilitate smooth communication between camp realms. You’re a liaison between the kitchen, the arts, the equestrian staff, village leaders, and counselors. Also coordinating regarding scheduling logistics with the Puppet Master and the Masters of Fun and Games.
Then about 40% of your time will be devoted to other parts of camp:
- Support and coordinate with the 6-person village leader team.
- Teach two activity blocks per day. Find joy in the variety and the opportunity to impart knowledge and facilitate fun : )
- Prepare camper and cabin documents for each session.
- Organize overnight locations for each cabin to ensure each cabin has a magical experience under the stars!
- Coordinate camper and counselor evaluations and make sure they get entered and distributed to the staff.
- Support other logistical needs of the four villages such as creating the weekend time-off schedule for staff, making sure campers get their 5-year boxes, and organizing off-site trips.
- Assist with the set-up of all-camp weekend programming.
- Coordinate the laundry service for the campers (maybe in costume as the laundry fairy?)
- Play! Engage with the rest of the camp community to offer fun, memorable experiences even beyond the realm of the Brain (Story Experiences, Playstation, Evening Programs)
No list could ever fully capture what the brain does in a day. And that’s what makes summer camp a special place
Example Village Brain Sorting Documents
Would I enjoy being the VL Brain?
Likely, you would find joy in this job if:
- You love to solve puzzles and have an exceptional logistical aptitude.
- You’re comfortable with computer work and especially google sheets. You believe that keeping things organized and running from behind the scenes is just as important as talking in front of a group.
- You are open, caring, patient, and flexible when working with a variety of people.
- You love kids and you want to work with them to offer fun, memorable experiences even beyond your realm.
- You find joy in figuring out what is possible. When a cabin act idea comes up that isn’t safe (send a cabin down the zipline in a canoe), you’re excited to dig in to figure out how to make a safe version possible.
- You read this page about Camp Augusta’s vision of cultivating Creativity & Expression and feel excited to be part of it.
- You’re excited about being a leader in the community – supporting other staff and holding professional boundaries.
- You’re excited to learn. You know that you know lots and are also humble in what you don’t know yet. You see learning new skills as an opportunity, and you’re okay with getting things wrong sometimes.
The 2022 VL Team
The 2025 VL Team
The 2021 VL Team
Beyond the Perks, why be a VL Brain at Augusta?
- Meaningful work: You will be part of shaping the lives of hundreds of campers by making their ideas real and teaching them they can make their own fun (even without screens!)
- You already love summer camp, and you want a stepping-stone role into camp leadership. The hands role offers a unique opportunity to work as a program director, but also part of a Village Leader team. You can get involved in many areas of camp, and absorb tons of ideas and perspectives into other roles at Augusta or your life beyond Augusta.
- Numerous opportunities for leadership advancement – if desired, receive training in the summer for another role the following summer
- 75+ hours of training in your choice of clinics from 140+ options, including weaponry, circus arts (like fire spinning), high ropes course, intensive arts (like blacksmithing), mountain biking/boarding, and music. Take on new skills / hobbies!
- Fun! Working at camp offers you the chance to do this meaningful work in the beautiful woods of Northern California while also being playful and silly throughout your days. How often do you get to show up for work in the morning in full costume?
- Growth and Leadership Development – There are plenty of pathways to other leadership roles at Augusta.
