Program Description: Arrowhead Ranch is an Outdoor Science School program based on the California Dept. Of Ed., Science Framework. We are located in Southern California among the beautiful San Bernardino National Forest in Lake Arrowhead. Elevation is 5,500 feet above the county of San Bernardino. We have about 10,000 public school students ages 10-12 come up to attend our 5th/6th grade outdoor hands-on science school.
Our teaching is done outside using the the natural surroundings as our classroom. We have acres of trails that we travel daily with the students. Our policy is not to lecture but to let the flora and fauna of the area teach the kids. We do a square dance and staff skits the first night the kids arrive. We travel up to two miles on each hike during the days lesson. We travel in groups with a Naturalist(our teacher) leading a boys cabin group and a girls cabin group to to form a trail team. The classroom teachers also come up for the week with the kids. They are invited to observe on the trails. They are not asked to teach, because we have Naturalists do all the hands-on teaching.
Each group size varies from week to week dependant upon the school's boy/girl breakdown. The average size of one cabin group is 12-15 kids. There are three hikes on Tuesday and Wednesday. We do a special projects day with stations on Thursday. The stations are set-up for all the students to do experimental studies, compass usage, microscopes, frog pond studies, hikes into a new area, a sack lunch is taken out for the day and the kids play games, sing songs and it is neat way to spend the last full day at camp. Thursday night is the students skit night. The cabin leaders have worked with their group all week to create a skit akin to the theme of the week. This is a fun round up of the weeks activities and gives an emotional warm fuzzy closure to an eventful week.
Friday, the students pack their bags and have a 9:00am brunch instead of an 8:00am breakfast.The busses arrive around 11:00 to 11:30am. We load all the luggage on the busses, same as Monday when we unload all the luggage. We give the kids hugs and high fives and they gather on to their bus. We wave good-bye with another spectacular week under our belt. We are all about learning and having fun with the kids.
Once the students have departed for home, we then clean the cabins and other areas that we used during the week for the camp. Once that is done, we check out and usually leave between 2:00-3:00pm. We are paid until 3:00pm on Fridays. We are allowed to leave as soon as we have been checked out by the camp's cleaning supervisor. The only exception to this is the inservices done on paydays. We are paid every other Friday. We are treated to lunch or a pizza party. We then use this time for continuing education for the staff. It is great time to reflect, learn new techniques to use with the kids or just listen to new thoughts and ideas for improvements.
The program is run by the director and the assistant director.Our office staff take care of all the behind the scenes activities, like setting up the zoo presentation, the camp photographers schedule and the dance man. All staff paperwork goes through the office to ensure that everyone is on payroll at the proper rate. All staff training is paid at half pay for the that week.
Job Description: The cabin leader/counselor is one of the most important jobs in our program. The Leader must be able to work with kids from all backgrounds. Safety is of the utmost concern.
The cabin leader is responsible for waking the kids for shower rotations, getting the kids to bed at the appropriate hour, having cabin group lined up and ready at mealtimes. Cabin staff must be able to deal with homesickness issues, bickering and problem solving among students, teambuilding, games, assist kids with skit to be presented on Thursday night according to the theme of the week, help kids with a tasteful cabin poster that is put up on Wednesday before dinner, keeping the kids on the trails, assisting with lessons being taught, keeping kids calm if they get injured, being able to be flexible when the schedule changes.
Must be a person full of energy and enthusiam. Willing to sing and act silly when appropriate. Needs to be able to be serious and in control as an adult when children have differences and for all situations. Must be able to balance the fun that kids love, yet the desire kids have to be told what the boundaries are. Cabin leaders must have the ability to work under all conditions remaining even-keeled with a friendly exterior.
The memories that the kids leave with are the ones that the cabin leader has helped to create. The kids write "fan mail" each week to the leader who was with their group. We encourage the staff to keep in touch with students by sending postcards. We do not permit e-mailing kids or sending letters in envelopes. We endorse enveloped letters that go to the classroom teacher at the school with notes to the kids.
We have a very close-knit working relationship with all our staff. We work five (5) days a week overnight, and become close. Our goal is to keep the same core group working together for years to come.The longer you have the experience working with kids the more fun it gets.
If you have these abilities, we would love to hear from you. We get to know the staff very well and rely on one another to take up slack. We look to the cabin leaders to keep the kids busy, make those special memories and keep a positive mental attitude. We want to build the self esteem and self worth of each child that comes to our program. We need motivated indivuals who care enough to go the extra mile. We want those who wish to step up because it will make a difference in a child's life. We hire quality, qualified, safe minded, good hearted and "children first" minded individuals.
If this is you, then we would like for you to get intouch with us. It is a lot of work. It pales when you see the changes from Monday to Friday in the faces of these kids, or when the kids are crying on the bus Friday because they don't want to leave. On Monday night a child cried they would never make it one day, yet you, the leader, changed all that and they are in tears because they are leaving you. Suddenly, you find yourself filled with pride and a warmth that only this position can offer. Arrowhead Ranch is a unique experience to have a job where you must have fun. It is a great place to be, work and get to know new people who love their job like you do.
Job Type: Seasonal
season: School Year
Hours: Full time
Program Type: Residential
Qualifications: Must be 18 years of age or older. A high school diploma or GED submitted. Current certification in First Aid/CPR. We conduct a background check, fingerprinting and drug test. Once these things are passed, you are on board. Personality must be energetic, moral, a desire to work with kids to make a positive impression. Past experience working with kids is a plus, but not required.Applicants needs to be in good health and ability to hike up to two(2) miles, per hike. Cabin leaders must posses a professional, positive attitude, must work well among kids and peers. Cabin leaders need to have a willingness to be flexible. We work with new kids every week from all over Southern California. The students come from every socio-economic background and need a leader who can be available to every sort of child's personality. Cabin leaders must be able to have fun. They need to be supportive of the kids. Will deal with every aspect of being away from home. Need to be a friend, a leader, the adult at all times, thinking always of the kids safety first.
Supervisory skills a must. Make good sound judgement calls when needed. Be able to remember students names, the daily schedule and the changes from week to week.
Salary: $45.00 - $98.00/day
Benefits: medical, dental, and vision
Housing: program
Meals: program
Housing: Available nearby, available now for $300/month
Comments: We feed and house cabin leading staff Monday through
Friday when scheduled.
Deadline: open until filled
Available: September 10, 2007 through June 22, 2008, training
weeks are September 10-15, 2007 and January 7 - 11, 2008
Procedure: email, us mail or fax
Contact
Information:
Kathy Farley
Address: P.O. Box 123, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352
Telephone: 909-337-7265
Fax: 909-337-3634
Other: 951-323-1007
Email: mzcamp@msn.com
Website: arrowheadkidscamp.com