Assistant Nature Camp Director: Call of the Wild Camps

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Do you love working with children and camp counselors? Do you love the outdoors, nature, and hiking? Do you have a passion for children's books, reading, and writing? Would you like assist with supervising and leading camp counselors? Do you care about creating an inclusive and fun environment for children of all abilities? How about combining your passions into one fun summer job? We are looking for an on-site Assistant Nature Camp Director for Summer 2023 to lead staff and children in outdoor Call of the Wild Camps in Oakland and Berkeley. We seek an enthusiastic, energetic, dynamic, and creative leader to join us in designing and implementing educational and recreational outdoor programs. Open a door to the wonders of nature as a living classroom in nature camps, where kids in grades K-5 come to hike, read, write, explore, learn, and play!

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What's the difference between Camp Counselor, Assistant Camp Director, and Camp Director? 

• Camp Counselors are more novice outdoor educators and may not have leadership experience mentoring, training, and overseeing staff in a camp or other educational setting. Camp Counselor employees have a minimum of a high school diploma, and teen interns are in grades 9-12. They supervise campers only and do not supervise any staff.

• Assistant Camp Directors have experience leading both children and staff on-site in outdoor nature camps or other educational settings, and they have relevant college/university coursework. They may have informal experience mentoring, training, and overseeing staff or less than 1 year doing so. They supervise campers and also assist the camp supervisor with overseeing and training Camp Counselors and communicating with parents on-site.

• Camp Directors have at least 1 year of previous formal experience supervising staff and managing educational programs, and they have a Bachelor's degree with relevant coursework. They manage, administer, and oversee daily operations of youth programs on-site for outdoor nature camps. Camp Directors occasionally do behind-the-scenes curriculum development in addition to their primary on-site responsibilities.

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Our ideal assistant camp director is a communicative and collaborative team player and leader who is adaptable, friendly, outgoing, energetic, creative, and eager to inspire and engage both children and staff in learning by doing. All camp staff have previous experience in outdoor camps, nature camps, STEM or STEAM camps, early childhood education, elementary school education, special education, outdoor education, environmental education, literacy education, after school programs, outdoor recreation, or related fields.

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WHO WE ARE: Inspire Behavioral Learning, LLC provides outstanding educational and behavioral health services for children, teens, and adults throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. All employees advance Inspire's mission to empower people to live happier, more independent and fulfilling lives by achieving their health and educational goals.

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WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE:

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• We value diversity and include children with disabilities and typically developing children alike in our programs.

• We value the integrity of the whole person and are dedicated to a well-rounded blend of head, heart, and body -- being constant learners, kind and caring, and focused on learning by doing.

• We incorporate a multisensory approach and principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), the science of learning that focuses on observable interaction between the learner and environment.

• We are a small company focused on quality over quantity. Each employee is valued as a whole person and a unique individual, which is the same respect we give to each student. We use 360 degree feedback, in which everyone's observations matter.

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ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

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• Assist the camp director in managing, administering, and overseeing daily operations of youth programs on-site for outdoor nature camps

• Reliably attend and actively participate in camp training online and on-site, rain or shine (training is the week of June 5 for summer camps)

• Reliably and punctually attend outdoor nature camps on-site, rain or shine, M-F 8:30 AM-4:30 PM (summer camps are June 12-Aug 11 for 5-day sessions Mon-Fri each week except for a 4-day session the week of July 4th)

• Assist the camp director in supervising and training camp counselors on-site, providing modeling, prompt fading, positive feedback, and constructive feedback

• Greet parents at drop-off and pick-up times, checking children in and out

• Communicate with parents/guardians in a friendly and professional manner

• Assist the camp director in communicating with parents/guardians a brief summary of their child's day at pick-up time

• Safely lead hikes in parks for K-5th graders in small groups 

• Maintain a 4:1 or 5:1 student: staff ratio

• Lead outdoor language arts activities for children with nature and wilderness themes, including but not limited to circle time with story time and singing, literary show-and-tell, skits, nature journaling, mapmaking, creative writing, and authoring and illustrating books

• Lead activities applying English Language Arts Common Core State Standards to science, such as life science, biology, ecology, zoology, environmental science, stewardship, conservation, preservation, etc., integrating naturalistic observation, exploration, games, group discussion, and relevant children's books and writing activities

• Engage children in outdoor activities that blend recreation and education, such as nature-themed hide and seek and chase games, crafting and playing forest "I Spy" games and scavenger hunts

• Engage children and staff with a fun teaching style and high energy, creativity, adaptability, spontaneity, dynamism, and positivity

• Supervise and facilitate children's rest breaks, snack and lunch breaks, and physical play breaks

• Provide naturalistic executive function teaching across diverse activities, including planning, organization, and time management

• Implement teaching and behavior management based on principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), including prompting, positive reinforcement, and group contingencies of reinforcement based on student preferences and choices

• Facilitate emergent curriculum and child-centered, student-centered, naturalistic, incidental, and play-based teaching and learning opportunities

