Build Giant Interactive Art with Kids at a Deign, Creativity and Powertool Camp : Camp Counselor
DAY CAMP COLLABORATOR
Menlo Park, CA 94025 | June 15th - August 18th | Full Time | Seasonal - Summer 2020
Work with kids ages 8-14 to engineer larger than life art, structures, puppets, vehicles, mechanisms and more. Create a community of learners who celebrate mistakes, honor sincerity, and value the power of both the individual and the team. Use a huge range of supplies and tools from standard arts and crafts, to power tools and dimensional lumber. You don’t need to be perfect to apply; come with either experience making rad stuff or experience working with kids. While both is ideal, we want our team to be a mix of educators, makers, artists, facilitators, and engineers.
Your primary role will be supporting and guiding kids through the complex process of working on a team to make something bigger than themselves (figuratively and literally). You will be a teammate, doing the work right along side the kids (read more about what is a collaborator?). You will be a facilitator, making sure every voice is heard and guiding the kids through compromise and towards consensus. You will be a leader tilting the environment towards engagement, and the project towards completion. At other times you will have to hold firm boundaries that keep kids physically and emotionally safe. Above all else, you will help create a space where kids at our camp feel seen, heard and loved.
Creativity thrives in spaces where everyone feels a sense of belonging; we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all employees, in celebration of all identities.
PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTATIONS
- Build large-scale projects with kids utilizing power tools (we will teach you how!)
- Facilitate daily design sessions, establishing the scope of the project and the daily goals (we will teach you how!)
- Uphold Project Ember’s tool use and risk management policies
- Maintain an emotionally and physically safe environment
- Model and teach inclusivity
- Facilitate meaningful collaboration and mediate conflict among campers
- Bandage scrapped knees, have heart to hearts, and celebrate vulnerability
- Host games and program transitions
- Share stories with families about their children
- Co-develop curriculum and pick the summer's project themes with the rest of staff
- Attend regular meetings focused on skills development and specific camper needs
- Keep the site clean, orderly, and safe
- Supervise before care, aftercare, snack, lunch and park time (though never all of them in a single day)
- Regularly submit camper notes (these help us maintain multi-year relationships with alumni and track things like projects they worked on and delightful moments they were apart of)
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- You have started and completed a significant project of your own volition AND/OR
- You have experience working with children as a teacher, camp counselor, or mentor (informal experience welcome)
- You care deeply for the well-being of young people and know how to take care of yourself so that you are able to meet their needs during program hours
- You are an excellent communicator and are comfortable giving and receiving feedback
- You are swift to adapt to changing situations and have a high tolerance for uncertainty.
- You are committed to safety and high-quality program delivery
- You can pass a criminal background check
- You are 18+
PREFERRED SKILLS
- The ability to understand and make oneself understood with Spanish speaking families
- Formal training AND/OR real-world experience in progressive education.
- First Aid, Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, EMT or equivalent training (certification can take place after hiring)
SCHEDULE, LOCATION, AND COMPENSATION
- Location: Synapse School, Menlo Park, CA
- Employment: This is a full-time, seasonal job without benefits or paid vacation time. Sick leave is paid.
- Compensation: $17 - $21 per hour depending on skills and experience
- Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30 - 4:30 or 9:15 - 5:15 (40 hour work week with occasional overtime sessions on Fridays and at the end of the summer for clean up)
- Dates:
- Mandatory Staff Training: June 15th - 19th
- Programs Dates: June 22nd - August 7th
- Debrief and Cleanup: August 10th - 13th - Please expect to work full days on August 12th and 13th
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
- Occasional Lifting up to 50lb
- Computer use (typing, reading)
- Speaking to communicate both up close and over large distances
- Seeing to maintain line-of-sight with campers
- Kneeling, leaning, and/or squatting (primarily to interact with kids and projects)
- Sitting on the floor or standing for long periods of time