| Our Staff is one of Nature Camps' greatest strengths. Our certified
counselors are innovative, creative, and competent people who enjoy
children and provide excellent instruction, leadership, and guidance.
NC Staff undergoes extensive training, certification, and orientation.
This enables our Staff to be a consistent, reliable, strong, and
well-bonded group of outdoor educators, dedicated to making the summer
meaningful for themselves, children, and families.
The camp's role is to take children into the woods, fields, and streams in a real and personal way. While they are interacting with their surroundings, we hope they find out a lot about themselves. We have Campers (age 2-1/2-12), Teen Adventure's , also referred to as Counselors-In-Training, (age 13-16). Two of the four weeks of TA is spent: backpacking on the Appalachian Trail; wilderness skills development: mountain biking & kayaking; service projects at O'neill Family Organic Farm in Freeland, MD; nature journal writing; Counselor-In-Training.
Counselor openings for candidates with these backgrounds:
- Certified Life Guard/Water Safety Instructor, Pool Operator
- Outdoor Educators
- Natural Craft Teachers
- Song Leaders
- Camping/Wilderness Skills
- Ropes Course/Group Initiatives Facilitators
- Riding Instructor
- Story Tellers
- Teen Adventure Trip Leaders*
- ACA Trained Canoeists
- Hike Masters
- Bike Trail Trip Leaders
- New Games
- Wilderness First Aid Certified
- Potters and Weavers
- WFA
What is unique about NC Outdoor Educators?
A Nature Camps counselor is a well-rounded true outdoor educator, having learned
the myriad variety of things that he or she offers to children during the day:
- Acclimatization (sensory awareness) activities
- Initiatives: knowing when to use active and passive games,
and alternating these for the enjoyment and safety of children
- Swimming: helping children progress at various swim levels and helping them feel comfortable in the water
- Safe canoeing and kayaking
- Nature journaling and drawing with natural inks in handmade
journals
- Creative natural crafts and traditional tool making, using
the environment as the medium
- Adventure Challenge Course: knowing how to effectively facilitate
Lower and Upper courses, with a solution focused approach
- Stream exploring and leprechaun house making
- Outdoor cooking and fire building
- Meaningfully engaging with children, peers, and parents
NC experiences allow each child to learn to deal with
change, to probe with questions, to thrive on independence. They
tend to bring forth compassion and a rugged, venturesome, and
joyful attitude.
Hiring for Summer 2010
Position: Counselor: Nature Camps
counselors are a combination of youthful spirit, mature
insight, child-like wonderment, certified professional, and experiential
educator. The counselor's responsibilities are to take children
into the woods, fields, and streams in a real and personal way.
The counselor meets with his/her group each morning to take attendance,
to determine which activities each camper wishes to participate
in, to determine if those chosen activities are a good fit for
that camper, and to help shy or apprehensive campers find the right
niche in which to feel comfortable. Two NC counselors then lead
8-10 campers in the various activities of the day: canoeing, carving,
all-day hike, half-day hike, nature crafts, swimming, biking, horseback
riding, stream exploring, etc. NC Counselors gather their group
for lunch, doing the first tick check of the day, nature journaling,
and enjoying one another's company. At the end of the day, NC counselors
gather their groups for Big Circle, and, after their campers have
been picked up, perform a list of rotating chores, then joining
in the staff meeting at the end of the day. Counselors rotate duty
for the Extended Day program. Counselors attend weekly staff development
overnights and bi-weekly Family Overnights, pitching in to
carry out the various responsibilities these events entail, including
preparing the famous Family Overnight Breakfast the following morning! The role of a Nature Camps counselor can at first seem daunting, yet then, when things begin to be understood, one becomes an experientially centered environmental educator.
Position: TA Trip Leader: The role of the TA Trip Leader in addition to the Counselor responsibilities involves leading the teens (ages 13-16) on their two five-day away trips. The first of these trips includes biking to and working on the O'neill Family Farm in northern Baltimore County via the North Central Railroad Trail and back roads. This trip involves completing projects and chores on the farm, experiencing farm family life, nature journaling, and cooperative working. One evening of this week, the Trip Leaders take the TA's to the Lovely Lane Church in Baltimore for Contra Dancing and Folk Dancing. The second away week the leaders and teens are driven to Frederick where they backpack and hike the Appalachian Trail through western Maryland. The trip culminates in a white water rafting trip on the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. TA Staff and teens decide on what camp service project they want to complete. This project, working with younger children, and the farm projects help teens accumulate their state required service learning hours. Responsibilities of the TA Trip Leader include the TA Overnight trip to Bunker Hill, a five mile hike from NC during the first week of each TA session. During the last week of each TA session, TA Leaders transport the teens to Ultimate Watersports for a day of kayaking and catamaran sailing. Additionally, TA Trip Leaders meet the Sunday before each Appalachian Trail trip for a Gear Check, in order to check the teens' gear, help them pack most efficiently, and discuss needed information with the teens and their parents.
Position: Intern: Nature Camps Interns
are at least 16 years of age, and assist counselors, always in
the presence of at least one NC Counselor. Interns are assigned
to a group, and expected to assist the the counselors in any way
possible.
Position:
Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Coordinator: Nature Camps employs a
staff member for the NC Health Corner. Since all NC staff are WFA,
CPR, Life Guard, and Canoeing certified, many small bumps and bruises
can be attended to by our highly trained Counselors. For more serious
injuries, the WFA Coordinator is on hand, and our camp physician
is just a phone call away. The WFA Coordinator is required to review the medical and emergency protocols, and to review health forms prior to the start of camp, calls parents to discuss questions or issues noted on those forms, and discuss special needs with the counselors. The WFA Coordinator is responsible
for making sure that medications, inhalers, epi-pens, etc. are
signed out to the Counselors prior to groups leaving on an activity.
S/he must also retrieve these items at the end of the activity.
The WFA Coordinator is also responsible for logging all injuries,
illnesses, treatments in the medical log book, calling parents
if needed for communication of any treatment or injury.
NOTE: Staff hired for all positions
are required to attend the eight days (including six overnights)
of Staff Training and Orientation in early June. This Training
and Orientation session includes Training and Certification on
the Upper and Lower Adventure Challenge Course, Water Safety Training,
training in Nature Journaling, Crafts, learning the trails, canoeing,
learning active and passive initiatives, learning and discussing
safety procedures for all aspects of camp, participating in practice
camp days, family overnights, etc. All staff are also required
to stay the last night of camp, and following Saturday for pack-up,
clean-up, winterizing, and closing down of camp.
Regular Session: June 15 - August 7, 2009
Training, certification, and staff development: June 11-19, 2010.
Mandatory Overnights: June 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18; Mon. June 21,
Mon., June 28, Thurs. July 1; Mon. July 5, Mon., July 12, Thurs.
July 15, Mon. July 19, Mon. July 26, Thurs. July 29; Mon. Aug.
2, Mon. Aug. 9, Wed. August 11, Fri. August 13.
For more information, or for a counselor
job application (pdf) call
Don Webb, Director, Nature Camps, Inc. at 410-343-0223 or e-mail
us naturecampsinc@aol.com |
