At Alpine the Directors do all of the cabin assignments personally. We go to great lengths to match up boys who will get along and have similar interests even if they’ve never met. We never put a single camper who does not know anyone in a cabin of boys who already know each other, either from home or from previous years at camp.
One of the great opportunities at camp is for boys to meet other boys from new places and perhaps make lifelong friendships from these cabin mates. One of our counselors’ main goals is to make sure boys are meeting each other, making new friends, and that all boys in the cabin are included.
Boys relate through activity and there is lots of activity at Alpine. So, it usually doesn’t take long (sometimes 15 minutes, literally!) before boys who have just met are off and running (literally!) to play ping pong or 4 square together along with their counselor.
Our cabins typically house between 5 to 10 campers and 2 counselors. This makes for a very good camper to counselor ratio, somewhere between 3 and 4 to 1 overall.
Cabins of 1st through 5th grade typically have 5 or 6 boys, 6th and 7th graders have 6 to 7, and 8th and 9th graders have between 7 and 10 campers.
Staff arrive 10 days before their campers for an intensive training period. Days are long – often 14 hours or more – and begin with an in-depth bible study lead by Bill Boyd, senior pastor of All Saints Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. Bill has been on staff at Alpine for over 20 years and has developed a rigorous curriculum to foster a distinctively Christian community at Alpine. Counselors are taught to view every area of their lives as opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ. He also teaches counselors to help their campers “unplug” from modern distractions.
Counselors also sit under the instruction of Bob Ditter, widely considered the foremost expert on children and summer camps.Bob emphasizes effective communication with boys, equipping staff to resolve fights and discipline issues. Chris Thurber, another nationally recognized figure in camping, speaks on preventing homesickness and bullying. We even bring in parents to share their expectations and veteran staff members to share experiences from summers past.
Our head nurse covers health and safety, emphasizing common pediatric conditions such as ADHD, asthma, and allergies as well as cleanliness, bedwetting, and giving medication. Each counselor also receives CPR and First Aid certification from the American Red Cross. Staff leading specialized activities arrive early to participate in high level clinics in their fields and to receive official certification.
Finally, before each term, Glenn meets with each cabin counselor individually to go over the boys who will be in his cabin. He covers family background, connections to Alpine, past experiences at camp, pertinent medical information, and any other personal information passed on by parents (all of which is kept in strict confidence between directors, cabin counselors, and medical personnel when applicable).Each counselor knows his boys when they arrive and welcomes them to the cabin accordingly.
Choosing our counselors is the most important thing we do, and we feel it is what makes Alpine special. We want to hire young college age Christian men that you would choose yourself to be role models for your boys.
The Directors spend most of the school year in the process of hiring a staff each summer. It is a long process for each counselor to ensure that we hire the strongest, most fun, most mature guys we can find. Our approach is very personal. We like to hire counselors who know someone that we know, so that we have a personal connection with them and someone we know and trust who can vouch for them.
We visit college and university campuses all over the Southeast and beyond to find staff. We call on former staff members and also campus ministry contacts to recommend new staff prospects. We personally interview each prospect asking them specific questions about their family, background, beliefs, interests. A staff prospect must then fill out a lengthy application providing 4 references as well as lots of detailed information about themselves. We check references and we also perform a criminal background check on each applicant.
We do not hire everyone who applies to be a counselor. We spend much time talking to references, campus ministers, and praying to determine who will be the best fit at Alpine. In the end our goal is to hire really fun, cool Christian young men who have a desire to come have fun with and serve their campers.
Alpine maintains a camp infirmary staffed by three registered nurses and one physician throughout the summer. This allows us to have two nurses on duty 24 hours a day. Our infirmary operates as a primary care clinic and is fully stocked with medical supplies to aid with everything from minor abrasions to more serious conditions.
If your son is sick or hurt while at camp, he will first be assessed and treated by our staff in the infirmary. If our medical staff feels that a camper needs treatment that we cannot provide we have excellent medical facilities a short distance away at DeKalb Regional Medical Center in Fort Payne, AL or at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga, TN. We take a very cautious philosophy at Alpine and will always send a boy to be checked out for further testing (i.e. x -ray, etc) if there is any question in our staff’s mind.
That being said, almost all injuries and sickness at Alpine are minor and can be treated by our capable medical staff. We do not notify a parent when a camper is in our camp infirmary for minor ailments, but if your son should become seriously ill or suffer an injury requiring outside treatment be assured we will notify you immediately.
We value communication with our parents and our nurses and doctor want to keep you updated as best they can with any medical issues.
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