Overview
Position type: Year-round/full-time/salaried (permanent/seasonal option)
Location: Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity, OR: April-June/Sept-Oct; otherwise remote
Compensation: $55,800 annual salary (or $4650/month)
Benefits: 17 days paid vacation plus 10 holidays/80% health, dental, vision coverage/annual professional development stipend/business mileage
Program: Opal Creek Outdoor School
Reports to: Programs Director
As a year-round manager, your role is integral to both the launch of outdoor school and its implementation. Prior to each season, you’ll collaborate with program staff to confirm bookings with schools/districts, coordinate pre-trip logistics with visiting teachers, co-hire and train educators, purchase and prepare materials, and enhance our inquiry-based and student-centered curriculum with guidance from Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, The Avarna Group equity consultants, and The BEETLES Project.
During the spring and fall seasons, you’ll supervise operations for multi-day outdoor school programs at Camp Silver Creek within Silver Falls State Park, Oregon’s most beloved and largest state park and the ancestral home of the Kalapuya and Molalla peoples. You’ll foster students’ relationships with the natural world and each other, support visiting teachers and Opal Creek educators, and anticipate and address program needs. Opal Creek Outdoor School is in a new phase with an opportunity for further development and expansion; you’ll play a major role in shaping the outdoor school experience for students and staff for years to come!
Qualifications, Skills, and Experience
A successful candidate will possess these minimum qualifications. We are less interested in the titles you’ve held and more interested in what you’ve actually done and who you are.
2+ seasons/school years experience as an educator, formal or informal
2+ years working with youth
Strong communication skills, written/verbal
Strong organizational skills & attention to detail
Previous experience mentoring and supervising adults
Previous experience developing curriculum
Previous experience with equity, inclusion, and cultural relevance, and integrating into youth programming
Familiarity with Indigenous Knowledge and worldviews
Familiarity with The BEETLES Project teaching methods, or equivalent methodology
Able to pass a criminal background check
Able to lead groups on hikes up to 3 miles
About Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center
Our mission is to provide transformative wilderness experiences that grow a community of environmental advocates. All of our work is based around one simple idea: people will protect what they care about, and they will care about what they know. Through our outdoor school and backpacking expedition programs, we bring youth and adults face-to-face with the outdoor places that make Oregon great—pristine mountain streams, uncut vistas, and old-growth forests.