• Create both structured and naturalistic learning opportunities

• Keep work materials neat, organized, and in good working condition

• Record accurate, objective incident reports

• Follow all health and safety requirements

• Make sure campers and staff follow safety rules and leave no trace principles

• Follow directions and implement feedback from the camp supervisor

• Proactively communicate camp updates, questions and concerns with the camp director and supervisor

• Represent Call of the Wild Camps in a positive and professional manner with campers, parents/guardians, staff, and community partners

• Perform other duties as assigned

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

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Education: 

• Provide proof of a high school diploma

• Completed relevant college/university coursework

• Provide your academic transcripts (unofficial transcripts are permitted) in good standing

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Certification and Safety Requirements:

• Provide proof of unexpired CPR and First Aid certification

• Provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination

• Pass a DOJ and FBI background check

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Experience:

• Leadership experience training, mentoring, or overseeing novice camp counselors or educators, interns, or volunteers (does not need to be a formal supervisory position)

• Minimum of one year experience as a camp counselor, outdoor educator, recreation leader, or teacher for outdoor education camps, outdoor recreational camps, nature camps, science camps, STEM camps, STEAM camps, literacy camps, after school programs, or equivalent experience

• Minimum of one year experience working with elementary school age children in K-5th grade

• Experience hiking trails of moderate difficulty on hilly and uneven terrain up to approximately 6 miles a day

• Experience working with culturally, linguistically, and developmentally diverse children

• Experience working with students with widely diverse abilities, including disabilities (e.g., autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome, dyslexia, speech and language delays)

• Experience taking initiative leading staff and groups of children

• Experience leading extracurricular enrichment activities for children

• Experience implementing effective and appropriate behavior management for elementary school age children

• Experience with child development and age-appropriate, grade-appropriate, developmentally appropriate activities

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Skills:

• Ability to hike trails of moderate difficulty on hilly and uneven terrain up to approximately 6 miles a day five days a week for multiple consecutive weeks

• Ability to carry a loaded hiking backpack weighing up to 20% of your body weight for the duration of each camp day

• Ability to stand, bend, squat, stoop, sit, climb, and lift (up to 50 lbs)  

• Demonstrate a fun and engaging leadership style with high energy, creativity, adaptability, spontaneity, dynamism, and positivity

• Friendly, kind, caring, compassionate, and patient teaching style for learners of all skill levels

• Eagerness and openness to continually learn and develop your skill set

• Command of American English phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics

• Excellent ability to break concepts down into simple and easy steps

• Excellent time-management and organizational skills

• Outstanding oral and written communication skills

• Ability to confidently take initiative with minimal direction

• Eco-conscious skills with a demonstrable love of nature and the outdoors, life sciences, biology, environmental science, outdoor education, or environmental education

• Health-conscious skills with a demonstrable love of active and healthy living

• Enthusiasm for nature-themed language arts and literacy teaching

• Enthusiasm for making education relevant to children's lives

• Demonstrate care for children and a desire to help the whole child learn and grow in enjoyable ways, in addition to subject-matter competence in language arts and relevant life sciences  

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Other Requirements:​

• Provide proof of a valid California driver license

• Possess your own reliable transportation to regional and city parks in Oakland and Berkeley

• Submit a relevant cover letter specific to the position and company

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PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

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• Experience hiking in Joaquin Miller Park, Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, and Tilden Regional Park

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PERKS AND BENEFITS:

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• Have fun teaching and inspiring kids and novice educators in the great outdoors!

• Employees get paid training; paid rest breaks; off-duty lunch breaks; and retirement plan if working at least 30 days

• Supportive and friendly environment with coaching and mentorship

• Become part of a company that truly cares about both the employee’s and student’s happiness and success!

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LOCATION: East Bay parks (Joaquin Miller Park, Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, and Tilden Regional Park)

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​SCHEDULE: Mon-Fri (except Independence Day is a day off); 8 hours per day, 8:30 AM-4:30 PM

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CLASSIFICATION: Non-exempt employee; full time or part time (full time preferred); temporary, seasonal work.

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COMPENSATION: $22.00 - $23.00 per hour DOE

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Keywords: Oakland Assistant Camp Director, Oakland Assistant Camp Supervisor, Berkeley Assistant Camp Director, Berkeley Assistant Camp Supervisor, Oakland Assistant Camp Manager, Berkeley Assistant Camp Manager, Oakland Camp Counselor, Berkeley Camp Counselor. This type of position may also be known as camp leader, camp teacher, camp instructor, camp coordinator, lead instructor, outdoor education instructor, summer camp nature instructor, outdoor programs instructor, outdoor education science instructor, naturalist, program coordinator, environmental educator, outdoor educator, outdoor program director, outdoor program supervisor, youth group leader, youth program supervisor, youth program instructor, youth programs lead instructor, program leader, program supervisor, lead camp counselor, elementary program leader, recreation leader, recreation director, recreation supervisor, summer instructor, summer program director, summer program supervisor, youth program director, and youth program supervisor.

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APPLY: Click the button below, providing your resume and a cover letter specifying why you might be a great fit for the Nature Camp Director in Call of the Wild Camps at Inspire Behavioral Learning®! We look forward to connecting with you!