A Uniquely Positive and Challenging Island Community

Do What's Right This Summer!

Mayhew is a uniquely positive, supportive, and challenging community. We offer an incredible opportunity to gain powerful, dynamic, real-world experience working with youth. Are you looking to become or are already a Youth Development Professional?

Mayhew is a not-for-profit organization striving to provide a positive environment for under-served, at-risk New Hampshire boys, ages 10-18, to challenge themselves in ways they never before thought possible.

Boys are referred to Mayhew for many different reasons—some have demonstrated questionable behaviors at home and at school that make them at risk for more serious problems in the future while others simply lack the opportunity to participate in the sorts of activities Mayhew offers—but every boy enrolled is chosen because he could benefit from the inevitable boost in self-esteem and self-control that Mayhew can help instill.

Although Mayhew works year-round with the boys—all of whom participate tuition-free—the foundation for a boy’s growth as part of the program resides in his first two summers spent on Mayhew Island, a place where a community of 30 staff—inevitably a crew of uncommon maturity, strength of character, and commitment to purpose—come together to serve as role models and sources of support for the boys of the program.  Together, boys and staff alike, we strive each summer to create the most positive, supportive, and uniquely challenging community that we can muster. Every summer we are in search of high-quality, high-character individuals to help.

We offer athletics counselor positions, hiking positions, swimming counselor positions, Adventure counselor positions, lead counselor positions, trip leader positions, and more.

We seek, first and foremost, people of strong character who naturally model the sorts of behaviors we hope to promote in the boys of the program. Maturity, patience, a good sense of humor, a commitment to purpose, and a strong ability to work well with others are also extremely important.

The boys are challenged to help create a positive, supportive, and sustainable community both within their cabin groups and in the greater Island community as a whole. The goal of each staff member is to focus on the needs of the boys, promoting each boy's growth by role-modeling positive behavior, calling public attention to each boy's successes, and quietly supporting each boy through his more challenging moments.

An Ideal Candidate is prepared to:

• Sacrifice their own interests for the benefit of others.  Our team members make sacrifices in working for the program: be it personal time, connections with friends and family outside of the program, or creature comforts, to name just a few things.  Team members acknowledge and readily accept such sacrifices as an inherent part of the experience.
   
• Eagerly & constantly engage the boys of the program.  Our team are interested in working with the boys of the program.  Sure, they thrive on staff camaraderie, but first and foremost they understand that the boys come first, and they go out of their way to connect and engage with the boys of the program throughout every day.
   
• Be a role model.  Mayhew staff understand that what we do as adults is as important as what we say.  Children naturally look to the adults around them for guidance, and the best camp staff naturally—and by default—model the strong character, maturity, and personal responsibility we hope to promote in the boys.
   
• ​​​​​​Demonstrate a sincere interest in learning.  Mayhew staff are as eager to learn as they are to teach. They want to understand the workings of the world around them; they want to engage in conversations with people, ask questions, seek advice, and think about their own thinking. They come out to the Island ready to share their own ideas, but they’re also intensely interested in absorbing the ideas of the community.
   
• Live and work as part of a COMMUNITY.  Our team understands that each individual at Mayhew is only one part of a larger community; they always consider how their decisions will impact those around them; they’re not afraid to ask for help from others, and they’re skilled at recognizing when others may need help from them.
   
• Live and work in a highly structured setting. The many rules and expectations of life on the Island (and there are lots of them!) are in place for a reason.  Mayhew staff are comfortable living up to those rules and expectations themselves, and they’re comfortable enforcing them consistently and fairly among the boys.
   
• Always be a professional. Staff recognize that our team is a group of professionals who must carry themselves accordingly: calm, rational, punctual, dependable, and honest; able to follow directions from senior staff and they’re open to feedback; can think on their feet and extrapolate from the basic tenets of the program to make appropriate decisions in new situations.  It's important to not overly personalize work and have an ability to remain calm and appropriately detached in stressful situations.
   
• Always be patient. Each boy is likely to act out or make a bad decision at some point during the summer.  However, our team knows that Mayhew is focused on the long-term and that success is defined by growth rather than perfection.  We need to be consistently patient—whether a boy is acting out on the first day of the summer or the last.
   
• Demonstrate a tremendous work ethic. Mayhew staff are drawn to challenges and eager to get their hands dirty. Seeking out opportunities to pitch in even when completely exhausted, quick to their feet and ready for action when a job needs doing.  Exceptional staff members believe that “work can be fun!”
   
• Be creative. Mayhew team members are creative.  They’re very good at constantly coming up with new ways to engage the boys, be it developing an entertaining skit for the group to perform for the rest of camp at Community Night or figuring out a new way to teach the breaststroke to a boy who just doesn’t seem to get it during swim lessons.
   
• Be self-aware & demonstrate self-control. Mayhew staff strive to understand themselves; they’re always in full control and have the ability to tailor their demeanor easily to suit the situation at hand.  For example, they can be boisterous, energetic & fun when appropriate but then quickly transition to being quiet, calm & serious, if necessary, like having a conversation with a boy about his behavior.
   
• Be self-reflective. Mayhew staff are encouraged to analyze actions, words, and decisions in an effort to improve not only as counselors but also as people.  We believe that mistakes only count as failures when nothing is learned and applied to the next opportunity.

Full room and board are provided for the full ten-weeks of the program.  Life on the Island is a bit rustic. The boy cabins don’t have electricity, we have composting toilets, and the staff shower is outdoors!  What we lack in luxuries, we more than make up for in atmosphere.

Counselors get one day off each week (as well as breaks after training and camp sessions) and alternate cabin-duty in the boys’ cabins every other night.

Beyond the terrific experience of working and living on a beautiful island and a chance to work with some very deserving and appreciative young men, Mayhew offers new summer staff a salary of $5000 with the chance to earn an additional end-of-the-season bonus of $1000 for a job well done.  Mayhew also offers great staff camaraderie and a shared sense of purpose that is second to none.  Lastly, Mayhew staff members inevitably gain invaluable practical skills in working with children and leadership skills that quite naturally translate into other areas.

• Staff are welcome to bring their own vehicles and keep them at camp.
• We can pick staff up from New Hampshire’s Manchester Boston Regional Airport (airport code MHT) if you choose to fly into the area, or at Boston’s Logan International Airport (airport code BOS).
• We are also happy to pick you up from the bus station. The most convenient bus station is in Concord, which is New Hampshire’s capital city and a 45-minute drive from Camp Mayhew.

At Mayhew, we believe that “it’s not so much what we do, but how we do it” that makes Mayhew such a special community.  Our goal for each activity, be it work or play, is to do our best while working TOGETHER.  Winning a soccer game doesn’t mean a thing if the star player scored all the goals and refused to pass to his teammates.  On the other hand, if a group spends an entire work hour struggling unsuccessfully to split one impressively stubborn log, but each boy works harmoniously and supportively with his cabinmates from start to finish, we chalk that activity up as a terrific success.

With this group-minded philosophy in mind, we have a great time each day playing sports, swimming, rowing, hiking, climbing, overcoming obstacles in our adventure program, being creative, and just enjoying our time together on the Island.  We also spend time daily working to make the Island a better place: we split wood, row the garbage off the Island, clear brush from the trails, and participate in numerous other ongoing projects.  The Island is a great place to live because everyone pitches in and helps make it so.