A Day in the Life of…a Bus Counsellor

I’m Jessica, a newbie to Camp Robin Hood. This summer I will be shadowing units, cabins, staff, and various activities, and giving you an inside look at what it’s like to spend summers at CRH. I hope you have as much fun as I’m having!
Age Group: All ages
Bus: 46 (Thornhill Woods)
Counsellors: Melanie, Justin, Zachary

I am not a bus person. It’s been over ten years since I’ve been on a school bus, and when I moved to Toronto, it took me a long time to warm up to the idea of city busses. I’m not really sure where my issue with busses stems from, but regardless, it meant that I wasn’t overly excited to ride the bus to and from camp. I sucked it up anyway because I knew how big of a deal the bus ride at Camp Robin Hood is. And man was I glad I got the experience!

It was Sports Day that day, so I got into my 49ers outfit and headed to the neighbourhood pick-up location where I would meet up with the majority of the kids on Bus 46. I was surprised to see that there were other camps that also used this location as their pick-up spot, but it was easy to see which campers were going to CRH with their bright blue backpacks. I was there just long enough to see a few kids start playing soccer before the bus arrived and Melanie, Justin and Zachary stepped out to greet the campers and their parents and take attendance.

Now I was expecting the kids to be much louder, but for the most part they were just hanging out with their friends that they hadn’t seen since Friday. We had one door-to-door pick-up to make and then we were on our way. Once we hopped on to the 407, the excitement really started. It was time to prepare for Bus Cup Challenge points. The counsellors started off with giving each seat a window marker. The kids went to town colouring and drawing their names and pictures while Justin gave them an assignment. They needed to come up with two rhyming words that related to camp, bus or sports. Each seat gave their suggestions for rhymes and then Justin handed them to Mel to put them all together to form one big rhyme.

In the meantime, all three counsellors were joking around with the kids, dancing and being just silly enough that even the older kids (me) found it fun and not annoying for 8:30 am. I have to say, considering Mel, Zach and Justin had been awake and on the bus for quite some time already, they had a ton of energy. Next thing I knew we were already off the 407 so it was time to throw it into high gear. Zach and Justin taught the kids the rhyme and then moved on to Bus 46’s Sports Day Cheer (to the tune of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”), take a look below.

We arrived to camp and the bus admin hopped on the bus to hear our rhyme and cheer. Once we had given them all the energy we could muster up, the kids flew off the bus and headed to their units to enjoy the day.

I also went about my day and by the time it got around to dismissal I was not as energetic as I had been in the morning. It was super-hot that day, and frankly, I was not in the mood to get back on the bus. My 30 minute drive home has always been dedicated to “me” time, unwinding from the day with my music blasting and my windows down. But, I sucked it up, like every other staff member that rides the bus has to do, cause the motto at CRH is that the bus ride should be just as fun for campers as their day at camp is. It’s amazing how quickly I forgot about my normal routine once I was actually on the bus and making friends with a bunch of girls with boondoggle! But more about that later.

When I found my seat on the bus, the little girl that I was sitting beside climbed over me and joined a bunch of other kids on the other side of the bus. In fact, every camper was standing on the seats and looking out the windows, which I quickly realized was a CRH tradition. They were waving and yelling out their counsellor’s names, Howie and Sari’s names, and other staff members that they come across in their day.

I understand that the whole point of me writing these blog posts is so you guys as parents can get a little sneak peek of what your kids’ day is like at camp. But this daily event (yes, it’s an event) of the kids waving bye to all of the staff lined up along the drive way out of camp is something I wish all of you could experience. It’s pretty cool to see from outside of the busses, but it’s a whole other thing to see from inside the busses. This last image of the day that your kids get before the drive home is definitely one of the things that gets them excited to come back to camp the next day. There is so much energy on both sides of the goodbye, it’s truly a sight to see.

Once we were all properly back in our seats and off the property, the boondoggle party started! I wasn’t able to make a bracelet, but I did get to make a little key chain. I also helped two girls tie a 15-piece project and start another camper’s bracelet. I know that CRH does their best to make sure the bus ride is as quick and easy as possible, and that’s exactly what it was. I was enjoying myself so much that I was surprised when we got back to the neighbourhood drop-off. I definitely was happy to get back in my car the next day, but I’m so glad I got to have that truly authentic CRH experience. Thanks Bus 46 for giving me faith in school busses again!

Side note: I need to give a quick shout out to the bus admin team and their fearless leaders Robin, Ehren and Larry. I happen to sit right across from Robin in the office, where I hear her working non-stop before, during and after camp hours making sure that your kids get to and from camp as safely as possible. Their dedication is just amazing.