What are the responsibilities and job description for the Summer Camp Outdoor Counselor position at Piedmont Wildlife Center?
Do you love exploring the outdoors? Are you passionate about mentoring children and connecting them with nature? Piedmont Wildlife Center is currently seeking seasonal full-time Summer Camp Outdoor Counselors.
About Our Organization: Piedmont Wildlife Center is a Durham-based non-profit organization encouraging conservation and inspiring people to build lifelong connections with nature through immersive outdoor education, citizen science, and wildlife stewardship. We pursue this mission through afterschool, homeschool, and year-round camp programming in the great outdoors. The Center also offers conservation-focused field trips and outreach programs with our Ambassador Animals.
Land Acknowledgement: Our camps operate out of Leigh Farm Park in Durham County and Blackwood Farm Park in Orange County. Both parks are remnants of 19th-century plantations and are on land that was once part of the shared territory of Saponi, Tuscarora, Occaneechi, Cheraw, Eno, Shakori, Catawba, and Lumbee nations. The county parks departments have preserved multiple historic structures in our locations. In addition, we operate camps at Umstead State Park in Wake County which was once a segregated park and indigenous territory. It is imperative that we discuss this history with our staff and campers, amplify the stories of the indigenous and enslaved peoples who cared for the land and continue learning about and examining the parks’ legacy.
Position Summary: Outdoor Camp Counselors will plan and facilitate engaging activities for youth day camp programs that focus on developing deep nature connections. Counselors are responsible for safely leading groups of 12-15 campers ages 5-12 and one Counselor-in-Training age 13-17 through outdoor educational activities while monitoring both individual and group needs and adapting plans to help all individuals successfully engage in programming. Whether experienced in education, advanced survival, environmental science, or outdoor recreation, counselors should be passionate about sharing their unique skillset with campers, helping them develop their own connection to nature, and inspiring them to protect the natural world around them.
This position is available at our Durham, Orange, and Wake county locations.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Create daily activity plans for your camp group and gather associated materials.
- Facilitate outdoor camp activities focused on nature connection and environmental education.
- Supervise camper safety and enforce activity policies
- Communicate with co-counselors and program coordinators, about program outcomes and camper behavior.
- Work with your co-counselor to manage the overall flow of the day and coordinate larger group decisions. Work together to ensure one counselor is offering more individualized support to help engage all campers while the other acts as point-person for the overall group.
Required Qualifications:
- Ability to work 9 of the 10 weeks of summer camp
- Childcare and/or education experience.
- Leadership experience.
- Excited and comfortable with playing outside in all weather conditions including rain and heat.
- Experience with stories and inquiry-based teaching methods.
- Flexibility with changes in programming and scheduling.
- Reliable transportation to Wake, Durham, and Orange County locations
- Ability to hike at least 2 miles comfortably.
- At least 18 years of age.
- First aid and CPR for adults and pediatric certified before the first day of work.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Working towards environmental science/education degree or other relevant degree
- Environmental education experience
- 2 or more years teaching experience
- Knowledge of local ecology or tracking and survival skills..
- Relevant outdoor certifications such as Wilderness First Aid/Responder, Certified Interpretive Guide, Leave No Trace Master Educator, and/or NC Environmental Educator.
