Portland Fiddle Camp is the only kids day camp of it’s kind in the PNW. We are continuing our innovation with Teen Camp! Over the years we've watched our campers grow and mature as people and musicians, and have noticed that many of you are ready for additional challenge and more responsibility. So, what happens to a High Schooler who has maybe “aged out” of the whole day camp thing? TEEN CAMP!

We put our heads together and designed our teen camp with YOU in mind. We hope you will join us!

Teen Camp -

• Designed to engage our advanced fiddle, viola, cello & guitar players age 14+. We will do A LOT of playing! :)

• Teens will learn loads of tunes in a variety of keys and traditions.

• Teens will learn seconding, chords, improvisation, arrangements and more.

• For those interested in becoming Fiddle Camp counselors in the future (as well as for our current counselors and junior counselors) — read on about the optional Leadership Track!

Teen Camp Leadership Track —
Now’s your chance to officially join the Fiddle Camp Counselor-in-Training (CIT) Program! In addition to learning tunes and all fancy stuff mentioned above, teens who complete the leadership training will be eligible to lead their own groups at Fiddle Camp, learn skills that will help in any profession and potential to earn more $$ at camp. This program is required in order to become a Counselor at PFC!

During Teen camp, Leadership Teens will attend 1 or 2 Teacher Training sessions per day, led by Kate and/or Sophie (Certified Suzuki teachers). This training is a combination of strategies for teaching kids, music, and music to kids, as well as specific ideas for our camp.

We'll cover things like:

• Different strategies for teaching tunes plus which ones to use when, plus how to get campers ready for their performance.

• General teaching principles like how to create healthy group dynamics and individual buy-in.

• Classroom management and problem solving for if (when) things get tricky - in other words, how to be in control while still being on the same team as your wiggily kiddos.

• Games and how to make it FUN!

We plan to talk some but also get interactive, give everyone chances to practice, share ideas and experiences, and have fun! We hope this will be helpful for teachers of all ages and experience levels - we did a lot of thinking and research in putting this together and are pretty sure we're better teachers because of it! Hopefully it can be useful for you all as well.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR EACH LEVEL OF COUNSELOR

(If you are a Counselor age 16+ who has already lead your own groups, we still highly recommend taking this training!)

Roles for CIT: Counselor-in-Training. You are a camper who is interested in taking on more responsibilities in camp.  You’re trying out the counselor role… to see if you’re into it. You’re half camper, half helper. Must be 13+ or entering 9th grade. Your parents pay for you to attend camp. In addition to learning the tunes in your Major/Minor, your responsibilities are to assist lead teachers, take a leadership role during snack and lunch & perform small administrative tasks during camp. You don’t earn money in this role, it is an internship. Next summer (2027) you will be eligible to work as a Junior Counselor.

Roles for JC:Junior Counselor. In most cases, you will have been a CIT.

You are 14+ and no longer half camper/half counselor — you are a full-on Junior Counselor. Responsibilities are to attend our Counselor Orientation before the 1st day of camp, arrive to camp at 9:00am to assist, help the lead teachers during classes, float between groups. You may also run errands & perform administrative tasks. You’re familiar with most of the book tunes. You’re comfortable with doing a little bit of co-teaching with close oversight. (i.e a group gets broken into two smaller groups and you teach one group the “A” Part.  You are ready to perform with your group if needed.) You earn $$ for teaching. Next summer you will be eligible to attend the Leadership Training!

Roles for Counselor: Full Counselor. You will have have completed the PFC Leadership Track course during Teen Week! You are now familiar with Fiddle Camp and how it all works. You may or may not have ever attended Fiddle Camp as a camper. You’re familiar with most of the book tunes. Responsibilities are to attend our Counselor Orientation before the 1st day of camp, arrive to camp at 9:00am to assist, help the lead teachers during classes, float between groups to help. You’re comfortable with doing a little bit of co-teaching with close oversight. (i.e a group gets broken into two smaller groups and you teach one group the “A” Part. You may also run errands & perform administrative tasks. If we need you to, you’re ready to lead a group on your own or with a co-teacher. You earn more money than you did as JC, per week.