Environmental Education Instructors

Don Lee Center has offered Christian camping experiences to all ages for more than 70 years. Nestled on the north shore of the Neuse River near Oriental, North Carolina, Don Lee Camp & Retreat Center is an ideal setting to learn sailing, explore God’s creation and grow in faith.

Don Lee Summer Camps offer a nationally recognized program of excellence in sailing and coastal adventures centered around small group Christian living. The Don Lee Center offers ideal programs for children and youth through the Common Ground school program looking for cooperation and team building skills. Coastal Communities, a school program that takes a closer look at the coastal and river ecosystems, helps nurture over 6000 students each year.

Position Overview:

Environmental Education Instructors at Don Lee Camp & Retreat Center teach students through a residential outdoor environmental education program known as Coastal Communities. Instructors of the Coastal Communities program facilitate students in grades 3 – 8, and occasionally students as young as kindergarten and high school age. In this program, students come with their class for a one-day, two-day, three-day, or even five-day nature experience. Instructors teach a variety of different explorations, depending on which programs teachers select.

Experiential education at Don Lee also incorporates our low element challenge course through both the Common Ground program and the Coastal Communities program. Groups may participate in the challenge course experience for a small portion of their extended visit, or for an entire day! This experience is designed to raise the awareness of students as being part of a group, help them to better learn to cooperate, communicate, and work more effectively as a team. Together, the experiences of these two programs can be a very effective tool to help reinforce lessons of teachers working in a classroom setting.

Qualifications:

Don Lee Camp & Retreat Center’s Environmental and Outdoor Educators are required to have a bachelor’s degree in a science or education related field or in outdoor recreation and experiential education. They should possess experience or strong interest in teaching children in an outdoor setting. Enthusiasm, flexibility, and effective communication skills are a must. Those persons seeking internships must currently be obtaining a college degree in a related field and possess a strong desire to teach children in an outdoor setting.

Expectations of Don Lee Experiential Education Staff:

• Enthusiasm about the environment and the experiential education process
• Self-confidence and the ability to facilitate activities with large and small groups
• Be prepared and prompt for all activities and meetings
• Ability to function as an effective team member with other staff members, and to successfully function in a cooperative, communal living environment
• Helping with setting up and cleaning up of daily activities
• Hardworking person with the ability to work long hours in a day, in an outdoor setting
• Positive Attitudes!!
• Debrief daily with other staff members and be able to offer solutions to issues
• Communication of problems, ideas, etc. with coordinator and other Don Lee staff members
• Flexibility!!

Benefits: Salary for staff is $425 per week plus room and board.