Meet a Director: Sarah
Another month means another director to introduce you to!
Sarah’s official title is Events and Outreach Director, but “what doesn’t she do?” is the better question! Sarah handles all of our communications, brainstorms all of our fun surprises, keeps our team on track, and takes care of our new campers each year. She’s earned the nickname “Dark Talent” around here; she has her hands in just about everything we do!
Watch the video below to hear from Sarah, and then check out her Q+A afterwards. Want to say hi to her?
Get to know Sarah:
- Years at camp: 22 on staff and 11 as camper
- During the year, I…. work on all of our marketing, communications, events, and get to do lots of fun connecting with our new campers!
- Here’s what you can find me doing during the summer now: I really just move a lot of boxes! But beyond that, I get to orgainze and plan many things at camp - events, Opening/Closing Days, communications with parents, and more!
- The most random/wacky thing I’ve done at camp is: ate a whole can of Spam on stage
- Come find me if… you want to brainstorm something fun to do in your activity area or with your cabin - I love that kind of thing!
- These are a few of my favorite things: hiking, reading, running, card games, and college basketball.
- Most used emoji: 😬
- Something I’m loving right now: walking from our house to go out to dinner - we live close enough to walk to downtown Greenville, and it’s delightful!
- One thing you wouldn’t guess about me: I can get really into random events; current obsession is Groundhogs Day. We do it big!
- Something I want you to know about this summer: you’ll laugh more here than you do in your normal life!
- My best advice to counselors is… introduce yourself to other staff on the first day - over and over and over - it can be hard, but just walk up to a someone else on staff and start talking. Everyone is looking to make friends like you!
- Working at Greystone as a counselor is… delightful, joyful, fun, and worth it. You made a good choice!!
Preparing for Camp
Can you believe you’ll arrive at camp next month? Us either! The time is flying, and we cannot wait to finally welcome you to Greystone in just a matter of weeks.
Now that camp is coming so soon, this is a great time to page back through the previous Staff Newsletters and make sure you’re up to speed. This month, you have a couple of important items to check off your list (we’re looking at you, forms, Ministry Safe training, and Staff Store!), so set aside a little bit of time to start getting ready for the summer to come. Have questions on any of this? Just ask!
- Sign up for a Staff Penpal by Friday, April 18th. Like the post in the Staff GroupMe by April 18th to sign up to be paired with a fellow Greystone staffer to get to know before camp! We’ll then reach out within the week with your match.
- Send us your song suggestions and join our playlist committee! Music is a BIG deal at camp, and we want to have great playlists ready for all the dance parties to come. Use this form to tell us which (camp appropriate!) songs YOU want to hear this summer. Do you love making a playlist? She’ll send you more information about helping us make our summer 2025 playlists.
- 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?
- Complete your Staff Forms by May 1st! Many of them can be submitted digitally with just a few clicks, so don’t put them off. Help us pay you this summer!
- Place your Staff Store order by Orientation. We’re offering you a gift card to shop for anything you like in The Greystone Store, but you have to use it before you arrive at camp! Look in your email for your gift card, read all the details on this page, and if you have questions.
- Check out the Staff Packing List! Now is a great time to make sure you have everything you need for the summer. Have questions about what other staff bring? Ask in the GroupMe - our returners give great advice!
New to Greystone? Check out the New Staff page!
We’ll teach you everything you need to know once you get here, but if you want a head start, we’ve compiled lots of basic, need-to-know information about Greystone on this page. It’s a great reference point if you have questions or are wondering about something!
Important Heads-Up: Your Pre-Arrival Health Screening Form
You don’t need to do anything for this yet, but be on the lookout for more information about your Pre-Arrival Health Screening Form next month! This easy, quick form will just ask you a few health screening questions, and it will be required for you to complete before you arrive for Orientation. You’ll be able to fill it out online like the rest of your camp forms. We’ll send more information out about this later, but make sure it’s on your radar to complete before you come to camp!
Hiring Spotlight: Men Staff
Heads up: while most of our positions are filled for this summer (hello, best staff ever!), we are still looking for a few great guys to round out our Men Staff. This is a work-hard, play-hard kind of role; our Men Staff teach classes, serve behind-the-scenes at camp, and live together on camp property. It’s a great summer gig for a guy who loves Jesus and wants to play a part in a tight-knit Men Staff group!
We know you have brothers and friends who are still looking for summer jobs, and we want to meet them. Fill out a referral form to send them our way! A $500 bonus could be yours if we hire them for the full summer. Spread the word!
Our Summer 2025 Theme Verse:
Did you know that we pick a theme verse every summer? We choose this theme carefully and use it in lots of ways throughout camp, from Morning Assembly devotions to Sunday church services. We hope this verse will be an encouragement to you during your summer as a counselor and in the future.
We wanted you to be some of the first to know our 2025 theme verse; we hope you love it as much as we do!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
2026 Staffing Update:
We wanted you to be the first to know about an exciting change for next summer. As you might know, Junior Camp has always been run as a “stand-alone” session (with a separate Director and staff from the other sessions). Since Katie will be retiring this year, starting in 2026, Greystone will run all of our sessions with one team.
We are excited about the possibilities this opens up for Junior Camp and consider it a privilege to carry on the team’s tradition of providing the cutest week of the summer with love and laughter at every corner. We are still working on the details of our exact staffing plan and will send more information later this year. In the meantime, if you have questions, reach out!
FAQ Corner: Small Details
One of the best parts about camp is being present with the people around you - you’ll be surprised by how much you love putting down your phone! Your electronics will live in your locker in the Counselor Hut (where you’ll also be able to charge them) for you to access whenever you have a day or evening off. You’ll still have plenty of opportunities to communicate with your people but plan to be present in camp for the majority of your time here.
There are a couple of ways to do your laundry at camp - it all depends on your personal preference! Cabin Staff are welcome to send in their laundry once a week when their campers’ bags go out (just know that everything is washed and dried together on high heat). All staff can also do laundry during their time off using our free machines in the Counselor Hut. Just bring your own detergent!
Getting snail mail is one of the best parts about being on staff! You’ll be able to receive letters during the regular after-lunch mail time. One of the privileges of being on staff is that you can also receive packages (our campers aren’t allowed to get them). You’ll pick those up from the Counselor Hut when you’re off, so tell your friends to send you lots of care packages!
All mail should be addressed to: Your Name - STAFF 21 Camp Greystone Ln. Zirconia, NC 28790
The closer the summer gets, the more questions you might have about counselor life, summer details, and what you need to do right now to be prepared for this job. We try to cover a lot of ground in these newsletters, but we know you might still have questions, and that is exactly what we’re here for!
As you think of questions over the next few weeks, send us an email or fill out our question form, and we’ll get back to you with an answer. We want you to feel completely “in the know” now and throughout the summer!
Staff Manual: April Edition
The Staff Manual is your go-to place for all the details you’re wondering about. This month we’re getting into all the details that go into our different roles at camp: Program Staff, Cabin Staff, and Men Staff. Don’t miss it!
Pray with us!
This month, join us as we pray for a safe and healthy summer from the first day to the last!
Pray that all of our campers and staff members (!) would be protected from illnesses of all kinds. Pray for wisdom and endurance for the many camp doctors and nurses who will work so hard to take care of our community. Pray for safety in all of our activities and events and that God’s hand of protection would be on us every minute of our summer.
We are boldly praying that 2025 will be our healthiest summer at camp ever, all to God’s glory! Join us as we pray and trust the God who has protected Greystone for over 100 years. He is good, and He goes before us in all that we do!
Verse to meditate on:
(This is how we feel about all of you!)
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:9-14