THIS IS A SEASONAL POSITION
Parks & Recreation
Summer Program Counselor [Therapeutics Counselor]
Posting Expires: Open Until Filled
Salary: $17.00
Purpose of Classification
The purpose of this job is to oversee summer camp youth with mild to moderate disabilities including but not limited to Physical, Emotional, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Attention Deficits and Learning Disabilities in an attempt to enhance their development through enrichment activities. We serve youth ages 6 – 18 for seven weeks by implementing integrate reading, conflict resolution, and social action in an activity-based curriculum to promote social, cultural and historical awareness. Duties include but are not limited to: working cooperatively with administration and camp staff, supervising youth, planning and implementing activities, promoting camper participation, maintaining facilities and supplies, providing superior customer service, attending meetings, instructing campers in emergency procedures, abiding by organizational policy and procedures and performing other duties as required.
Essential duties and responsibilities: The following duties are normal for this job. These are not to be construed as exclusive or all-inclusive.Other duties may be required or assigned.
Work Delegation:
Serves as group counselor during activity periods, assist in the monitoring and feeding during breakfast and lunch periods, and transfers groups from one station to the next.
Group supervision of campers in activities and daily camp operations.
Utilizing superior human relation skills when dealing with officials, administration, employees, parents, guests, or visitors.
Attend all scheduled meetings, keeps records of daily attendance.
Assist campers with restroom breaks and changing assistance as needed daily.
Identifies and meets camper needs daily.
Planning and Organizing:
Plans and implements educational, recreational and social enrichment activities for campers.
Familiarizes with camp lesson plans and implements adapted educational and recreational activities.
Attends program meetings designated by supervisor.
Minimum Qualifications:
Minimum age for hire is 19 years old.
High school diploma or GED required
Must be an education professional with experience in Physical or Special Education or Adapted Recreation OR a college student majoring in Physical Education or Adapted Recreation.
One-year experience working with youth with special needs or three (3) summers.
Must pass background check for criminal and child protective findings.
Must pass a drug screening.
Additional Information:
City of Atlanta required training June 1st – June 5th, 2026.
Summer staff will be required to work an 8-hour shift Monday – Friday from June 8th– July 24th, 2026; hours are 7:30 am – 6:00 pm; Vacation requests during this time will not be approved.
All summer staff must be actively involved with campers during swim times and wear a bathing suit (one-piece for females, swimming trunks with lining for males). Staff is not required to know how to swim or teach swim lessons.
The City of Atlanta remains a transportation hub, not just for the country but also for the world: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is one of the nations busiest in daily passenger flights. Direct flights to Europe, South America, and Asia have made metro Atlanta easily accessible to the more than 1,000 international businesses that operate here and the more than 50 countries that have representation in the city through consulates, trade offices, and chambers of commerce. The city has emerged as a banking center and is the world headquarters for 13 Fortune 500 companies.
Atlanta is the Capital city of the southeast, a city of the future with strong ties to its past. The old in new Atlanta is the soul of the city, the heritage that enhances the quality of life in a contemporary city. In the turbulent 60's, Atlanta was "the city too busy to hate." And today, in the 21st Century, Atlanta is the "city not too busy to care".
For more than four decades Atlanta has been linked to the civil rights movement. Civil Rights leaders moved forward, they were the visionaries who saw a new south, a new Atlanta. They believed in peace. They made monumental sacrifices for that peace. And because of them Atlanta became a fast-pace modern city which opened its doors to the 1996 Olympics.
Die-hard Southerners view Atlanta as the heart of the Old Confederacy; Atlanta has become the best example of the New South, a fast-paced modern city proud of its heritage.
In the past two decades Atlanta has experienced unprecedented growth -- the official city population remains steady, at about 420,000, but the metro population has grown in the past decade by nearly 40%, from 2.9 million to 4.1 million people. A good measure of this growth is the ever-changing downtown skyline, along with skyscrapers constructed in the Midtown, Buckhead, and outer perimeter (fringing I-285) business districts.
