Middle School Project Adventure Teacher & Ropes Course Instructor

Breck School • Minneapolis, MN

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Breck School is seeking an innovative, student-centered educator to join our faculty as a Middle School Project Adventure Co-Teacher and Ropes Course Specialist. Operating within a dynamic, collaborative co-teaching model, this instructor partners closely with a fellow faculty member to deliver our adventure-based experiential education curriculum for students in grades 5-8. This role pairs technical challenge course expertise with strong facilitation skills�knowing how to use sequenced group initiatives and reflective processing to foster character development, emotional resilience, and authentic leadership during a critical stage of adolescent growth. Utilizing our extensive indoor and outdoor facilities, the co-teaching team shares collective responsibility for student growth. Crucially, this program is more than a high ropes course; for younger grades, the curriculum is rooted deeply in foundational, ground-based adventure programming. The successful candidate must possess the knowledge and instructional capacity to deliver foundational cooperative skills and field-based initiatives seamlessly before students transition to high elements. Because safety and pedagogical alignment are our highest priorities, the new hire will collaborate closely with their co-teacher to manage day-to-day operations, routine equipment inspections, annual third-party audit prep, and internal certification tracking.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in education, outdoor leadership, or a related field preferred.
• Must hold (or be able to imminently obtain) a challenge course certification from an accredited provider (such as Project Adventure, ABEE, or an equivalent ACCT-accredited organization).
• Experience delivering structured experiential education, with a strong understanding of how to sequence activities across multiple grade levels.
• Demonstrated success working in a team-first environment, with a proven ability to share a classroom space and split instructional and safety duties equitably.
• Practical, hands-on experience with ground-based initiatives, challenge course hardware, knot tying, rope management, and standard belay mechanics.
• Prior experience working with young adolescents, displaying a strong understanding of their developmental needs and emotional growth.

Nice To Haves

• Breck is willing to fund recertifications and send you to annual Project Adventure/challenge course training.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate fully with a co-teacher to manage group dynamics, balance instruction, and safely supervise middle school classes across various elements.
• Co-design and execute age-appropriate ice-breakers, games, and initiatives, ensuring a deliberate sequence that moves from ground-level team building to low elements, and ultimately to high-element challenges as students develop trust and readiness.
• Implement the Project Adventure framework, guiding students to discover their own internal resources by presenting them with collective problems rather than pre-determined solutions.
• Maintain a supportive environment honoring "Challenge by Choice" ensuring students participate at a meaningful personal level without being forced.
• Teach and enforce active, proper student spotting techniques to maintain a high standard of physical safety during ground and low-element activities.
• Set up, manage, and operate low elements, group initiatives, and high elements across both indoor and outdoor facilities.
• Collaborate on standard pre-use safety checks of the course, gear, and hardware to ensure all elements are sound.
• Maintain necessary inspection logs, track internal certification timelines, and help prepare the courses for annual third-party compliance audits.
• Manage the safe setup, teardown, and secure storage of all challenge course gear and removable hardware.
• Collaborate with the co-teacher and supervisor to prepare both the indoor and outdoor courses for the mandatory annual third-party safety inspection.
• Help ensure all course setups, gear, and belay systems meet current industry and Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) safety standards.
• Assist in maintaining accurate compliance files, inspection reports, and official safety certificates for the school�s permanent records.
• Enforce standard safety protocols and verify all participant gear, harnesses, and belay systems prior to course use.
• Assist the coordinator in monitoring staff training timelines, credentials, and safety compliance records.

Benefits

• The School’s Episcopal roots are lived through an unwavering commitment to equity, inclusion, and belonging where we respect the dignity of every human being.
• Prioritize lifelong learning and a commitment to the greater good.
• Community of highly engaged and motivated students, faculty, staff, and school leaders focused on building trusting relationships and strong academic scholarship through a practice of bridging research to practice.
• Students are prepared for a life of intellectual curiosity, self-knowledge, and social responsibility, matriculating to colleges and universities throughout the world.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level