Assistant Instructors work alongside an Instructor with a group of 12-17 campers. Previous experience working with children is not required, but being a positive role model is! Primary responsibilities include group management, supporting planned lessons, games, and activities, and maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for campers. This position is excellent for those looking to gain experience in childcare, environmental education, and/or high adventures with support from more experienced instructors. Assistant Instructors may occasionally be asked to step up into the Instructor position as their confidence grows. Pay is $15/hr-$15.25/hr, depending on experience.

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Instructors work alongside an Assistant Instructor with a group of 12-17 campers. Previous experience working with children is required. Experience working in environmental education or high-adventure roles is desired, although these skills can be taught to those with a desire to learn! Primary responsibilities include leading planned lessons, games, and activities, communicating daily with managers, and maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for campers. This position is excellent for those seeking an internship opportunity in childcare, environmental education, and/or high adventures and those who are excited to take on a leadership role within their camp group each week. Instructors may occasionally be asked to act as Assistant Instructors when scheduling necessitates it. Pay is $15.25/hr-$16.50/hr, depending on experience.

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Specialist Instructors will work as a liaison between instructors and managers, rotating between groups to ensure all campers receive quality environmental education and high-adventure lessons. Specialist Instructors are expected to be leaders amongst other Instructors but will not have manager responsibilities. Previous experience working with children is required. Experience with executing either environmental education or high-adventure programs is also required. Primary responsibilities include running high-quality, hands-on lessons from already established lesson plans, assisting instructors with any prep work needed to run their daily activities, and helping managers prepare for check-in and check-out. This position is excellent for those looking for an internship opportunity in environmental education or outdoor recreation, with opportunities to gain skills in designing lesson plans and ample practice in experiential teaching. Specialist Instructors may be asked to act as Instructors when scheduling necessitates it. Pay is $15.50/hr-$16.50/hr, depending on experience. For 21+ applicants willing to drive 15-passenger vans, there will be a $1.00 raise, with the expectation that this person would be excited to drive for field trips.

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Trip Guides lead groups of campers in off-site, overnight adventures across Alaska with the support of another trip guide. This year’s trips will go to Denali National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kachemak Bay State Park, Chugach National Forest, and more! Depending on trip length, programs are either 1 or 2 weeks long, with the first portion of their program running as a day camp out of Kincaid Park while they learn backcountry skills and prepare for their trip. Previous experience working with kids is required, as is previous experience with safe LNT practices and backcountry camping. This year, we are looking to hire two full-time Trip Guides to lead our various overnight programs for campers aged 8-14. We are also looking to hire two part-time Trip Guides who will act as High Adventure Instructors during weeks they are not on trips. Length of trips are age-dependent, with 8-9 year olds going on one night trips, 10-12 year olds going on three night trips, and 12-14 year olds going on four night trips. Trips focus on a range of skills, including frontcountry camping, backpacking, kayaking, and fishing. Primary responsibilities include preparing for overnight trips with the guidance of managers, driving 15-passenger vans around Alaska, cooking meals and ensuring timeliness for trip activities, and maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for campers on trips and at camp. This position is great for adventurous and responsible people who love spending time in nature and can make sound judgment calls in the backcountry. Pay is $17.50/hr-$19.00/hr depending on experience, current WFA (Wilderness First Aid) certification is required for all trips staff. WFR ( Wilderness First Responder) certification is preferable.  While on trips, trip guides will make 8 hours of regular pay + 2 hours of overtime pay + a $45 stipend/per night.

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The Program Manager primarily supports instructors at the site by checking in with each group every morning about their daily activities, organizing supplies for instructors, and stepping in to help with group management when necessary. This position will be responsible for holding instructors accountable for filling out their daily schedules and leading scheduled activities. Previous experience working with kids in a formal or informal educational setting is required, and experience in lesson planning is desired. Program Managers will make changes to WAGS based on site-specific needs. Program Managers will work closely with the Site Manager to ensure that all groups of campers are accounted for and supported throughout the day. When the Logistics Manager is not able to do a supply run for a given site, the Program Manager will be responsible for this. If an Instructor or Specialist Instructor is not able to drive a field trip and the Logistics Manager is unavailable, then the Program Manager would be expected to drive. This position is excellent for those who are confident in managing large groups of kids and consider themselves leaders among their peers. Program Managers must have a genuine love for the environment and a desire to share that with kids through hands-on, outdoor activities. Pay is $18.00/hr-$19.00/hr, depending on experience.

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The Site Manager will be responsible for the majority of parent communication for their site, including parent texts each week. They will also be fielding questions and feedback from parents at check-in and check-out, as well as over text. The Site Manager is responsible for creating the staff schedule for their site based on staff preferences from our staff survey. Site Managers are the instructors' and Camp Director's liaisons and should communicate feedback in both directions. This person will closely collaborate with the Logistics Manager to figure out field trip scheduling. This person is expected to know the whereabouts of all groups from their site at all times and will communicate with staff via radio. Therefore, Site Managers are expected to remain onsite at all times except in cases of emergency. This position is the most responsible for camper safety at the site and should be the person managing most medical paperwork. Site Managers are responsible for communicating with and greeting guest speakers. This position is crucial to creating a daily structure at camp by leading opening ceremonies, checking in with groups around lunchtime, and being present at the beginning of check-out. Site Managers are key role models for instructors, bringing enthusiasm to camp and never being an exception to their own rules. Site Managers are expected to plan at least two staff bonding events for their site throughout the summer! Pay is $19.00/hr-$21.00/hr, depending on experience.

