Position Available: Nature Connection Field Staff or Lead Field Staff

Employment Period:

Seasonal, early June through mid-August 2023

Summary:

Nature Connection Field Staff will work as part of a team to co-plan and co-facilitate seasonal day camps. We have openings for full or part time staff, both the experienced Lead Field Staff and less-experienced Field Staff, working part or all of the summer.

The season begins with 4 days of staff training and program planning starting on Tuesday June 6th, then 9 weeks of camp. Staff should plan to arrive at or before 8:00am according to agreements among the staff team, and depart when clean-up and debrief is done for the day, typically around 4:30pm. Camp programs are held Monday through Thursday, with Friday being a maintenance, planning and prep day.

Depending on which camps the Field Staff is staffing, there may be a period of unpaid break midway through the summer, July 3rd through 18th. There may be an opportunity to staff an overnight camp on the week of July 3-7.

We divide staff responsibility up by student age. Each Field Staff will be paired with a more-experienced Lead Field Staff who has worked with Ravenwood for at least one prior season, and together will be responsible for planning and facilitating one of two or three age groups, along with the MITs and Volunteers present that day. Each age group consists of up to 16 students. Age groups may be 6-7, 8-9, and 9-12, or 6-8 and 9-12.

Most of our camps are held at privately-owned forest sites, with nature-based games, creek wading, berry picking, firemaking, fishing, and shelter building as just a few of the popular activities.

Staff are ultimately responsible for providing their own lodging, transportation, and food. If access to lodging, transportation or food are issues of concern, please talk with us ahead of time and we can work together to design solutions. Our community and organization network is available for resources to help with supporting our staff's needs.

Job qualifications:

• Familiarity with outdoor group leadership. Some examples of possible relevant experience are:Camp counselor

Wilderness therapy guide
Backcountry expedition guide experience
Mentor in Training, Counselor-In-Training, or other camp counselor assistant
School Garden teacher
Other relevant life experience that shows your ability to compassionately lead multiple people in a dynamic and unpredictable natural environment

• Some familiarity with mentoring of children and youth either in a personal or professional capacity
• Mature approach to communications, timeliness, and follow through
• Solution-based thinking and flexible, community-oriented mindset
• Current certification in first aid and CPR required; Wilderness First Responder preferred
• Physical qualifications:play actively with participants,

lift and carry up to 50lbs for short periods of time,
walk for extended periods over uneven, unpaved outdoor terrain while carrying a day pack,
hear verbal communication and speak clear instructions,
see well enough to keep track of participants in varied natural environments

Preferred Experience, but not required:

• Familiarity with any of the following is a plus.Nature-based arts and crafts or ancestral arts such as hide tanning, basketry, flint knapping, ceramics, fiber arts, etc

Naturalist skills such as tracking, nature interpretation, botanizing, birding, or wild food and medicine wildcrafting
Wilderness living or survival skills such as making fire with few resources, orienting without map and compass, or making survival shelters
8 Shields Nature Connection Mentoring skills

Responsibilities:

• Seasonal position is either full or half time. Must be available for the full duration of each camp you are staffing, between 4 and 9 weeks.
• Meet with the staff team before and after camp program time, and at an agreed-upon time on Fridays, for planning, preparation of materials, debriefing and training.
• Work with a team of mentors showing respect and accountability to all; mentors, campers, camp families and the larger community. Consistent displays of integrity, timeliness, deep listening, and clear communication.
• Mentor youth in nature awareness and wilderness skills
• Inspire youth and adults to explore their unique gifts and guide self-development through their connection with nature, themselves and others.
• Camp staff will work closely with each other as peers and with Ravenwood’s Leadership Team to meet the stated objectives.

Benefits:

• Receive experience in shared wilderness skills, routines of nature connection, culture building, and sensory awareness
• Work with highly creative people to cultivate a powerful learning culture for youth and adults alike
• Professional training, mentoring, support and feedback
• Strong community support and opportunities to build meaningful relationships with local leaders, parents, elders, and children.

Compensation:

$14-$17 per hour DOE

Pay occurs in the first week of the following month.

Duration:

Staff training begins June 6th, camps runs from June 12th to August 10th

To Apply:

Submit a letter of interest via email with resume and three references to Ravenwood Program Directors. Selected candidates will be asked to schedule a personal interview (Zoom, telephone, or similar connection options are possible) at a mutually agreeable time.

Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit educational organization whose mission is to connect people with nature, community, and self.

www.RavenwoodOLC.org

P.O. Box 1314, Whitefish, MT 59937

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Temporary

Pay: $14.00 - $17.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Work Location: One location