Get to know Ellen-Anne:

• Years at camp: 10 as a camper; 18 on staff
• During the year, I…. am a part of our hiring team, plan fun activities, and chase my rowdy kids around!
• Here’s what you can find me doing during the summer: Organizing program, talking to staff, helping plan fun clubs, managing our girl helpers, and being a listening ear whenever!
• The most random/wacky thing I’ve done at camp is: Played a nose whistle while my friend juggled for the talent show. No…I was not a camper at this point…I was on staff.
• Come find me if… you have any questions, or just need to chat, I’m your gal! I have a great couch in my office.
• These are a few of my favorite things: Being outside, cooking a good meal, enjoying friends and family!
• Most used emoji: The cartwheel lady.
• Something I’m loving right now: My back porch as the weather is getting warm!
• One thing you wouldn’t guess about me: I was a full time potter in another life!
• Something I want you to know about this summer: That it has the potential to be the most transformative experience if you let it be. Throw yourself into it, make yourself uncomfortable, and by all means HAVE FUN!
• My best advice to counselors is… Don’t take yourself too seriously, but do take the job seriously. We will make mistakes - and that is A-OK! But remember, important work is worth the growing plains, and camp is an amazing place to find your footing and do a perfectly imperfect job!
• Working at Greystone as a counselor is… the BEST thing you could do with your time. The experience grows with you no matter your age, and is continuously teaching you what you’re made of!

March means camp is getting closer, and this month, you have a few important tasks to check off your list. Don’t worry - they’re fun ones!

March is also a good time to make sure your notifications have been turned on in GroupMe and that you’ve marked our emails as “important” so that they don’t get sent to spam. We’ll send you more information and announcements as the summer approaches, so stay tuned!

• Fill out your staff forms. You received an email with instructions for filling these out at the beginning of the month, and it’s time to start checking them off one by one. We can’t pay you without them - they are essential! Some forms require additional information like a doctor’s visit, so don’t put them off. Questions about your forms? All forms are due May 1st.
• Watch the mandatory sexual abuse prevention training through MinistrySafe, if you have never taken that training before. Staff who worked the past two summers and completed the training, you do not need to do it again. If you need to take it, you will receive an email with an individual link to complete this training. All staff must have completed it by May 21st! Questions?
• Place your order in the Staff Store! We give all of our staff FREE money to spend in the Greystone Store based on the number of weeks you work (thanks, Jimboy!). All the information you need to start shopping can be found on this page. Orders are due April 25th, and you MUST use your money before the summer, so start browsing! Questions?
• Start thinking about packing. Don’t start packing yet, but it’s helpful to go ahead and look through the packing list and to see what you might need for the summer. That’ll give you time to look for sales on anything you need to buy - we love a good deal!
• Check out the 2025 staff profiles! This is your cue to go meet your future besties and learn more about the incredible people you’ll be working with all summer long! We’ll keep adding profiles up until the summer, so bookmark this page and keep checking back. If you haven’t filled out your form yet, hop to it!
• Save our cell phone numbers for a quick text or question. We want to be even more available to you as the summer gets closer, so don’t hesitate to send us a quick text if you’re wondering about something or want to chat. Cat’s number is (828) 290-5624 and EA’s is (828) 551-2824.

Hiring spotlight: Photographers and Glass Staff

Our spaces are starting to fill for summer 2025, but we are still hiring for some areas, and we’re sending out the PSA to you!

We are particularly looking for staff members to serve as camp photographers or teach in our incredible Glass program.

Do you have a friend who would be perfect for our team and for one of these areas? Send her or him our way. Make sure to fill out a referral form so that you can get paid for any of your friends who we hire to work the full summmer!

Spotlight: Growing as a Leader at Camp

When you chose to work at a camp, you knew it would be a fun, light-hearted way to spend your summer - right? You probably pictured jumping in the lake, roasting s’mores with your campers, and lots of singing and dancing, and you would be correct!

But we’re here to tell you that this summer job is a whole lot more than just fun. Working as a Greystone counselor gives you the chance to practice your leadership skills and grow as an employee in an encouraging and grace-filled environment while surrounded by people who love you! Here are just a few things you have to look forward to:

1. Ample opportunities to step up as a leader. Your campers are watching you and will do as you do, so every minute of the counselor job is about leadership! You will also have chances every day to take initiative and responsibility if you’re looking for them. It’s possible to float through your summer without stretching yourself, but we would encourage you now to look for opportunities to grow - they are everywhere!
2. Practicing skills that will serve your career in the future. There’s a reason employers love hiring camp counselors - camp skills are life skills! At Greystone, you will learn to work on a team, give and receive constructive feedback, think on your feet to solve problems with creativity, and have a good attitude, even when things are hard. Of course, no one here does these things perfectly, but camp is a safe place to practice these leadership and interpersonal skills. We’ll help you sum it all up in your resume at the end of the summer, too!
3. An environment designed to help you grow. From Orientation to Closing Day, we want to help you use your strengths, set goals for yourself, and flourish here on staff. That starts with a leadership team who puts you as the priority and is here to support you in any way we can (now and during the summer!). If you ever have ideas, questions, or thoughts to share, we are all ears. We’re on your team - now and in the future!

New Form: Have Questions? We’ll Answer!

We know that you’ll have more questions as the summer gets closer, and we want to make it easy for you to get the answers you need. Enter our Question and Answer Form!

If you have a question about the summer (big or small), fill out this quick form to send it our way. We’ll then be in touch the next business day with an answer. We may also share that answer with the whole group - you’re likely not the only one wondering about that topic!

Pray with us!

This month is the perfect time to start praying for the people you’ll be working with all summer long - your fellow staff members! No one knows better about how to pray for them than you, because you are feeling and experiencing all the same things.

Pray for the group as everyone is in the middle of their school semester and starts to turn their eyes towards the summer. Pray for the friendships that will form when you’re here and that everyone will find a sense of belonging during their time at camp. Pray for excitement and that the Lord would prepare each heart for the work He’s going to do through you here. Pray that He would use everything you do this summer for His glory most of all.

Pro tip: use the Staff Profiles to go through and pray for each other by name!

Verse to meditate on:

“Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood — may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.” Hebrews 13:2-21