Outdoor Adventure Area Lead

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF DENVER

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The JCC Ranch Camp is the Denver JCC’s overnight summer camp and a place to work during the summer. As a staff member, Ranch Camp will become your home away from home, creating a community where people can thrive. Staff are considered heroes to campers, having the chance to do something they care about and have fun. The experience of staff members is as important as the campers’ experience. The primary goal is to serve kids and ensure they are in the safest environment possible while having the time of their lives. All staff are madrichim or counselors. The role involves creating and running multiple safe, fun, and memorable programs daily for campers of all ages in specialty areas such as ropes/challenge course, mountain biking, archery, hiking, and outdoor skills. Staff are encouraged to pursue their interests while at camp, whether it's exploring the Colorado backcountry, climbing mountains, playing soccer, creating art, or designing innovative projects. The position also involves assisting in maintaining equipment and structuring age and skill-appropriate activities. Program Area Leads with previous camp experience may take on additional leadership roles in developing staff and all-camp programming, and mentoring the SIT (Staff in Training) program. All staff must attend staff orientations and be available to live at camp for the summer season, with a preference for the entire summer but encouraging applications for at least 5-6 weeks.

Requirements

Must be at least 18 years of age or 17 and graduated from high school.
One year experience in a child care setting or a vested interest in working in a professional child care setting.
One year experience with outdoor adventure programming.
Satisfactorily fulfill requirements for employment at the Staenberg-Loup JCC, including: background screening, three references, documentation, and compliance with CDHS law.
Must be high-energy, enthusiastic, creative, and open-minded!
Ability to attend staff orientations and be available to live at camp for the summer season.

Nice To Haves

One year experience in a camp environment.
Current CPR and First Aid certification.
Completed some college coursework or hold high school diploma (GED) or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

Take care of your campers by prioritizing their physical, social, and emotional health, safety, and well-being.
Work as a team with your co-staff to make sure every day runs smoothly and to the schedule, and complete daily camper notes.
Create a community that you want to be a part of and that you want campers to be a part of.
Include everyone and make sure everyone is included.
Jump into the camp life: ride horses, swim, camp, play games, sing songs, roast s’mores, be ready to do everything the campers do!
Know where your campers are and what they are doing all the time.
Care for the campers and manage camper behaviors using the tools you learn in Staff Orientation week (We’ll go over positive behavior management techniques, enforcing appropriate safety policies, emergency procedures, camp rules, and more.)
Be flexible and adaptable because things change quickly at camp. You have to be able to roll with it.
Live in a bunk with your co-staff and your campers.
Make your campers’ dreams of a beach themed ice-cream campfire song session come true or become your favorite legendary Pokémon for an evening program.
Create and run multiple programs each day for campers of all ages in your specialty areas (ropes/challenge course, mountain biking, archery, hiking, and outdoor skills) that are safe, fun, and memorable.
Document the programming you create for other staff members to use in the future.
Work with the program team to create and run engaging staff and all-camp programming.
Assist in maintaining camp’s mountain bikes and related equipment.
Structure age and skill appropriate rides for campers in 5th – 8th grade.
Daily set-up and breakdown of the challenge course, including inspecting elements and equipment used for the day and documenting that inspection.
Organize and maintain the equipment associated with your activities.
Assist in daily set-up and pre-use inspections (Challenge Course specialization).
Ensure appropriate participant briefing and screening occurs (Challenge Course specialization).
Be a primary facilitator of activities (Challenge Course specialization).
Ensure all safety procedures are followed (Challenge Course specialization).
Organize and maintain all equipment and storage (Archery and Outdoor Skills specialization).
Ensure safety briefings occur and are being followed (Archery and Outdoor Skills specialization).
Create new programs (Archery and Outdoor Skills specialization).
Maintain camp’s mountain bikes and related equipment (Mountain Biking specialization).
Structure age and skill appropriate rides (Mountain Biking specialization).
Be the primary facilitator of mountain bike activities (Mountain Biking specialization).
Help develop programming for staff, such as Onegs, staff appreciation, or other events (as Program Area Lead with previous camp experience).
Help develop all-camp programming, such as evening programs or special days (as Program Area Lead with previous camp experience).
Work with the SIT (Staff in Training) program as a mentor (as Program Area Lead with previous camp experience).
Attend staff orientations and be available to live at camp for the summer season (at least 5 – 6 weeks).