Columbia Outdoor School — Local services in Cranbrook

As a former camper and Counsellor at Blue Lake I can confirm that this place is truly magical. Blue Lake has improved tremendously since I was a camper, both in facility and in staff. Staff go through a week long training program to help them learn all of the skills necessary to become a worker with youth. As another person has mentioned, there are cliques at blue lake. Cliques are to be expected as 95% of the staff are teenagers. Most of the staff will live together at camps for 7 weeks. It is very easy to make connections and friends when you spend that long together. Of course someone who joins part way through won’t immediately be a part of the group but after a few days you get accepted. I have spent 3 summers as a counsellor for Blue lake and they have been the best summers of my life. Blue Lake and Columbia Outdoor School is an AMAZING workplace for teens that are starting out a career. Blue lake has formed an committee dedicated to making Camp a safer and more inclusive place to work. I can confirm that BLC is actively listening to their employees and are making a ton of improvements to make...

Probably the fastest 5 star review of my life. As someone who's been through every program they have to offer, including employment, it's what I can only describe as my favourite place in the world. As a camper, the whole experience felt absolutely magical, like I was up in a different world where there wasn't stress or concerns to worry about. Now, working here, I've come to realize exactly how well everything is integrated together to give campers that feeling. The ability to teach hours on hours of lessons and build new skills in children while keeping them entirely engaged and feeling as though they're constantly having fun is something I've never found in somewhere other than here. Management is equally excellent; it feels as though it's a group of people that genuinely care about the well-being of their staff, rather than just the amount of work they can legally make them do. I've met some of my closest friends here, and made connections that I intend to keep for the rest of my life. Thank you, Blue Lake, for giving me the best...

Working here was fun sometimes, however the work environment was toxic and had a large clique and if you were not part of this group you were excluded and it was not a fun experience. I used to love coming here as a child and was very excited when I got the job, however these expectations of a healthy work environment last as I was met with the true reality of this toxic work environment. EDIT: First, this actually was not my first full time job and second : I never received an invite to this staff committee that you described. I used to love going to camp here but this work environment is not sustainable for a good...