Description: URI's Environmental Education Center is seeking qualified leaders to carry out seven 6-day expeditions including backpacking, kayaking, canoeing, and rockclimbing/rappelling, surfing, and community service with teens, ages 12-17. All expeditions emphasize group-building, self-esteem, environmental stewardship, and conservation. Responsibilities are to supervise and teach teens in all aspects of the expeditions including safety, leave-no-trace camping techniques, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, rappelling, and some backpacking. Many expeditions are driving intensive, and qualified leaders will drive 15 passenger vans. Other responsibilities include facilitating evening activities at the campsite, and leading new games and group building initiatives. In cooperation with other staff, leaders provide 24-hour supervision to groups of 10-12 teens, participate in preparation and clean-up of equipment, and perform other duties as required to run the program.
The Site: The URI Environmental Education Center is situated on 2,300 acres of forests, wetlands, and old farmland—the W. Alton Jones Campus. Dedicated to environmental education, the Center has been offering quality day and residential programs for over 30 years. In addition to the W. Alton Jones Campus, the Teen Expedition program utilizes the adjoining state parks and state forests of Connecticut and Rhode Island which encompass 40,000 acres, the Pawcatuck River of southern Rhode Island, Acadia National Park in eastern Maine, the Adirondack Mountains of New York, rockclimbing sites in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire, and mountain biking and white-water rafting sites in Connecticut, New York, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Qualifications: Experience with at least one of the following skill areas is preferred: river canoeing or kayaking (class 1, flatwater), rockclimbing/rappelling. Experience teaching and leading adolescents is preferred. Red Cross certification in CPR and standard first aid is required. (Wilderness First Aid is helpful but not necessary.) Preferred applicants have a valid driver's license with no risk-creating infractions. Familiarity with natural history, environmental stewardship, and conservation preferred. Age 21+ preferred. Pets are strictly forbidden. All final applicants will be subjected to a criminal background check.
Salary: Compensation includes $250 per week, room, board and two weeks of paid training. Additional $35 per week for driver (drivers must be age 21 or over, have a safe driving record, etc.), $10 per week for college junior or above majoring in Outdoor Recreation.
Dates of Employment: June 17 to August 17. Attendance at staff training is mandatory.
Closing Date: May 30 or when filled.
To Apply: Send cover letter, resume, application form, and name/phone number of three references to John Jacques, Manager, URI Environmental Education Center, 401 Victory Highway, West Greenwich, RI 02817, (401) 397-3304, ext. 6043. FAX: (401) 397-3293. E-mail: altonjones@uri.edu