Job Details
Job Location
Whispering Cedars - Dallas, TX
Position Type
Seasonal
Description
Assistant Camp Director
About Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas:
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) offers amazing opportunities for talented, forward-thinking individuals who share our vision of helping girls and young women change the world for the better.
Here's your opportunity to enhance your career while making a difference in girls' lives and in the world. At Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, you can build a rewarding career in everything from working hands-on with girls, to accounting, human resources, and project management, to marketing, research-and more.
About Camp Whispering Cedars home of the STEM Center of Excellence:
This 92-acre living laboratory approximately 20-minutes from downtown Dallas has been serving as a camp for almost 100 years. Camp Whispering Cedars offers sleepaway camp for girls ages 7 - 17. We serve approximately 100 campers per week from a variety of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Weekly camp themes are structured to help campers discover exciting careers and applications in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Campers come to camp independently and are cared for by Counselors.
Counselors work from the end of May to the end of July 2024.
Job summary:
The Assistant Camp Director is responsible for assisting the Summer Camp Director with day-to-day operations of summer camp programs including program coordination and scheduling, providing mentorship to Summer Staff and Counselors, Staff Training and development, the creation of working teams, and the leadership of camp activities such as community gathering, celebration, and special events. The Assistant Camp Director is required to sleep on the weekends in private space and will earn a weekly salary of $850.00.
*Room and board available at no additional cost to candidate
This team member serves as a caring mentor for staff, ensures activities developed meet the needs of Girl Scouts, is a patient teacher, positive role model, and helpful problem solver.
Benefits:
Summer camp changes lives for the better! Join an amazing community where you will make new friends, develop personal and professional skills, engage your body and your mind in an outdoor environment, overcome challenges, and be the best version of yourself, plus have tons of fun! As part of a team mentoring, teaching, and helping, you get to make an incredible impact on campers and staff, who remember the sense of belonging, friendship, growth, and magic of summer camp for their entire lives. Staff receive room and board when camp is in session plus paid staff training, paid certifications (where applicable), and invaluable work experience that prepares you to succeed in school, in work, and in life.
Primary responsibilities include:

• Champion a positive, inclusive, caring, safe, and fun camp environment and promote the values of the Girl Scout Promise and Law, including serving as a positive role model for youth in language, dress, culture of inclusion, behavior, and attitude.
• Support camper wellbeing by supervising overall physical, mental, and emotional health (including hygiene, meals, sleep, medications as applicable) while living with campers.
• Lead and participate in camp program activities and administration, including meals, activities, rest, free time, kapers (chores), staff trainings and meetings, planning and preparation, and cleanup.
• Facilitate positive group relationships, including addressing conflict in constructive ways.
• Advocate for camper and staff confidence, responsibility, challenge seeking, teamwork, learning, goal setting, relationship skills, coping strategies, and opportunities for personal and group success.
• Adhere to camp schedule and direct campers and self to assigned spaces on time.
• Assist in care of campsite facilities, equipment, and supplies, including managing resources wisely.
• Practice all camp safety standards, emergency procedures, and compliance with ACA Accreditation and uphold them with others.
• Work independently and take the initiative to implement solutions to problems that arise, where appropriate.
• Lead the, facilitation, and coordination of the camp day and night activities, and ensure that all aspects of programming reflect the mission, vision, and values of Girl Scouts Northeast Texas.
• Maintain administrative detail of all related summer camp programs, including program logistics and scheduling. In collaboration with Director of Education, responsible for completion of camp paperwork such as schedules, breaks, inventories, lesson plans, camper and staff evaluations, and camper forms.
• Review camper forms, including understanding allergies, mental health and wellness needs and relaying those needs to camp specialists and counselors.
• Manages camp buddy request forms and ensure requests are met.
• Assist with facilitation of summer camp staff training.
• Partner with Registered Nurse and EMT's to ensure the coordination of medical needs in all aspects of programming.
• Organize and conduct camp check-in/check-out days.
• Assist with response to parent, camper, and summer camp staff needs throughout summer with promptness.
• Assess, collaborate with appropriate staff, and respond to all risk management issues. Complete and submit all incident reports within 24 hours of incident occurrence and notify parents when appropriate.
• Monitors staff morale ensuring that staff receive enough rest time.
• Support camp specialists and counselors responsible for guiding campers in camp activities and group living.
• Facilitate the effective and seamless delivery of fun games and activities around meals and during evening camp program activities. Creates, develops, assists, and supports programs as assigned.
• Work effectively with various team members and various levels of the GSNETX organization, including promoting a climate of courtesy, respect, and professionalism and adhering to camp culture.
• Work as part of a team to meet camp program and operation needs.

