Frequently Asked Questions
Q:
When do students come to High Trails? Where do they come from?
Students
come to camp generally from Monday through Friday, and they travel 2+ hours from all over
the Los Angeles area to visit us. They will come up with their elementary school and
teachers, who sponsors the trip. We get a huge range of students, both
ethnically and socio-economically. Most of the students who come to camp pay for
the trip themselves, though we offer scholarships to each school to help them
out.
Q:
How big is High Trails? How many students go there?
Our program runs September through May, currently hosting 100+ schools and
8,000+ students. We average about 120 kids per week in the fall, and
140-180 students in the spring at
each of our two sites. The vast majority of our students are 6th graders,
through we occasionally see 5th graders and every once in a while get to tower
over those cute little 3rd and 4th graders.
Q: How big are the group sizes?
In the
field, we average 12-14 students per group. The cabins average out the same, but
there are cabins that hold only 11 students and other cabins that hold up to 18
students.
Q: What is the
administration structure of High Trails?
Each site
has a site director, a medic/cabin coordinator, three support coordinators, and 1/2
of a program director. The
program director teachers inservices, evaluates instructors, and develops
programs. The support coordinator takes care of the nuts and bolts in the
program, and makes certain the staff are supported when they are with students. The medic is responsible for the health
and well being of the entire camp community, and they also make sure the cabin
programs are running smoothly. The site director supports the other admin,
interacts with the visiting school teachers, and maintains our relationship with
the site.
Q. Is there room for advancement at High
Trails?
Head over to our
Position
Overview to see what's available. The vast majority of our
administrators started as an instructor at High Trails.
Q: Why do you only
hire college educated Instructors?
When we
first started running program, many years ago, we had two sets of staff. Our
Naturalists were college degreed folk who taught classes all day long. They had
short breaks before and after meals, and ended their day of work after the last
evening class at 9pm. Counselors were high school degreed people who slept with
the kids at night and watched over them at meals. We noticed huge differences in
the quality of experience the students received when they were with different
staff; for the most part the Naturalists did a wonderful job of teaching,
whereas the Counselors had a "babysitting" mentality. We had constant complaints
about the Counselors from students, teachers, and Naturalists, and this split
staff system created not only a huge rift in the camp community, but it gave us
a program that was not consistent in the quality it delivered.
The first big change we made, way back in the Fall of 1998, was to eliminate the jobs of Naturalist and Counselor, and hire an all college degreed Instructor staff. These Instructors would rotate back and forth between the Field and the Cabins. We slimmed down the role of the Field Instructor and beefed up the role of the Cabin Instructor, making both of these positions valid teaching roles. Now the Cabin Instructor could have a large chunk of time off during the day, and come back to a cabin full of students waiting to be taught classes like astronomy and nighttime wildlife. The Field Instructor could work all day and finally stop after dinner, giving them plenty of time to recharge before the next morning. The next week the Instructors would switch roles. This new system evened out the responsibilities for each position, gave everyone lots of time off during the week, provided a good amount of variety in the job, and created one cohesive staff team. We liked it, it worked great, and our staff love it. Our schools responded incredibly well; their students now were being watched, 24 hours a day, by a responsible college degreed professional. We are the only outdoor school that we have heard of that operates under this system. It gives us, what we believe, is the consistently highest quality program experience for students anywhere.
Q: What is the staff like?
Staff are
primarily in their early to mid twenties, in their first 1-5 years out of
college. They are outdoor oriented, with interests like hiking, backpacking,
biking and rock climbing being the norm. They tend to be open minded yet
opinionated, but love hard work and a challenge. They believe in the
environment, and are working towards ways to translate this belief into a valid
lifestyle. They are as likely to be climbing at Joshua Tree, trying to summit a
snow covered San Gorgoinio Mountain, or lounging in the desert sun in Indio at
the Coachella Music Festival. This is a tiring and exhaustive job, and
most staff will work one full year with us before heading off to their
next adventure. We have on average 15-20 staff that return after one year for more fun.
