When the first campers arrived on Sunday afternoon and were greeted by The Center staff, counselors were waiting excitedly in the halls for their first students to begin moving in. The counseling staff arrived at WKU’s campus on Friday, two days before SCATS began, to go through a comprehensive orientation.
During these two days everything from class locations to proper nametag placement is covered. Counselors get to know each other, learn about The Center, SCATS, and their role and duty as counselors, take a tour of the campus, discuss how to handle a variety of potential camper problems (from a stomach ache to homesickness), and begin planning the main activities that will take place throughout the next five weeks.
In the free time they have before and after orientation meetings, counselors move in and unpack, get the dorm ready for campers and parents, share meals together, make door decorations, reminisce about previous years at camp, and talk about interests that they hope to share with their campers.
After 48 hours of preparation and anticipation, this year’s SCATS counselors were ready and excited to finally meet their campers with lanyards, phone bags, a lot of knowledge about camp, and a smile.