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Administrative Staff
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Jamie Vorwald arrived at CSC in 1984 as young child with her parents
Jim and Mary, who worked at camp for many years. As a full time
camper, Jamie grew up in the Red Creek Valley. The magic of the
valley, year after year, ignited a love no amount of education
or 'real jobs' could quench. She later returned as a head counselor
for two summers before joining the administrative team as Office
Manager in 2010. Jamie graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2005
with a degree in Early Childhood Education. |
 Tyler
Dixon joined the CSC family in the summer of 2008 working as a
Head Counselor in both Outpost and Spruce, and then returning
the summer of 2009 as Pathfinding Coordinator. He is currently
serving as Program Director at CSC. Tyler graduated from the University
of Missouri in 2009 with a degree in Business Administration.
He brings with him both business expertise and experience working
with children in wilderness settings. In his spare time Tyler
enjoys spending time in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, or
just relaxing and playing or listening to music. |
 Cassidy
Colvig grew up as a camper at CSC. He joined the seasonal staff
from 1993 to 1996 as an Assistant and Head Counselor. After working
at CSC for a few summers, Cassidy entered into the construction
field with tools learned from his Uncle Jim. He returned to the
Red Creek Valley in 2008 and started his own remodeling company
in Durango. In the fall of 2011 Cassidy joined the CSC Administration
staff as the Site Manager. In his spare time Cassidy enjoys spending
time with his family, wife Monica, daughter Cruz and son Jonah,
as well as skiing and traveling. |
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Some
of our Summer Staff: |
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 Nancy
Hushek and Cindy Murphy have been our Chef team for the last 9 years.
Nancy, a camper during the first year of camp, has been with us
since 1991 as a Chef and Cindy since 1999. They are both teachers
and mothers during the rest of the year, and have daughters that
have come to camp for years. CSC wouldn’t be the same without
these two ladies, who keep all of the campers happy, healthy, and
full throughout the summer! |
 Scotty
Hipwell first came to the Red Creek Valley with his sister Holli
during the summer of 2001. He has been coming back to CSC nearly
every summer since, and each year he takes home great memories.
He first joined the CSC staff in the summer of 2009 working at Expedition.
Scotty joined the counseling staff in 2011 as an Assistant Counselor
and Head Counselor. He always has great programming ideas, as you
can see from the photo to your right of the Freestyle Walking activity.
Freestyle Walking was an activity that Scotty did as a camper and
he helped bring it back to CSC this past summer. Scotty is currently
a student at the University of Northern Colorado studying Math Education. |
Clay
Colvig has directed Colvig Silver Camps since 1998. He grew up
at CSC as a camper, and later as a Counselor and Administrator.
Free time was spent studying at Colorado College and the University
of Colorado and traveling in Europe. After a few enjoyable years
in the architecture industry, he and Tavia chose to return to
Durango to lead the family vision into the next millenium. When
not in the office, Clay enjoys time with his family, lego time
with son Conor, and riding, skiing, and hiking the trails of CSC.
Tavia
Colvig is the Financial Director and Food Service Manager at CSC.
She graduated from Colorado College and then earned her law degree
from the University of Colorado. She practiced law in Boulder
before moving to Durango in 1998 to live the dream. Tavia enjoys
films, culinary arts, traveling, playing with son Conor, and taking
care of the family pets and camp animals.
Chris
Janjic came to camp in 2005 as a Spruce Camper and for three more
years in both Outpost and Pathfinding. He came back to the Red
Creek Valley in 2011 as a CSC staff member. In 2011, Chris worked
as the camp photographer and took excellent photos. He is currently
studying International Relations and Photo Journalism at Syracuse
University. Chris is a Colorado native and makes his home in Boulder
when he is not at camp or attending school. He enjoys backpacking,
biking, and photography.
Stephanie
Carter first found CSC as a camper in the summer of 1999. This
inspired her to work as an Assistant Counselor and a Head Counselor
in 2004 and 2005. After graduating from Tulane with a degree in
Art History and Psychology, Steph returned to fill the role as
Program Coordinator in Silver Saddle for the summers of 2007,
2009, and 2010. She accredits her passion for working with children
as well as her love for the outdoors to her many years at CSC.
Steph is currently pursuing graduate work in art therapy and plans
to eventually use this to help children through the process of
creating art and exploring the world around them.STAFF
FAQ'S
Where
Do You Find Your Staff?
Typically, our staff finds us! We advertise on many job- and summer camp-related
websites and we are listed in publications such as Peterson's Guide to
summer employment, the American Camping Association's guide to summer
jobs, and several others. Approximately
50-60% of our staff each summer are returning staff members and/or former
CSC campers. This high return rate adds stability and continuity to our
diverse summer program.
Who
Are Your Staff?
Most
of our summer staff are college students between the ages of 21 and 25.
We hire a handful of 18-20 year olds as assistant counselors as well.
Staff members come from diverse backgrounds and have a wide variety of
previous experience, but all have a passion for working with children
in an outdoor setting. Many counselors are teachers or teachers in training.
Many are majoring in areas such as education, outdoor/experiential education,
recreation, psychology, social work and other related fields. We also
look for wilderness experience and experience with outdoor programs (such
as other summer camps, NOLS or Outward Bound, adventure programs, ropes
courses, etc.). We hire a handful of "specialists" to oversee specific
program areas, including two wranglers to run the horse program, an arts
and crafts director, and a rock climbing supervisor.
What's
"special" about them?
As compared to other camps, we ask our counseling staff to do most of
the in-camp program 
planning.
At the beginning of each term, counselors are given an open schedule.
Working as a team, each age group's staff fills in the blanks by planning
a wide range of exciting activities for their campers. This method of
program planning gives staff a high degree of freedom and flexibility
to plan activities which most appeal to them and their campers. In this
manner, they are able to creatively plan activities which fully utilize
their personal strengths and areas of interest and/or expertise. This
helps to make each term a little different and to provide a unique experience
for each and every camper.
Obviously, we rely heavily on "traditional" summer camp activities such as western riding, arts & crafts, target sports, swimming, fishing, hiking, etc., but counselors are free to plan new and creative activities to add breadth and depth to our diverse program. Many of these planning choices are based on specific camper interests. Coupled with our "choice-oriented" philosophy, this gives campers an opportunity to "customize" their stay with us to a fair degree, as opposed to being told specifically what they will be doing with us every minute of every day.
How
Are They Screened?
All prospective summer staff initially submit an application to our office.
Our screening process includes reference checks (both written and over
the phone), an interview, a driving record check, a criminal record check
(in most cases) and a physical examination. Applicants are evaluated in
areas such as responsibility, maturity, professionalism, decision-making
skills, creativity and enthusiasm. We also look for experience, formal
and informal, in the fields of child care, wilderness, and outdoor education.
The end product is a highly motivated and enthusiastic summer staff!
What
about Training?
All summer staff, both new and return, must participate in pre-camp staff
training, which lasts for ten days. During this time we train staff members
in all areas of camp operation, beginning with philosophy, mission, procedures
and policies. This training also covers areas such as specifics of camp
operation, program planning, emergency procedures and discipline issues,
to name a few. The second half of staff training focuses specifically
on our wilderness program, stressing areas such as decision making, safety,
emergency procedures, and wilderness first aid, among many others.
COLVIG SILVER CAMPS
9665 Florida Road
Durango,
Colorado 81301(970) 247-2564
Fax:
(970) 247-2547 E-mail:
office@colvigsilvercamps.comwww.colvigsilvercamps.com
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