Q: What can I expect as far as
meetings, continuing education, and inservices go?
We
generally meet at 8am the first day of program and after some rousing games and
songs have a "nuts and bolts" inservice, dealing with logistics, facilities,
procedures, medical issues and more "fun" stuff. During the week each group of
instructors (cabin and field) will be expected to meet once during their off
time for 30 minutes to discuss the happenings of the week and any issues that
have arisen. On the last day of program, once the students leave, we spend
several hours cleaning up camp and maintaining our equipment. After this we have
a program inservice, where we pump you with new information about your teaching
and classes; from plants and water to teambuilding and lesson plans. We then
have a final group meeting, where we all check in with each other, give
individual and group thanks, and talk about important issues. We are generally
finished and out of camp by 4pm on the last day of program.
Q. How much time out of official
"work" will I need to do?
At the beginning of the year, when you are making class props and
learning lesson plans, you can count on putting in a decent amount of
off work time - around two weekends - just to make certain you're
absolutely ready for teaching. Once you've jumped past this beginning of
the year hurdle, we encourage you to still spend some time learning each
week, both in and out of work. You will have work time, generally on the
first and last day of program when we are waiting on students and
busses, that you can use to do extra research and learning. The best
teachers are the ones who consistently get excited about learning and
content, and then pass along this energy to their students.
Q.
Can I teach anything I want?
No. We have a set lesson plan for every single class and you will have
to teach from this lesson plan. Once you have this dialed down, you can
request a Teaching Evaluation, where we will come out, videotape your
class, and then give you a thorough appraisal of how you're doing. If
you pass your Teaching Evaluation, you are welcome to revise your lesson
plans and adjust the style, flow, and activities to suit your own
preferences. This process lets us maintain a solid minimum baseline of
class standards regardless of the experience or talent of the teacher.
As a general rule, 75% of our staff ask for Teaching Evaluations during
the school year, and about 50% of these folks pass. Don't confuse
Teaching Evaluations with normal full evaluations; every staff is
automatically given a full evaluation every season (fall, winter and
spring).
Q. What classes will I teach?
What is the discipline with students like?
The answer to these questions, and many more, can be found in the
Schools and Parents section of our website. Take some time to explore
the links and forms off of these pages; they deal with schools selecting
classes, class standards and objectives, students filling out discipline forms, and much more.
Q:
What's the weather like? Do you get any snow?
Spring and
fall are wonderful, with the fall being in the 60's and 70's and the spring
being the same. Winter is strange, with warm one day and freezing the next.
Temperatures in the 30's, 40's
and 50's are common, with an average of 70 inches of snow a year. We do teach
and run full program in the snow, so be ready to teach in all kinds of
conditions. Please come ready to shovel snow in the winter...both at the site
itself and at your house. Snow is fun, but it does take additional
effort to make everything run smoothly.
Q: What is the local flora and fauna
like?
Both sites
are located predominantly in a Ponderosa/Jeffrey Pine forest. The 7,000 foot
elevation does give us a good variety of plants and trees, as we are a crossing
zone between the pinion/juniper forests below us and the alpine areas farther
above. You can count on seeing some desert like areas, with cactus, pinion
pines, junipers, and sage bush. You will also see cedar trees, coulter pines,
sugar pines, fir trees, live and black oak trees, willow trees, manzanita, and
more. Most of the time you'll see towering Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pines, with
pine needles blanketing the ground. We are constantly amazed at the diversity of
the flora in this area.
Q: What wildlife will I see?
Lots of squirrels and chipmunks. Black bears and rattlesnakes make guest
appearances in the fall and spring. At both sites we have seen
many deer, raccoon, owl, bobcat, coyote, golden eagle, red tailed hawk, and
more.
Q: What is the landscape like?
Rolling
hills, the occasional rock formation, views of 11,000 foot mountains and blue
lakes, forests where the light doesn't seem to shine through the canopy, and
forests where you cannot escape the heat of the sun. At both sites there is an
astounding variety of great places to take your students to explore and teach.
