Since kindergarten, Blake Frye has been attending summer camp at the Elkin Municipal Park.
Now, at age 13, Frye has the opportunity to volunteer and help out the camp counselors.
“I’ve been going to the day camp ever since I was in kindergarten and when I got in fifth grade, I started noticing kids closer to my age helping counselors,” said Frye, an Elkin Middle School student. “I decided I wanted to do that too so I can become a counselor later on, and it will look good when I go to college.”
Frye hopes to be a math teacher after he goes to college, and is glad to get the experience working with children. Outside of summer camp, the eighth grader is also on the part of the Foothills Fury AAU wrestling team and placed seventh in the state with his team.
Swimming was Frye’s favorite day camp activity while he was growing up, and now, as a volunteer, he helps take children to their swimming lessons.
“Volunteering will look good later on in my life,” Frye said. “When I want to get a job, they will see how long I’ve been working and that I actually try.”
Camp volunteers are 13 to 15 years old — too old to be in the summer camp program, but too young to be a camp counselor yet. Volunteers help clean and assist counselors.
“We treat it like a job,” said recreation Director Adam McComb. “They fill out an application and have a formal job interview. It’s good to give them that experience and show that we take the position seriously.”
This year, 11 applicants are volunteers. Both work two days a week with a rotating schedule so they can experience all of the different activities, McComb said.
“Our hopes that are after kids volunteer they will eventually help us out as camp counselors when they get older,” McComb said.
Summer camp at Elkin Municipal Park started the first week of June and will end the last week of July.
Reach Jessica Pickens at 835-1513 ext. 18 or jpickens@heartlandpublications.com.
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