Overview
Program Description
ARCC Programs is the leading provider of Adventure, Community Service, International Travel, and Wilderness Travel programs for teenagers and young adults in the United States. ARCC Gap Semester programs offer an educational and cultural bridge between high school and college. The ARCC Gap Semester programs are an opportunity to live, work, learn and explore in some of the greatest classrooms on earth. ARCC Gap Semesters have a rich educational fabric complementing each location. Going beyond the weekend visit, we take the time to plant our feet in each location, becoming part of the community at large. Eating, sleeping, and living amongst our host communities, we are welcomed in as friends. Working in partnership with area leaders and organizations, we participate in meaningful projects while collaborating with community members to achieve a common goal. Lending our hands to coral reef restoration work, building clean water filters, planting saplings, or working alongside local NGOs, our hard work supplements our education organized around ARCC Gap’s Global Themes: Literacy and Education, Public Health, the Movement of Peoples, Environment and Conservation, Indigenous Rights and Histories, and Social Justice topics. Students come away from their gap semester not only with memories that will last them a lifetime but also with skills and experience that will be invaluable in their future educational goals.
Job Description
ARCC is looking for instructors who are enthusiastic about working with students aged 17-20 and who have strong experience working with groups. ARCC Instructors provide an academic framework and structure relevant to their location, as well as teach the curriculum designed for each location and global theme. In addition, instructors focus on fostering constructive group dynamics, implementing ARCC’s leadership progression, facilitating games, activities, and initiatives, overseeing outfitted activities, and ensuring that each person in the group is able to safely achieve goals consistent with their abilities. Two instructors will guide a group of up to fourteen students through rigorous domestic and international settings while facilitating an educational curriculum. These semesters are both mentally and physically challenging for instructors and participants, with many unexpected obstacles and issues.
ARCC seeks instructors who will be a positive influence on the participants, supporting them throughout the semester and creating a fun, safe, and supportive environment in which they can thrive. Our instructors are not supervising each student 24 hours a day for the semester, but rather helping them develop their own comfort in each regional location, setting them up to achieve positive development in a safe environment.
Responsibilities:
Travel logistics
Food buying and food management for group
Management of group budget
Organization of hands-on projects
Facilitation of educational curriculum
Qualifications:
Wilderness First Responder (WFR, EMT, or WEMT), CPR and AED certifications, or able to obtain before the start of your employment
Must be at least 23 years old at the time of the start of the program
Excellent health and physical condition and fully COVID-19 vaccinated
Required Skills:
Experience traveling in the developing world (international programs)
Experience guiding in the outdoors, including camping and cooking skills (domestic programs)
Experience leading groups (preferably ages 17-20)
Demonstrated experience working with a co-leader
Demonstrated experience facilitating educational curriculum at a high school level
Experience leading volunteer groups
Experience hosting discussion, debates, lectures, mediation, or town council-style meetings focused on controversial issues
Preferred Skills:
Prior experience leading programs for ARCC Programs (preferred)
Basic proficiency in a relevant foreign language for Southeast Asia, Western Mediterranean, East Africa, and the Pacific Islands (preferred, but not required)
Professional, fun, motivated, and enthusiastic individuals who are flexible and creative
Available for Staff Training
About ARCC Programs
ARCC Programs (arccprograms.com) was founded in 1983 with the goal of introducing young adults to outdoor challenges in a fun, safe and educational environment. Over the years we have evolved from offering primarily wilderness-based programs to a roster of both domestic and international service and educational based programs.
ARCC summer programs and Gap Semesters take place in locations all over the world. ARCC programs are structured to strike the balance between hard work and hard play while exploring off-the-beaten-path locations. ARCC students return home with a willingness to face new challenges, a greater sense of responsibility and, most importantly, confidence in themselves.