Q. What is Big Bear (the nearest
town...) like?
The best way to get a handle on a town is to take a look at the
newspapers, businesses and online communities available; for starters,
head over to www.kbhr933.com,
www.bigbeargrizzly.net,
www.bensweather.com,
www.bigbear.com,
www.bvbikes.com,
www.snowsummit.com,
www.socalmountains.com,
www.rimoftheworld.net,
www.bigbeardiscoverycenter.net,
www.equadaoutfitters.com/, and
www.bigbearoutdooractivities.com.
Q:
Internet Access? Cell Phones? Laundry?
Both of our sites have a satellite based
internet system at the dining hall. It's faster than dial up, and the
best that the immediate area has available (there are no hard lines
installed yet...). We're not streaming music and videos, but we can
easily keep up with the basics. If you live at the sites you're welcome
to use this wireless setup, or pitch in with your housemates for
something more to your taste. Living in Big Bear you can order high
speed internet or see if any of your neighbors have unprotected wifi
routers. Verizon cell phones work fantastic just about everywhere, with
AT&T and Sprint coming in second and third place. With laundry, if you
live at one of our sites we do have laundry facilities available. The
houses in town are generally a good deal nicer than the cabins at camp,
but there are no provided laundry facilities there...you've got to use
the local Big Bear laundromats.
Q. What's the school and work schedule
like?
We run based on a normal, traditional school calendar. We have a week
off at Thanksgiving, three weeks off over Christmas, a weeklong (thank
goodness...) spring break. Staff training generally starts in the middle
of September, runs for two weeks, with the first students showing up the
first week of October. As for your weekly schedule, the general rule is
one week in the cabins, one week in the field, one week of time and a
half, etc, and then right on back to the beginning. Things change
constantly, so if you need a perfectly set schedule every week this
isn't the job for you.
Q. Will I need a car? Will I need a
4wd?
Most of our staff have cars, most of them are not 4wd, and most of them
do just fine all year long. As you bring your car, realize that we do
live in the mountains close to 7,000 feet and our sites are at the end
of long dirt roads. You will have
to drive slow and carefully on our dirt roads, purchase basic snow
essentials for your car (chains or cables, shovels, ice scrapers, etc.),
and you will have to become a safe and competent winter weather driver.
In the winter, our dirt roads
will go through phases of snow, ice, slush, mud, water, and then back to
dirt. We do our best to keep the road in good shape, but, as a
disclaimer, there may be times in the winter when you might want to park
your car and walk up the dirt road to camp.
It is possible to survive out here without a car, but you will have to be nice with words and gas money to the folks that do have cars. If you don't have a car...you must live at one of our sites (you can't live in Big Bear). Though we like bikes, and ride them a lot, they may not be the best source of transportation out here; both of our sites are a good 20+ miles through the mountains away from the nearest town.
Q. Budgets? Expenses? Paychecks?
You're responsible for getting out here. Once you're here, we cover your food during the program week, your housing for the
duration of your contract, and your wage/benefits per our current
Level System. You're responsible for
utilities (they average about $50 per month, depending upon your house
and conservation ethos...), transportation, food on the weekends, and
any other incidentals that you need to live your life the way you want.
Paychecks generally come out every two weeks, with normal Federal and CA
taxes (as you elect) taken out of them.
Q. At which site will I work?
We have multiple sites and housing options. If you're starting work at
High Trails in the fall, you'll sit down with all of the new staff and
decide, as a group, where everyone is living and working (returning
staff do have first choice...). If you're starting in January, when we
have a much smaller training, you may not have a choice as to where you
are living and working.
Q. Housing Inspections?
Utilities?