Qualifications
Minimum Requirements:

• Age 24 or older; College graduate.
• Organized, participant-focused and safety conscious.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• At least 3 summers of experience as a counselor, or similar participant-focused role, in a youth overnight camp setting OR other relevant work experience as it pertains to meeting the responsibilities and essential functions of the position.
• Interested and excited to work with children of all ages.
• Ability to plan, adapt, and facilitate programs that meet the needs and interests of all participants grades 2 - 12.
• Ability to address both staff and participant conflicts, concerns, and questions in an equitable and developmentally appropriate manner.
• Willingness to live, eat, teach, and play respectfully and fruitfully with diverse staff and campers all day, with limited privacy and personal time.
• Willingness to role model respect, positivity, smiling, cheerfulness, kindness, patience, honesty, inclusion, good mental hygiene, and accountability and to self-regulate emotions respectfully in a variety of circumstances.
• Willingness to listen to, learn from, and cooperate with others.
• Willingness to embrace a simple living environment.
• Ability to work long hours all day and all week with possible need to respond to campers or emergencies overnight (staff get personal breaktime each day).
• Ability to complete full term (all weeks) of camp agreement.
• Willingness to abstain from use of tobacco products, herbal intoxicants (CBD, THC, gummies, etc.), vaping and electronic cigarettes, alcohol, illegal drugs, firearms, and fireworks while on camp property or while on duty, plus abstain from possessing on camp property and from returning to camp under the influence of any such substances.
• Willingness to abstain from using (engaging with) cell phone while on duty (Counselor phones can be stored in staff lockers and used during scheduled staff break time away from campers, plus we have a radio system for camp communication and emergencies).
• Demonstrates and promotes a climate of courtesy, respect, and professionalism to coworkers, the volunteers served by this council, and others with whom her/his position puts her/him in contact.
• Adheres to the GSNETX's equal opportunity and non-discrimination policies, which ensure that there will be no discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, creed, national origin, socioeconomic status, disability, or age.
• Must hold membership in the Girl Scout organization and subscribe to the tenets of the Girl Scout Promise and Law.
• Attendance is an essential job requirement defined as having regular, consistent, reliable, punctual and predictable attendance including the ability to work regular hours and shifts, before and after hours, and on weekends, when required.
• Complete and pass a background check.

Preferred qualifications:

• At least one summer of experience as a counselor, or similar participant-focused role, in a youth overnight camp setting OR other relevant work experience as it pertains to meeting the responsibilities and essential functions of the position.
• Experience attending summer camp or going camping.

Our organization's cultural values:

• We are relevant.
• We strive for equity.
• We put our stakeholders first.
• We collaborate to get the best results.
• We own our work.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Our camp environment is unique: located in northeast Texas, summers in June and July are typically hot and humid (temperatures above 100°F/38°C for consecutive days are not uncommon). A typical camp day requires significant time outside each day, with prolonged standing and walking on our 92-acre property. This region of Texas is also home to a variety of wildlife such as bugs, spiders, snakes, and coyotes.
Typical camp activities, crafts, and daily life often include:

• The use of hands or fingers to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls.
• The ability to reach with hands and arms, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.
• Indoors and outdoors work for prolonged hours.
• Large groups of youth and high noise levels
• Lifting/carrying and/or moving loads up to 45 pounds.

CERTIFICATIONS:

• Must be able to drive and have a valid driver's license.
• Current certifications appreciated in any of the following: first aid and CPR, lifeguarding, ropes course, archery, or fishing.