“My First Job”: Mahackeno Mentors Teenage Staff

The 16-year-old applied to be a Camp Mahackeno counselor.

But he struggled when Westport Weston Family YMCA officials — who run the popular summer camp — asked for online forms.

Then he had difficulty getting to, and through, training sessions. He was about to lose his job.

When Y human resources director Brian Kuzmiak sat with the boy, he learned the full story. The teenager had a difficult home life. He had no ride to and from work, and the only time he used a computer was at the library.

Kuzmiak took a chance. He and Mahackeno director Emily Regan mentored him.

“He turned out to be one of our best and most energetic counselors,” the HR head says. “Kids always surrounded him.”

He returned this year, for a second summer. Again, he bikes to and from work every day.

That’s one success story among dozens. With 175 staff members — 35% of the Y’s total employees — the organization is one of Westport’s largest employers of young people.

175 young people work at Camp Mahackeno. Many are teenagers; nearly all are under the age of 25.

More than half of the counselors are 16 to 18 years old. For many, it’s their first job ever. They’ve never applied for work; never sat for an interview; never been entrusted with work responsibilities.

And at Mahackeno, those responsibilities include the safety and well-being of hundreds of younger kids.

So Kuzmiak, Regan and Westport Y CEO Anjali McCormick have responsibilities of their own, as they hire and supervise camp staff.

They take that aspect of their roles very seriously.

“The Y’s mission is ‘youth development, healthy living and social responsibility,'” McCormick notes.

“So we develop the whole youth. We prepare children for life, for being mature, contributing adults. We are there as they move from playing sports and doing our programs, to being in many cases their first employer.”

A young person’s first job is an important life milestone. 

That means not just hiring young people. It involves teaching life skills like punctuality, dressing respectfully, communicating with supervisors, treating others well, and being role models.

“It’s really leadership training, without being an official leadership program,” McCormick says. (That training includes helping staff members in college mentor those still in high school.)

Those are big challenge. But, she adds, “it’s great when kids excel and shine. We’re serving the community — and adding to the labor pool.”

The application process begins online. That’s the first hurdle for many teens: They’re not used to checking email.

“There’s a lot of ghosting” — no further communication — “after the application,” Kuzmiak says. “We try to make contact, but at some point we assume the kid is not interested.”

The hiring process weeds out those who really want to work, from those whose parents want them to.

Then — for those who follow up — comes an in-person interview.

“Kids are usually nervous,” Kuzmiak says. “We try to put them at ease, with a casual conversation. At the same time we look for things like, are they making eye contact?

“Eventually we want to know ‘Why are you applying? What are you looking for in a job?’ Most of them genuinely want to work, and they like kids. Some are doing it because their parents are making them.”

Parents can be an issue in other ways too.

“When a mom or dad asks me why their child wasn’t hired, I say, ‘Tell them to call us,'” Kuzmiak explains. “They’re the ones who applied for the job.”

How often do parents involve themselves in their child’s application (or eventual work, with questions about — for example — their pay)?

“More than you think,” Kuzmiak says.

Once hired, there are forms to fill out — contracts, information on sexual harassment and social media policies, direct deposits — and training sessions.

The most important element, McCormick emphasizes, is safety.

“We are a child-service organization. We’re licensed by the state. We have to train 175 people about counting heads, bathroom policies, you name it. It’s a mammoth exercise.”

Counting heads is an important part of camp policy.

And, of course, many of them are still teenagers.

“There’s a lot of hormones. Some of them have their own issues. It’s a lot,” McCormick says.

Most counselors quickly assume responsibility, and grow in the job. “I’m surprised at the number who ‘get it,'” Kuzmiak says. “Punctuality and professionalism has been great.”

Many counselors are only a few years older than their campers.

Of course, Y leaders must spend “a lot of time on those who don’t.”

“Emily really bumps them up,” McCormick says. “She makes sure they show up on time, dressed appropriately, and work as a team.”

But when late summer hits — and it’s hot, and their friends are at the beach — the “I don’t want to be here” feeling hits a few of the staff.

It’s Kuzmiak’s job to deal with those kinds of matters.

He’s an HR professional. But most of his career was spent with adult workplaces. This is only his second year at the Westport Y.

“Anjali has taught me to be patient with teenagers,” he says. “I’m not as quick as I would be to let them go.

“I don’t have a trigger finger for firing,” McCormick adds. “I have to show our older staff that these are not 50-year-olds. These are kids, who may not have been in certain situations before.

“There is an ‘acceptable level’ of mistakes — except for serious safety violations. We could never put kids, or the Y, at risk.”

Waterfront safety is a key concern.

For common issues — leaving a group to talk to a friend, disagreeing loudly with another counselor in front of children, speaking harshly to a camper — Kuzmiak, Regan or an assistant will speak privately with the teenager. They’ll explain ways to improve the behavior — and they document it.

In 95% of the cases, Kuzmiak says, “that’s enough.”

The Y’s approach seems to work. Staff retention is very high.

And campers must like their counselors: They too return year after year.

After all, they get a chance to hang out with counselors like the boy who almost did not get hired.

But Kuzmiak reached out to him, and took a chance. The Y mentored him, helping him grow.

Now he bikes to Camp Mahackeno every day.

Where he is a star.

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Happy campers (and staff members). (All photos courtesy of Westport Weston Family YMCA)