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The Program Manager primarily supports Instructors at the site by checking in with each group every morning about their activities for the day, organizing supplies for instructors, and stepping in to help with group management when necessary. This position will be responsible for holding instructors accountable for filling out their daily schedules and leading scheduled activities. Previous experience working with kids in a formal or informal educational setting is required, and experience in lesson planning is desired. Program Managers will make changes to WAGS based on site-specific needs, which will be especially important at our Palmer site. Program Managers will work closely with the Site Manager to ensure that all groups of campers are accounted for and supported throughout the day. The Palmer Program Manager must be excited to work directly with kids and will spend more time with groups of campers than Program Managers at other sites. Palmer is an hour away from our TDC warehouse and The Alaska Center office, so staff in Palmer must be prepared to be more independent than our other locations. The Camp Director will still be easily reachable by phone, and the Logistics Manager will assist with getting trailers and equipment to and from Palmer. The Program Manager will be responsible for going to the store on supply runs. If an Instructor or Specialist Instructor is not able to drive a field trip and the Logistics Manager is unavailable, then the Program Manager would be expected to drive. This position is great for those who are confident in managing large groups of kids and would consider themselves to be a leader among their peers. Program Managers must have a genuine love for the environment and a desire to share that with kids through hands-on, outdoor activities. Pay is $18.00/hr-$19.00/hr, depending on experience.

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The Site Manager will be responsible for the majority of parent communication for their site, including parent texts each week. They will also be fielding questions and feedback from parents at check-in and check-out as well as over text. The Site Manager is responsible for creating the staff schedule for their site based on the preferences of staff from our staff survey. Site Managers are the liaison between instructors and the Camp Director and should be communicating feedback in both directions. This person will closely collaborate with the Logistics Manager to figure out field trip scheduling. Palmer is an hour away from our TDC warehouse and The Alaska Center office, so staff in Palmer must be prepared to be more independent than our other locations. The Camp Director will still be easily reachable by phone and the Logistics Manager will assist with getting trailers and equipment to and from Palmer. The Site Manager is expected to know the whereabouts of all groups from their site at all times and will communicate with staff via radio. Therefore, Site Managers are expected to remain onsite at all times except in cases of emergency. This position is the most responsible for camper safety at the site, and should be the person managing most medical paperwork. Since the Site Manager should be onsite most of the time, they are responsible for communicating with guest speakers. This position is crucial to creating a daily structure at camp by leading opening ceremonies, checking in with groups around lunchtime, and being present at the beginning of check-out. Site Managers are key role models for instructors, bringing enthusiasm to camp and never being an exception to their own rules. Site Managers are expected to plan at least two staff bonding events for their site throughout the summer! Pay is $19.00/hr-$21.00/hr, depending on experience.

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The Floating Manager is a flexible, responsible individual who is happy to help out wherever needed. The Floating Manager will often be filling in for other managers or instructors while they are out sick or on vacation. Therefore, the Floating Manager can expect to work at different sites and in a variety of roles throughout the summer season. Previous experience working with kids is required, and previous experience in a leadership role is preferred. Primary responsibilities include filling in for managers and instructors, driving 15-passenger vans on field trips, communicating between sites, and maintaining a safe and inclusive environment at camp. Depending on scheduling needs, the Floating Manager may be asked to act as an Instructor, Specialist Instructor, Program Manager, or Site Manager. The Floating Manager must be comfortable driving a 15-passenger van on both city streets and dirt roads! This position is great for someone with previous managing experience, ideally someone already familiar with Trailside. Pay is $18.00/hr-$21.00/hr, depending on experience.

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The Logistics Manager is a new role, created to help all five sites share Trailside equipment and resources. This position will be based out of our new, centrally located TDC warehouse and office space! The Logistics Manager must be very comfortable driving all TDC trailers around the city of Anchorage and down dirt roads. This position will spend a majority of their time driving groups of campers, along with the necessary trailer of equipment, for high adventure field trips. Since they are based out of the warehouse with all of the Trailside gear, they will be responsible for helping to maintain and organize gear being used by all sites. At the end of each day, they will be expected to retrieve and sort packages of supplies that are shipped to the warehouse. The Logistics Manager will be key in distributing supplies from the warehouse to all sites, and will be expected to help with supply runs between shuttling field trips. This position will work closely with the Floating Manager as well as all Site and Program Managers. The Logistics Manager would be an excellent role for someone with previous managing experience, ideally someone already familiar with Trailside. Pay is $19.00/hr-$21.00/hr, depending on experience.

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