GAZETTE PHOTO BY JILL BALLINGER JAMES PAIGE, THE SENIOR STAFF MEMBER OF THE SUMMER PROGRAM, PLAYS A GAME WITH DAY CAMP PARTICIPANTS DURING A POOL BREAK LAST WEEK. Once upon a time, they were kids, participating in Mariposa County Parks and Recreation’s day camp program. Fast forward a few years, and those kids are now running the program and loving every minute of it.

This year, the popular summer program has four staff members who were former day campers. Each of them is thrilled to be back at camp, now as its leaders.

James Paige, Mackenzie Conway, Mikaela Williams and Haley Hutchings are part of the staff that makes day camp what it is, a fun, affordable summer escape for local kids. All of them have very specific memories of what they liked about the program as children.

Paige said it was the scavenger hunts, and Williams remembered octupus tag. Conway had fond memories of the field trip to the zoo, and Hutchings loved being in the pool every day.

MIKAELA WILLIAMS HELPS A DAY CAMP MEMBER WITH A BATTLESHIP MOVE. WILLIAMS IS A FIRST-YEAR EMPLOYEE WITH THE PROGRAM AND A FORMER PARTICIPANT AND VOLUNTEER. They knew then that they wanted to come back as employ- ployees. “It looked like fun,” Hutchings said of the recreation leaders who worked the program when she was young. “It was like being a big kid, but getting paid for it.”

Paige said the fun card played heavily in his hand too. “It was being outside playing and swimming all day,” he said.

Not bad work, if you can get it.

Conway had a simple goal. She wanted to drive the GEM, an electric vehicle staff uses to manuever around the park.

Now that they are on the staff this summer, they have favorite parts of the their jobs. Conway said it starts when the kids arrive. “Every morning I have kids shout ‘Mackenzie, Mackenzie,’” because they are excited to see her. Paige said he “lives for” pool parties.

For Williams, this summer marks a different experience than she had as a participant, and for the past two years, a volunteer with the program.

“It’s being able to really relate to the other employees and not feel like the underdog,” Williams said of this summer.

Program Manager Shannon Hansen and Day Camp Director Hillary Rowney are pleased with the staff they have and the message they send by growing up in the program. “Of course we like that our participants come back to be employees,” Hansen said. “It’s really special that our staff wants to come back each year. That says something about parks and recreation, the program and the community.”

Hansen said all the recreation leaders who were once participants have been great. “We’ve been really fortunate with all the kids who have come back. They are very good role models for these kids,” she said. “That makes us very proud that they like and want to come back every year.”

There are challenges working with so many children. All of the staff members said discipline is tough. Conway said it’s sometimes hard to enforce behavioral rules when you can remember trying to pull the same stuff as a kids. Williams added that making participants understand the rules is challeging.

Hutchings noted that knowing what works for each child is key. “For each kid, punishment is different. You have to understand what is best for them. It’s about keeping your cool, but still having fun with it,” she said.

Paige has been with the program for six seasons. He says the best part of being a staff member is what he can do for the participants.

“It’s being able to be a role model for the younger kids,” Paige said of the best part of his job. “It’s rewarding to look forward to going to work everyday.”

Hutchings said the staff and participants are like family. Williams said her days are full of surprises. “It’s something different every day,” she said.

Conway, who is doing her second season with the program, agrees. “It’s knowing that every day some kid is full of excitement that you’re here. It’s like being Peter Pan. You never grow up.”

And, now she gets to drive the GEM.

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