At Caldera, we believe in the power of creativity. Our mission is to inspire and support youth from underserved rural and urban communities by awakening the potential of their creative voice. We do this through a unique fusion of art, environment and mentorship. Our Youth Program provides students from Portland and Central Oregon with long-term relationships with caring adults, which nurtures individual creativity, beginning in sixth grade and continuing into young adulthood.
Caldera has a $4M budget, a 18-member board, 15 full-time year-round employees, and a range of seasonally contracted artists and staff. Its administrative office is in Portland, Oregon, and its Arts Center is located outside of Sisters in Central Oregon.
As part of Caldera’s summer learning team, you will gain leadership, communication, and collaboration skills and unparalleled resiliency while building meaningful relationships with young learners and adults. You’ll have daily opportunities to expand your own creativity and sense of adventure, upheld in a supportive community full of networking opportunities. During your time off, you’ll be centrally located in Oregon’s playground for play in the Cascade Mountains, sampling local flavor, or simply relaxing on Caldera’s 116 acres of awe-inspiring property.
Position Title: Environmental Education Assistant
Supervisor: Adventure Team Supervisor
Compensation:
- Salary/Rate of Pay: $105/day, with 1% increase for each year of experience working at Camp Caldera (not to exceed 7%)
- Training Salary/Rate of Pay: $50-75/day
- Room and board provided during days with programming; room only during non-programming days. A light dinner will be provided on staff arrival days. Brunch is served on the last day of each session.
Location: This is a seasonal position at our Arts Center- 31500 Blue Lake Drive, Sisters, OR 97756 (transportation not provided).
Choose one or more sessions; placement is dependent on availability & scheduling (must be available for all dates in session(s) chosen). Must be available for training dates and on the following dates and times to start each session:
- Arrive 11:00 am June 30 for Staff Training June 30-July 3
- Arrive between 1:00-2:00 pm July 5* for the Immersion 1 (High School) session July 6-15
- Arrive between 4:00-5:00 pm July 18* for the immersion 2 (High School) session July 19-27
- Arrive between 4:00-5:00 pm July 30* for the Discovery 1 (Middle School) session July 31-Aug 7
- Arrive between 4:00-5:00 pm Aug 10* for the Discovery 2 (Middle School) session Aug 11-18
*Indicates Half day compensation
Sample Daily Schedule:
8:00-8:30 Breakfast
8:40-9:20 Community Circle
9:30-12:25 Assist in Classes OR Break
12:15 Kitchen Prep
12:30-1:20 Lunch
1:20-1:50 Staff Meeting
1:50-3:10 Lead Free Time Activity or Class Prep
3:10-6:20 Assist in Classes OR Break
6:30-7:30 Dinner
7:45-8:45 Capture the Flag or Other Evening Activity
8:45-9:45 Campfire
10:30-11:30 Night Duty (once per session)
Equity & Inclusion
We recognize that Caldera communities face many societal inequities. We recognize the history and ongoing impacts of racism in our country, state, and institutions. We acknowledge that we will always have room to grow as an organization and as individuals in our understanding of racism and oppression.
We commit to continually examining our role in both perpetuating and combating institutional racism. We also commit to ongoing alignment of our policies and practices to advance racial equity, inclusion, and freedom of expression.
We commit to integrating equity and inclusion into all areas of our work to better serve our mission; when we do, we get closer to the world that we want for our youth. To ensure our own accountability, we will 1) seek deeper relationships with and feedback from our larger community; 2) use our Equity Plan to guide ongoing work; and 3) apply our Equity Lens to decision-making. We will also seek inspiration from artistic and cultural traditions.
Caldera is an equal opportunity employer encouraging applicants of all backgrounds and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
We encourage people of color and Caldera community members to apply.
Environmental Education at Caldera:
The goal of Caldera’s Environmental Education program is to inspire curiosity about nature and help students build lasting connections to the environment. We hope to increase student knowledge of the natural history of Caldera’s land in Central Oregon and to develop a sense of place through an emphasis on direct sensory exploration of the diverse habitats immediately surrounding camp. Campers may learn about trout habitats while wading barefoot in the creek, make observational sketches of forest regrowth with charcoal from wildfire-charred trees, and taste wild mint during a field lesson in ethnobotany. Many of them are experiencing just being kids in the outdoors for the first time in their lives. Beyond lessons taught in the context of class, Caldera uses common daily practices to model environmental responsibility. Campers weigh the amount of food that is thrown away at the end of each meal and graph the reduction of waste over the course of their stay at camp. Fruit and vegetable matter are separated for compost to nourish our vegetable garden. It is our hope that when complemented by discussion, hands-on activities like these help students draw connections between environmental lessons learned at camp and the far-reaching ecological impact of small choices they make everyday at home.
Position overview:
The Environmental Education Assistant supports the Environmental Educator to implement environmental curriculum and incorporate program goals into daily sessions, inspire curiosity about nature, and build connections to the environment. This position will help facilitate discussions about environmental justice with a population that has historically been marginalized in the environmental movement.