July 25, 2002
Staffers devote time off to 160 preteens
To parents all too familiar with the phrase, “are we there yet?” Mary Johnson and Marie Duplantis might seem like the quintessential gluttons for punishment.
The UW staffers will spend their summer vacation — as they’ve done for the past five and six years, respectively — with about 160 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds. Duplantis, an admissions counselor with the UW Office of Admissions, and Johnson, a program coordinator in Training and Development, are counselors at Kent Parks and Recreation’s Camp Waskowitz.
They don’t earn a paycheck for their work. They put in long workdays. They even burn vacation hours from their UW jobs so that they can work at the camp.
“When you think of vacation you think of lying on a beach somewhere and relaxing, taking naps, or getting things done for yourself,” Duplantis said. “But for us, vacation days are typically more strenuous than work days. We sometimes pull 18- or 20-hour days.”
And they say they wouldn’t trade the experience.
“There’s so many different aspects of it that make it fun and enjoyable,” Johnson said. “It’s my favorite thing to do. I look forward to it every year.”
Johnson first became a counselor in high school and has been involved in camps ever since. This will be her sixth year as a Camp Waskowitz counselor. Duplantis also got started while in high school and is now entering her seventh year as a counselor. Following her high school graduation, she took a full-time job with a camp. After one year she returned to school, graduated from the UW with a degree in English and now, like Johnson, has a standing commitment to the camp.
Both are dedicated enough to the summer camp that they told their employers they would have to have those five days off during the summer, even if they took them without pay. Duplantis went so far as to make the point during the interview process before she was offered a job.
It’s important to them because they appreciate helping the kids, but they benefit too.
“I’ve definitely grown as a person,” Duplantis said. “In high school, before going to camp, I was kind of shy and not really sure of myself. I worried about what other people would think. Then I went to camp where they say, ‘No time to be shy, no time to worry about what other people think. Just be yourself, have fun and let your personality shine through.’ ”
Students in the camp often come from underprivileged homes. About half are there on scholarships. The goal for the five days is to have fun while getting the students to feel good about themselves and their peers and to develop a comfort level with a variety of social interactions.
When the campers show some progress — and they almost invariably do, according to Johnson and Duplantis — it’s worth at least as much as a paycheck.
“Seeing their faces, getting their reactions, sometimes changing their attitudes — those kind of things seem so little, but they make such a huge difference,” Johnson said. “There are the kids who want to sit by themselves for the first three days but then on the fourth day decide, ‘Hmmm, maybe I’m going to come sit with the group.’ You try to work with them, but you can’t pressure them too much. You can’t force people to do things.”
Duplantis has a name for those breakthroughs.
“Those are the a-ha moments when they sometimes start smiling, or getting involved with something, or they give you a hug,” she said. “It’s nice to know you’re helping a child step out of their comfort zone and to really acclimatize them to other people.”
Despite the long hours, when the camp comes to an end Johnson and Duplantis say they feel revitalized. The two are roommates and enjoy sharing memories throughout the year, as well as anticipating the next camp. They also play on a softball team with other counselors.
According to Johnson, “it’s kind of like having a second family.”
Camp Waskowitz is scheduled for Aug. 12-16 but no spaces remain. For more information about the camp, call Kent Parks and Recreation at 253-856-5100.
