Join our Camp Leadership Program in Western North Carolina.
The High Rocks experience is full of opportunities to engage in leadership. Our campers model their counselor mentors in learning to help others, taking personal responsibility, and looking for ways to contribute to the community. Over successive summers this mindset becomes ingrained – it is just the way camp operates!
As campers age up in our program, leadership expectations become more concrete. These young men are offered instruction focused on elements of becoming a leader, particularly within the camp environment.
Paired with the instruction are roles in the program to practice a variety of leadership skills. These develop and increase through a camper’s Upper Senior years (8th, 9th, and 10th grades).
As a young man finishes 11th grade, he is able to apply to be a Counselor Trainee (CT) which is the first year he could be a paid staff member. After 12th grade, an applicant could be an Assistant Counselor (AC) with many similarities to a counselor role.
8th Grade* – The first year in the Upper Senior role would involve bi-weekly leadership trainings. This is the first year a camper could apprentice in an activity to begin learning the ins and outs of an instructor role. Opportunities to assist at Sunday campfire would also be possible.
9th Grade* – The same opportunities as an 8th grade Upper Senior. In addition, they have recurring chances to practice leadership skills working with younger camper age groups. Our 9th graders could also choose to take some ownership over areas in camp outside typical activity structures (library, maintenance, chess club, etc). Campers also could help lead a Sunday morning talk to the camp community.
10th Grade* – The last year of being a High Rocks camper! This is a selected and smaller group of young men returning as camper leaders to the entire camper community. Along with the previous opportunities, these oldest campers also have paid work opportunities performing needed roles in support of the camp day. They can adopt one of our youngest cabins and work with that counselor to begin practicing residential counseling skills. Our 10th grade campers will help put on an all-camp activity, have varied staff members leading leadership skills sessions, and even get social trips out of camp as a group.
*Our grade levels are for the current school year, 2024-2025.
11th grade* – The first year a young man can be a paid staff member as a Counselor Trainee, typically for one of our sessions. Interested guys would go through an application process, live in a cabin of younger campers along with a full counselor, and begin instructing in one or more activity areas. CTs would have a CT Coordinator staff member guiding their time at camp, taking them on time off as a group, and acting as a resource during their stay.
12th grade* – This is the Assistant Counselor year, with applicants going through our hiring process, directing a cabin with another counselor. Our ACs can be at camp for multiple sessions and have many of the same duties and privileges of a full counselor.
*Our grade levels are for the current school year, 2024-2025.
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