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Assistant Nature Camp Director

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Do you love working with children and camp counselors? Do you love the outdoors, nature, and hiking? Are you passionate about children's books, reading, and writing, and do you want to make learning fun for kids? How about combining your passions into a fun assistant nature camp director opportunity?

At Inspire Behavioral Learning, LLC, we provide a free internship program for college and university undergraduates to develop leadership skills as assistant camp directors! Interns learn to lead camp counselors in work with kids in grades K-5 in Call of the Wild Camps in Oakland, Berkeley, and Cupertino, CA. Our nature camps are for kids to hike, read, write, explore, learn, and play in forests of the Bay Area!

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Our ideal assistant nature camp directors are outgoing, friendly, dynamic, creative, fun, energetic, and dependable outdoor lovers who are eager to inspire and gain experience with camp counselors and elementary school kids. The #1 preferred quality is eagerness and openness to learn and develop your skill set. College and university students interested in future careers in education, outdoor education, nature education, biology, and environmental science are encouraged to apply!

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SCHEDULE: 

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• Training: the week before camps begin, minimum 3 day attendance mandatory; ongoing training during camps.

• Camp Sessions: 8:30 AM-4:30 PM. You may alternatively select a half day schedule: 8:30 AM-12:30 PM or 12:30 PM-4:30 PM. ​

  • Spring Camp in Oakland: Apr 1-5

  • Summer Camps in Oakland: Jun 10-Aug 2

  • Summer Camps in Berkeley: Jun 10-Aug 9

  • Summer Camps in Cupertino: Jun 24-Aug 2

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ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

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• Actively participate in and complete intern training the week before camp and ongoing training during camps

• Develop internship goals, and actively participate in weekly 1:1 training with the camp trainer 

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

• Reliably and punctually attend outdoor nature camps on-site, rain or shine, M-F 8:25 AM-4:35 PM (except July 4th is a day off)

• 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 up to approximately 6 miles per day

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

• Oversee K-5 level nature-themed science, outdoor education, language arts, art, and motor activities for Call of the Wild Camps, including for Berkeley and Oakland camps the theme weeks Enchanted Forest Reading, Enchanted Forest Art, Enchanted Vegan Nature, and Enchanted Forest Writing

• 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

• Interact with students and staff in a kind, caring, respectful, positive, and professional manner

• Represent Call of the Wild Camps in a positive and professional manner with customers, staff, and park visitors

• Perform other intern duties as assigned

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

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Education: 

• Provide proof of a high school diploma

• Enrolled in relevant college/university coursework, such as biology, environmental science, education, etc.

• Provide your academic transcripts (unofficial transcripts are permitted) in good standing with a minimum 3.5 current GPA

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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:​

• 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 per 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 or Cupertino

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

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PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

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• For East Bay camps: experience hiking in Joaquin Miller Park, Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, or Tilden Regional Park and familiarity with flora and fauna in the park

• For South Bay camp: experience hiking in Rancho San Antonio County Park and familiarity with flora and fauna in the park

• You are vegan, as defined by The Vegan Society, and/or you want to learn the benefits of veganism on animals and the environment

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WHAT YOU GET:

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• Have fun teaching camp counselors and kids in the outdoors!

• Supportive and friendly environment with coaching and mentorship

• Free intern program to expand your knowledge and job skills with hands-on training 

• Intern experience to enhance college/university applications and build a resume

• Successful interns may be invited to return to intern for future seasonal camps

• Successful interns may be invited to apply for employment (Inspire's Assistant Nature Camp Director employee position is $23/hr and Nature Camp Director employee position is $24-26/hr DOE)

• Become part of a company that truly cares about the happiness and success of all interns, employees, and students!

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LOCATIONS:

• Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in Oakland (spring camp April 1-5, summer camp July 1-August 2, fall and winter camp dates TBD)

• Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland (summer camp June 10-June 28)

• ​Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley (summer camp June 10-August 9)

• Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve in Cupertino/Los Altos Hills (summer camp June 24-August 2)

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Apply to Intern as an Assistant Nature Camp Director by sending to careers@inspirebehavior.com your resume and a cover letter written by you in your own words, specifying which season(s) and location(s) you'd like intern and why you would like to intern with Inspire's Call of the Wild Camps. We look forward to connecting with you!