(07/24/24) POLLOCK, La. — Reagan Fraze has spent much of the summer tooling around the Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center in a golf cart, crisscrossing the grounds to attend to the many needs that pop up when hundreds of fourth through sixth graders are in town for Camp Grant Walker.

Fraze carries a walkie-talkie that crackles with new requests for assistance seemingly by the minute. A child isn’t feeling well and needs a ride to the nurse’s station. An activity instructor needs someone to fetch more supplies. A camper stepped in some ants; could Fraze stop by to poison the pile and put a flag next to it?

“Anything that anybody needs,” Fraze said, “they can call me.”

Fraze, a theater teacher in Concordia Parish schools, has spent her summer off from work as the team lead at the 4-H camp. She heads up the camp’s summer staff of about 15 people.

They fulfill a variety of roles. Some, like Fraze, have a wide-ranging set of responsibilities; others work as lifeguards at the camp’s pool or offer their expertise as instructors for activities such as archery and art.

These staffers join the facility’s permanent employees to put on Camp Grant Walker, a weeklong camp that runs for 10 weeks from May to July. About 3,000 campers from across Louisiana attend each summer, with about 300 arriving at the campgrounds in Pollock weekly.

In addition to staff members, high-school-age 4-H’ers accompany camping groups as counselors. They help keep campers on schedule, encourage them to keep their bunks tidy and provide a listening ear when they need to talk.

Volunteers also pitch in and help.

All staffers, agents, adult volunteers and counselors are critical to the success of Camp Grant Walker, said camp director Christine Bergeron.

“They’re the heartbeat of our camping program,” she said. “Without them, we can’t have a camp. They’re truly role models for our campers.”

The jobs are demanding. Organizers pride themselves on offering a traditional camp where participants spend the majority of their time having fun and learning outdoors. Making sure campers stay safe while they are taking part in those outdoor activities, however, requires careful attention on the part of those in leadership roles at camp.

“They work 12 to 14 hours a day in 90- to 100-degree heat doing planned activities and then everything else that pops up during the week,” said Adam O’Malley, program coordinator at the camp. “It takes a very special individual to come do that.”

Many counselors and staffers grew up attending 4-H summer camp.

“Upwards of 75% of our camp staff are returning to the program that they participated in as campers and junior counselors, and this is that next step in the pipeline to give back to Louisiana 4-H,” O’Malley said.

Unlike most of her colleagues, Fraze did not grow up in 4-H. She first got involved with the organization in 2020 when she was recruited to work at Texas’ 4-H summer camp, hiring on the next year with Camp Grant Walker in Louisiana. She has returned each year since then.

“I grew up going to a different camp,” Fraze said. “The camp experience, to me as a kid, was what I looked forward to all year. Just being able to be that for somebody else makes me feel good.”

She has enjoyed working with her fellow staffers. They keep in touch throughout the year.

“I like being able to interact with the staff and get to know them and make friendships,” she said. “I’m actually now engaged to a guy that I met at Texas 4-H camp. It’s literally lifelong bonds that have been built from 4-H.”

Forming friendships is a key element of the Camp Grant Walker experience — for staffers, campers and counselors alike.

Ben Ellender, a counselor from St. Martin Parish who came to the camp when he was younger, recalled bonding with new friends as they tried activities like kayaking for the first time together.

Walking around the perimeter of a pond to help campers put earthworms on their fishing hooks, Ellender reflected on the value of the program.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids,” he said. “You’re learning good life lessons while also having fun, meeting new people. It teaches you how to have fun, be safe and try new things.”

Emma Duvall, a counselor from Pointe Coupee Parish, hoped the camp would open the younger 4-H members’ eyes to everything the youth development organization has to offer as they get older — like the shooting sports program and leaderships boards that she participated in as a 4-H’er in high school.

Duvall was working her first summer as a counselor and enjoyed serving as a role model and sounding board for the campers.

“I’ve loved being able to comfort some of the kids who are missing home,” Duvall said as she took a break from handing out supplies during an arts-and-crafts session.

“The counselors are a gateway between the campers and the adults,” added Collin Deville, a 4-H member from Evangeline Parish who was working his third summer as a counselor. “A lot of times, the campers will come to a counselor before they’ll go to an adult. They see you as a friend.”

Camp Grant Walker staff members Aubrie Jeansonne, left, and Reagan Fraze talk while campers from Ascension Parish take a break from outdoor activities on July 16, 2024. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

Emma Duvall, left, a Camp Grant Walker counselor and 4-H member from Pointe Coupee Parish, talks with campers while handing out art supplies, July 16, 2024. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

Camp Grant Walker archery instructor Gene Guidry, right, offers advice to a 4-H’er on July 16, 2024. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

4-H members kayak at Camp Grant Walker, July 16, 2024. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

Counselor Ben Ellender, left, and volunteer Scott Lee help 4-H campers put earthworms on their fishing hooks at Camp Grant Walker on July 16, 2024. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

4-H’ers participating in a water safety exercise at Camp Grant Walker look on as Madison Pace, a staff member, signals to coworkers onshore on July 16, 2024. The campers were timed for how quickly they could wade and swim from the shore to the paddleboard where Pace was waiting for them. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter