Archive for the ‘Adventure Camp’ Category
February 15, 2010 by JackHarvey • 10 Comments »
Posted in Adventure Camp, SeaWorld Camp
I’ve posted before about our great camp staff and our intensive staff training, but a question I find myself answering a lot is, “What do we look for in a camp counselor?” Since the beginning of January, the resident camp supervisor, Brittany, and I have been interviewing a long list of applicants to join our teams this summer. Last I checked the list was at well over a hundred.
So what do we look for? Two key ingredients:
First, a love for working with children. When parents send their kids to camp, whether its day camp or resident camp, or just to spend one night at the Jack Hanna Sleepover, they are entrusting their child’s life to us. We want someone who enjoys being with kids. Whether it’s the first week of camp, or the last week of camp, our counselors should enjoy being with these kids and should provide the same experience to each of the over 6,000 campers that experience our programs.
Along with this, is the realization of the responsibility they hold as a camp counselor. As much as camp is about having fun, making friends and learning about animals, counselors should realize that above all else, the safety of that child is their priority. We are in loco parentis (in place of a parent) during camp. It’s a huge responsibility, but for the right people, it is a responsibility they understand and never compromise.
Second, they have to love animals. Not all of our counselors are animal experts when they apply; some of them have never been to SeaWorld. That’s one of the key parts of our two weeks of training. I’ve often said I’d rather hire someone that knows kids and I teach them about animals than have to hire an animal lover and teach them to work with children. But they all enjoy teaching about the amazing animals we have at SeaWorld and spreading our message of awareness and conservation to all of our campers.
Besides that, we’ll interview anyone that meets the qualifications. We talk to outgoing people and some quiet people, some biology students and some education majors, former campers and some who have never heard of us before now. It’s a wide variety of applicants and it’s always a challenge to put together a team of individuals who make a difference in the lives of our campers. But it’s a challenge we look forward to every year.
January 21, 2010 by KellyMorales • 1 Comment »
Posted in Adventure Camp, Around the Park, animals
SeaWorld San Antonio becomes such a different place when we’re not open to the public. At first glance it seems peaceful and serene, but once you look a little closer, it is still a bustle of activity!
During winter months, our Aquarium Department has the opportunity to refurbish, enhance and maybe even change the smaller aquariums in our Sharks/The Coral Reef habitat. They also are working on expanding their facilities to propagate and grow very fragile live coral species and build a space to raise frogs.
Even though we are closed and there are not any shows or guests at the community pools, the animal trainers and keepers stay busy as well. They still work with, feed and care for the animals, work on animal behaviors for shows in 2010, welcome guests on the Sea Lion and Beluga Interaction Programs, and now they are busier than ever after the arrival of the killer whale calf on January 7. As the calf swims alongside its mother, the trainers observe and record behaviors such as nursing, breathing, swimming patterns and bonding.
Did you know that it is the middle of summer for our penguins? Since penguins are naturally found in the Southern Hemisphere, they are on an “austral” season cycle, which is the opposite of what we experience. If you visited the park in July, you may have noticed that it was dark inside the Penguin Encounter. This is because July is the middle of winter in the Sub-Antarctic, where our species are naturally found. Now that we are in January, the penguins are experiencing their summertime, and are busy caring for their eggs and raising chicks recently born in the habitat.
The Education and Conservation Department is busy as well. Not only are we preparing for camp, tours and school programs for the coming year, but we recently hosted a special Adventure Camp for students from Texas A&M University at Galveston.
We also offer a special tour called Seafari, which gives our guests an opportunity to see the park when it’s not open to the public. If you have ever been curious about seeing what it would be like to visit SeaWorld and have the park to yourself, feed dolphins and sea lions away from the crowds, and get a behind-the-scenes peek at what it is like to care for the animals during our winter months, then click here to begin planning your SeaWorld experience.
January 15, 2010 by JackHarvey • 3 Comments »
Posted in Adventure Camp
 Students from Texas A&M at Galveston participated in a modified camp program for course credit. On January 4, twenty-two students from Texas A&M University at Galveston started an 11-day intercession course entitled “Introduction to Marine Biology: the SeaWorld Experience.” For the first five days of the class, students spend their day in the animal areas, working side-by-side with animal trainers and keepers.
After experiencing what it’s like to work at a zoological facility, the students participate in mock interviews with the zoological staff and choose to specialize for an additional three days in select animal areas. This allows for a more in-depth look into what it takes to work with animals at SeaWorld, and gives them real-life experience in interview situations for positions at the park.
Each afternoon after working in the areas, the students attend lecture courses from Texas A&M University at Galveston professors and graduate students to introduce concepts in marine biology as well as SeaWorld professions. These lectures cover topics such as research programs or conservation projects the team members have been a part of.
