Summer Crew Leader Positions
Leading a crew for the VYCC is an adventure unlike any you've ever had before! As a member of our Field Staff you will serve as a teacher, work supervisor, and a role model for your crew. You will be responsible for building a community, ensuring the health and safety of your crew, and teaching both life and job skills. In addition, you will be responsible for professionally managing your work project and ensuring high quality standards are achieved.
Such responsibility offers the opportunity for great rewards. You will expand the edges of your physical comfort zone, immerse yourself in the natural world, learn to eat spaghetti in the rain, test and refine your leadership skills, laugh harder than ever before, and walk away feeling the impact of the Crew Leading experience for years to come.
The Corps Members you work with will be between the ages of 16 and 24 and will come from all walks of life. The VYCC hires Corps Members of varied interests and talents, representing many social, economic, and geographical backgrounds. The combination of a diverse crew, excellent leaders, and a high- priority conservation project creates a dynamic and educationally rich experience.
Your season will begin with a paid staff training during which we will teach you the skills you need to be successful. Once your crew arrives, you will use what you've learned to transform your crew from a varied group of strangers into a tight-knit community. It will not be easy, but leading a group of young people in the completion of a high-priority conservation project will teach you and your crew lessons you will use for the rest of your lives.
Learn more about our crew types: Roving, Wilderness, and Community.
Field Staff Responsibilities
- Provide dynamic leadership and supervision to a diverse group of Corps Members
- Develop cooperative leadership skills with a Co-Leader
- Build a healthy community
- Train crew in work skills and proper tool use and maintenance
- Work with project sponsors to coordinate and ensure project completion
- Lead formal and informal educational activities
- Facilitate the WoRD Program
- Ensure that healthy food is prepared
- Regularly update VYCC headquarters on progress, developments, or challenges
- Process paperwork and payroll
- Write a detailed final evaluation of the program
Qualifications
- A strong desire to teach personal responsibility to young people
- Excellent organization and communication skills
- Leadership experience with diverse groups of young people
- Problem-solving ability, self-confidence, and a strong work ethic
- Sound judgment, creativity, humor, and maturity
- Background in education, parks and recreation management, environmental studies, or related field
- Naturalist or public speaking experience
- Outdoor leadership experience
- Budget management and bulk food purchasing experience
- 20 years of age for Assistants, 22 years of age for Crew Leaders and Park Managers
- Red Cross Standard First Aid/CPR or equivalent (Wilderness First Aid required for Wilderness Leaders)
- A good driving record and a valid driver's license
- Willingness to undergo a criminal background check
Benefits
- Competitive Salary - Based on position, crew duration, VYCC experience, and other relevant experience
- Park, Wilderness, Roving, Community Leaders: $430 - $500 per week
- Paid Training - Field Staff will receive compensation while attending our residential training
- Room and Board - Provided for all staff on residential crews (Park, Wilderness, and Roving)
- AmeriCorps Education Award - $1,250 to $2,362 offered to all qualifying Field Staff (pending successful grant application)
- Sterling College Education Award - $1,000 scholarship available to all VYCC alumni accepted to attend Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont.
- Valuable Job Skills - Learn management, construction, maintenance, supervisory, and leadership skills.
- Exceptional Work Environment - Live and work in the Green Mountains of Vermont!