Caring for children is our top priority and hiring the right staff for this task is essential in creating the best environment for each child.

We hire creative, fun, inspiring individuals who demonstrate a desire to work with younger children and who have strong character, leadership skills, and experience to teach in our program areas. Our counselors are at least 18 years old and most have finished their freshman year of college or equivalent.  Camp counseling is serious business and is only for those diligent people who can put the campers needs before their own.  Camp Counseling is hard work and may be one of the most difficult jobs you could undertake, but at the same time it can also be the most rewarding.

How many staff do you hire?

Our overall staff to camper ratio is 3:1. Staff members are hired for a wide variety of rolls, ranging from cabin counselors, adventure staff, and program leaders who work directly with children to our support staff who do very important jobs in our kitchen and on our property to keep camp running smoothly. To see which positions we are still hiring for, check out our ‘Current Openings’ page.

Diversity is important!

We need people of all backgrounds, personality types, and skill sets to make each summer successful. Each staff member comes with special skills that can enhance and develop our program offerings. As a Gwynn Valley employee, we trust you to fully engage your creative spirit and bring fresh, new ideas to enhance our program. Many of our staff grew up here as campers, but we also value staff members who might be new to Gwynn Valley. Whether this is your 1st summer or your 15th, we hope that everyone feels appreciated and integrated in our camp community!

Gwynn Valley is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age (40 and older), citzenship status, genetic information, or any characteristic protected by law.

As a permit holder for group activities on public lands (Pisgah National Forest, Nantahala, DuPont State Recreational Forest) we comply with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Title IX of the Educations Amendments of 1972, as amended, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (866) 632-9992 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (relay voice). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.”

We honor religious and spiritual diversity at Gwynn Valley.

Our weekly Sunday Service and collective blessings are ‘God-centered’ but are not limited to any one faith. This helps to provide an environment for children where they can feel connected to something beyond themselves.

Each summer roughly 30% of our staff members are international.

Countries such as Scotland, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Poland, Russia and others, have been represented at camp in recent summers. In addition, we have staff from many US states. Once each week during the summer we celebrate a country or group of countries by eating their food, learning some of their language, and celebrating their culture during Campfire. To learn more about international staff at Gwynn Valley, head over to the ‘International Staff’ page.

To learn more about working at Gwynn Valley, please read through our 2023 Staff Information Packet.