Outdoor Adventure Program Area Lead

The JCC Ranch Camp is not just the Denver JCC’s overnight summer camp, it’s also one of the best places to work during the summer. As a staff member, Ranch Camp will become your home away from home as you work to create a community where people can thrive. You’re a hero to your campers; you have the chance to do something you really care about and have a whole lot of fun doing it. Your experience as a staff member is just as important to us as our campers’ experience. That being said: We’re here to serve kids and make sure they are in the safest environment possible while having the time of their lives. 

First and foremost, all our staff are madrichim or counselors.  

All Cabin Staff Responsibilities 

• Take care of your campers by prioritizing their physical, social, and emotional health, safety, and well-being. 

• Work as a team with your co-staff to make sure every day runs smoothly and to the schedule, and complete daily camper notes.  

• Create a community that you want to be a part of and that you want campers to be a part of.  

• Include everyone and make sure everyone is included.  

• Jump into the camp life: ride horses, swim, camp, play games, sing songs, roast s’mores, be ready to do everything the campers do! 

• Know where your campers are and what they are doing all the time.  

• Care for the campers and manage camper behaviors using the tools you learn in Staff Orientation week (We’ll go over positive behavior management techniques, enforcing appropriate safety policies, emergency procedures, camp rules, and more.) 

• Be flexible and adaptable because things change quickly at camp. You have to be able to roll with it. 

• Live in a bunk with your co-staff and your campers. 

• And other duties and responsibilities as assigned: you might need to make your campers’ dreams of a beach themed ice-cream campfire song session come true or become your favorite legendary Pokémon for an evening program. 

But our staff aren’t just counselors. We want you to do what matters to you while you’re at camp.  

Want to spend your summer outside, exploring the back country of Colorado and climbing mountains? We have a job for you. Does spending the morning playing soccer and the afternoon creating art make your heart happy? We have a job for you. Want to design a rocket that can make grilled cheese, but also land on Mars? We probably have a job for you, let’s talk. 

Outdoor Adventure Program Staff Responsibilities 

• Create and run multiple programs each day for campers of all ages in your specialty areas (ropes/challenge course, mountain biking, archery, hiking, and outdoor skills) that are safe, fun, and memorable. 

• Document the programming you create for other staff members to use in the future.  

• Work with the program team to create and run engaging staff and all-camp programming. 

• As a member of the Outdoor Adventure Staff Team, you’re responsible for: 

• Assisting in maintaining camp’s mountain bikes and related equipment as well as structuring age and skill appropriate rides for campers in 5th – 8th grade 

• Daily set-up and breakdown of the challenge course, including inspecting elements and equipment used for the day and documenting that inspection. 

• Generally organizing and maintaining the equipment associated with your activities. 

• Specialize in one branch of Outdoor Adventure programming and hold additional responsibility for the quality, facilitation, and upkeep of that area: 

• Challenge Course: you are responsible for assisting in daily set-up and pre-use inspections, ensuring appropriate participant briefing and screening occurs, and be a primary facilitator of activities. Ensure all safety procedures are followed. 

• Archery and Outdoor Skills: you are responsible for organizing and maintaining all equipment and storage, ensuring safety briefings occur and are being followed, and creating new programs. 

• Mountain Biking: you are responsible for maintaining camp’s mountain bikes and related equipment, structuring age and skill appropriate rides, and being the primary facilitator of mountain bike activities. 

If you have previous camp experience, as a Program Area Lead, you’ll also have the opportunity to step into additional leadership roles and responsibilities including, but not limited to:  

• Help develop programming for staff, such as Onegs, staff appreciation, or other events  

• Help develop all-camp programming, such as evening programs or special days  

• Work with the SIT (Staff in Training) program as a mentor 

Finally, all staff must be able to attend staff orientations and be available to live at camp for the summer season. While we prefer staff to work for the entire summer, we understand if you can’t and encourage you to apply if you can work at least 5 – 6 weeks of our summer season.   

Physical Demands and Working Environment 

Physical Demands: This job requires the incumbent to have operative auditory and visual functioning. Employee must also be able to walk upwards of two (2) miles each day, including use of stairs and uneven terrain.  Employee may also stand, sit in chairs or on the ground, run, and swim. Employee may lift or body block campers when necessary.   

Work Environment: Working conditions may include being in indoor, often time’s loud spaces and spending extended time outdoors under the sun. Must have the ability to work in a hectic, sometimes stressful environment while maintaining the standard of care.