This content was published: February 15, 2017. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
NW Regional Education Service District: Looking for college students to volunteer as NW Outdoor Science School Student Leaders
Posted by hannah.cherry
NW Outdoor Science School – Student Leader Position Description
We are looking for college students to volunteer for our program as Student Leaders, who spend a week leading activities and teaching environmental science to the sixth-graders. Student Leaders have the opportunity to learn many skills, including leadership, teamwork, and education. We provide a full day of training before the 6th graders arrive and staff are on-site to offer support at all times. Our Spring session runs from March 12th – June 2nd and we have 11 weeks of camp available within that time.
Position Description:
Northwest Outdoor Science School is a multi-day, overnight experiential education program for sixth-grade students. Students live in and learn about the natural world in a natural setting, spending many hours each day on different science field studies. Learning takes place in small groups, and the activities are hands-on, short, interactive and fun. Students study about forest & aquatic habitats and life forms, soil and water quality, and more. At Outdoor School, students develop an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and their place in it.
Social growth occurs as the students learn, live and play together. Students live in cabin groups and participate in evening campfire programs, cabin unity games, camp duties, recreation, and homeroom time with their classroom teachers. They learn to function as a team as they perform basic duties such as serving meals, presenting a weather forecast, or cleaning their cabins. Family style dining reinforces table manners, etiquette and nutritional diet. All sites have comfortable sleeping cabins with heat and electricity, restrooms with showers, a dining hall and covered areas for field studies.
Qualifications:
College and high school students volunteer as counselors for one week. They live in the cabins with the sixth-graders, engaging the students in a variety of fun activities (games, songs, ice breakers, skits) to build cabin unity and forge friendships. Counselors also teach the activities on the science field studies, allowing the average study group size to be 5 students per instructor.
Outdoor School staff provides training in good child management, field study activities and teaching techniques, game and song leading, and camp duties. Counselors arrive a day before students to begin training, and are mentored throughout the week. The staff is always available to assist counselors in any way.
No prior camp experience is required! Nor are counselors expected to be experts in science. You only need to be ready and willing to learn at Outdoor School. People wishing to counsel at Outdoor School must:
- Enjoy spending time with children.
- Enjoy spending time in the outdoors.
- Take initiative to engage students in activities.
- Be responsible & mature.
- Be enthusiastic & positive.
- Be flexible to do whatever is needed.
- Be able to communicate clearly.
- Focus all of their energy on making Outdoor School as rewarding an experience as possible for students.
How to Apply: Please e-mail Chad Stewart at cstewart@nwresd.k12.or.us or call 503-614-1403 for more information
Contact Information
Zo? “Whale Shark” Shipley, Volunteer Assistant, Northwest Outdoor Science School
NW Regional Education Service District
zshipley@nwresd.k12.or.us | 503-614-1288
nwoutdoorschool.org
About the Organization
Northwest Outdoor Science School is a multi-day, overnight experience for elementary and middle school students. Our program is operated by the Northwest Regional Education Service District. Participants in the program live in, and learn about, the natural world at one of our four beautiful sites in NW Oregon. Each site has ten or eleven staff members who work closely not just with the elementary & middle school students, but also with our Counselors, most of whom are high school students and college students.
Students learn in the outdoors while participating in hands-on, interactive and experiential activities that are taught mostly in small groups. Our fun field study activities are designed to teach students about nature while actually being in nature, which promotes a curiosity about, and appreciation for, the natural world.