Environmental Educator & Outdoor Rec Instructor

This position is part of the Lyndon Economic opportunity AmeriCorps Program (LEAP). LEAP is a national service program that places AmeriCorps members with non-profit organizations throughout the Northeast Kingdom (NEK) of Vermont and surrounding areas to support those organizations in building capacity and expanding their educational and/or environmental services that many communities rely on. LEAP supports members in their path to educational and career attainment through direct service, on-going trainings, and professional development opportunities offered during the service year.

The Environmental Education and Outdoor Recreation Instructor will:

• Assist Education staff as they develop and implement programming on environmental education
  and outdoor recreation with local schools;
• Promote and facilitate summer camp programs and adult outreach programs that focus on environmental education and outdoor recreation;
• Canoe, lead team building activities, ropes course facilitation, natural science and wildlife education, hiking, swim, explore outdoors, practice survival skills, and crafts;
• May also include stewardship projects, including tree planting and habitat restoration;
• Will also include some service in the education office to support the member’s educational programming activities;
• Assist in the care of wildlife ambassador animals including Oberon, a barred owl.

Marginal Functions:

• Assist with cleaning, organizing, and preparing materials for programming;
• Prepare and serve meals as part of programming activities;
• Facilitate Fishing;
• Mountain biking;
• Disaster Recovery and Relief Service Activities as needed, including mucking out basements, general debris cleanup, supply distribution, providing childcare to volunteers, etc.

Desired Qualifications:
The qualified applicant will:

• Have a positive attitude, high energy, exhibit patience and flexibility;
• Have excellent communication and leadership skills;
• Demonstrate experience leading groups of young adults in an outdoor setting;
• Have a commitment to working with youth in the outdoors;
• Possess a strong sense of stewardship of the natural environment;
• Have a valid driver’s license.

LEAP Minimum Qualifications:

• US citizenship status or permanent legal resident;
• 18 years of age or 17 years of age with written parental permission;
• Have a high school diploma or its equivalent or be willing to work towards a high school diploma or its equivalent as part of the service-year successful completion requirement;
• Have no criminal record of convictions for sex offenses or murder;
• Consent to and pass a National Service Criminal History Check and a State of Vermont AHS Child and Adult Abuse Registry Check;
• Commit to the Lyndon Economic opportunity AmeriCorps Program and its ethic of service and personal and professional development of its participants;
• Ability and enthusiasm to drive to, attend, and participate in required training and events;
• Commit to participating in the LEAP data collection process;
• Commit to completing bi-weekly electronic timesheets;
• Commit to participating in member evaluation process.

Benefits of Service:

• Education Award upon successful completion of service;
• Student loan forbearance;
• Training and professional development opportunities through host site, LEAP, and SerVermont;
• Mileage reimbursement for service-related travel;
• Access to Schools/Employers of National Service and AmeriCorps alumni network;
• Access to free Member Assistance Program;
• Free or reduced priced housing via host site organization or the Vermont State University –Lyndon Campus;
• Access to 3SquaresVT SNAP benefits;
• Access to professional development funds and mileage reimbursement for service-related
  travel;
• Full Time positions only: access to health care and childcare assistance.

Service Conditions:

This position must be accomplished Monday through Friday from 9am to 8pm primarily outdoors, in schools and on campus. Some overnight and weekend hours are required throughout the summer and winter.

Position begins: 5/12/2025; Position ends: 8/22/2025

This position is Quarter Time: Requires 450 hours of service. Member will receive a living allowance of $6,750 (pre-tax), and an education award of $1,956.35 (pre-tax) upon successful completion of service.

Other benefits include federal school loan forbearance, and various training opportunities.

To Apply:

For questions about this position or to send additional materials:
Andrew Cappello, Education Director
154 Leadership Drive, East Charleston, VT 05833
andy@northwoodscenter.org  – (802)723-6551 x303

Application deadline: Open until filled

Additional information on AmeriCorps is available at www.americorps.org.