SeaWorld San Antonio and Texas A&M University at Galveston have partnered for the past 10 years to offer this course. Dr. Jay Rooker, Professor of Marine Biology, Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Marine Sciences, has taught the class for several years and says,
“The course provides our students with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ experience in a zoological park early in their academic careers when they are making decisions about degree plans. In addition to learning the fundamentals of marine conservation, our students acquire basic skills in animal husbandry and get the opportunity to work side-by-side with professionals in the fields of education, animal behavior and veterinary medicine. Many of our past students have gone on to successful careers in marine-based research and education, including positions at SeaWorld and other zoological parks.”
Although this is a special class offered through the university, our Adventure Camp programs offer high school and college students similar experiences throughout the year. For more information on our Adventure Camp, visit www.swbg-adventurecamps.com.
Thanks and Gig ‘em,
Jack
October 14, 2009 by JackHarvey • 1 Comment »
Posted in Adventure Camp, Children, Events, Howl-O-Scream, SeaWorld Camp, Uncategorized
A few weekends ago, I was up at the Central Texas Kid’s Expo in Belton, TX, with some fellow team members spreading the word about what’s going on at SeaWorld this fall. When we go to events like this, most everyone knows about SeaWorld (although some are surprised when we say we’re from San Antonio), but I’m always surprised when they don’t know about all of the Education programs we offer. I’ve had this conversation many times:
Me: Howdy! How’s it goin’?
Passerby: Doin’ well. Oh we love SeaWorld! We have season passes.
Me: Great! We’ve got Howl-O-Scream coming up at the park, have you ever been to that?
Passerby: Oh no, but we heard about it. It looks pretty cool.
Me: It’s a blast. We have stuff for younger kids during the day, then it gets scarier at night. You can even spend the night at SeaWorld.
Passerby: Wow. I didn’t know you could do that. What would you think about spending the night at SeaWorld, Johnny?
So, just in case you didn’t know…
You can spend the night at SeaWorld for Halloween. We’re doing a Howl-O-Scream Sleepover October 24th. Children 3-5 years old must be accompanied by a parent and 1st-8th graders come by themselves.
We do special Halloween activities along with seeing all of the creepy things happening in the park, like “Shamu’s Rockin’ Creep Show,” “Jack’s Frightmare Forest,” and much more. Plus, learn about many of the animals that live at SeaWorld. Then we’ll sleep in our sleeping bags in the Sharks/Coral Reef Exhibit. The kids definitely have the option not to participate in certain features if they get too scared, but there’s something for everyone throughout the night.
 Guests enjoying Sharks/The Coral Reef before drifting off to sleep. Now that you know about our Adventure Camp programs in October, I’ll give you a little hint: If you’re at the website checking out the camps, also check out the Jack Hanna Sleepover coming up Nov. 6. I’ll give you more details on that one later, but it’s definitely one you won’t want to miss.
Thanks and Gig ‘em,
Jack
September 2, 2009 by JackHarvey • 3 Comments »
Posted in Adventure Camp, Children, Events, SeaWorld Camp, Uncategorized
 Sleepover campers learn about penguin eggs during the sleepover. “So what do you do when camp’s not going on?”
The camp management staff gets asked this question often during the off-season (September – May) and I’ll be honest, things do slow down quite a bit. We can fit in some vacation time or at least just sleep a bit later before coming in to the office. It’s also a time we recap and evaluate how the summer went and think about changes for next year. We’re already starting to plan dates and programs for next year. But there are a few cool camp programs still to come this fall.
SeaWorld Camp In the Fall?
Brittany, our resident camp supervisor still runs 2-4 night group camp programs for school groups and scouts. Plus there is a really cool Parent/Child Adventure Camp a few weekends in the fall in addition to some other Career camp programs for high school and college students.
Our new sleepover supervisors, Hope and Tommy, host schools, families and scouts in sleepover programs throughout the fall. We also have specialized sleepovers during Howl-O-Scream and the holiday season.
Shamu’s Stroller Club
And I shift my focus from 5- to 12-year-olds to 1- to 4-year-olds. Shamu’s Stroller Club is a program we started for 1- to 2-year-olds with a parent this spring and it was very well received this spring. Shamu’s SeaSchool is a similar program for 3-4 year olds with a parent. Each of the two camps have a different curriculum that we run each week. Both programs will be offered Saturdays this fall. Details can be found online, but it’s best to book the programs at the park’s Reservation Center or over the phone at 1-800-700-7786.
So although most of our camp counselors are back in school and not working anymore, there is plenty of work for us to do after the summer’s over.
Thanks and gig em!
Jack
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