Be ready for monthly housing inspections. Once a month you and your
roommates will have to work together and thoroughly clean your entire
High Trails provided lodging, and then a team (a member of
administration, a support coordinator, and a random instructor) will
inspect your house. Yes, it stinks that we have to take time out of the
program and pay people to inspect your house. But...this lets us make sure you're taking care of things,
and more importantly, it helps you and your roommates get along better...it's nice to live
in a clean house (and you can count, at least, on your house being shiny
clean at least once a month...). If you don't pass, we will hire someone to clean your
house for you and take the cost out of your paycheck. Be ready, also,
for us to charge you for your utility usage. We got tired of staff
preaching conservation and environmentalism during the day and then
leaving lights and heaters on at night. Sometimes, the best way to learn
to conserve is to be hit in the pocketbook...utilities average about $50
a month (it depends on how much you use...).
Q. Are extra shifts (double, time and a
half) always optional?
Much of the time our staff work single duty. We try to give folks what
they want, so most weeks we have sign ups where people can let us know
what kind of shift they would like; single field, single cabin, time and
a half, or double duty. We try as hard as we can to always make people
happy...however, there are definitely times when people are scheduled on
shifts that are not their first preference. As a disclaimer, you will be
required, at various times of the year, to work all kinds of
shifts...from single duty all they way up to double duty.
Q. Where do you get your food?
Is it local and organic?
Our food primarily comes from large suppliers like Sysco and USFoods.
Every year we get staff into our program arguing that we should have
more organic and local food. I agree. However...we haven't found a way
to make it work...yet. We've had staff do large amounts of research, and
they have not been able to find farms close enough with a good selection
of food. This is a drawback of running a kitchen at 7,000 feet and 45
minutes away from a "real" grocery store and gas station. Think you can
find a way to make it work? I'm listening...
Q: I want some more information about your program...where should I get it? Explore this website. Every page, every link...if you can't find an answer, shout out to us.
Q. The website makes everything
there sound perfect. Is it really?
No. However...you will find with this program, and with just about
everything in life, that it is what you make of it, and what you put
into it. We want people that look at the glass as half full. We want
people that overcome with positivity, build things up, and find good,
creative solutions to problems. If you look at the glass as half empty,
find yourself being pessimistic or negative, or always find yourself
sitting around with your coworkers complaining about things...please
look for employment elsewhere.
Our goal is that every rule, policy and decision at High Trails makes solid, reasonable sense. Most policies are out in the open, and if you take the time to ask us why something is the way it is, we'll take the time to explain it. We've had 10+ years of staff walking through here donating all kinds of great ideas, so we're getting somewhere. As with any company, though, some policies, especially personnel policies, are hidden away and shielded to protect individuals privacy and rights. This is when you have to trust us to make the right decisions and protect the greater interests of the program and community of High Trails.
One challenge we have, year after year, is in the type of people we attract. We want independent thinkers, energetic teachers, and bubble pushers. However, we've all got to work together, so we have to impress upon these people that they have to be able to work within the system, and they have to be able to temper their own agendas with the mission of High Trails. Don't misinterpret "Do Good and Fight the Man" and think that every policy, every rule, and every lesson plan is fair game for you to challenge. If you have good ideas and can find a way to fit it within the system that we have labored so hard to build, you're in the right place. We'll make you work for it and convince us, but in the end...if it makes sense...let's do it. However, if your agenda or idea, no matter how well thought out, will push us off track, or if your approach and style makes enemies along the way...be ready for us to tell you "no".
Our job in administration and leadership is not to be popular. Our job is to make the right decisions, the tough decisions, the long term decisions, that keep us moving towards success, that keep us moving towards making a difference, and that keep us...happy.
Q. Are you a non-profit?
Heck no. We are very proud of the fact that we are a small business,
S-Corporation who has never taken a cent from anyone else to support the
mission of High Trails. We started on a shoestring budget with no
"angel" investors and have maintained this mentality as we've grown; as
a result we run an efficient and smart business that is
fortunate enough to work outside with kids and make a difference. We don't have a huge board of directors
overseeing our decisions, we do pay all of our local, state, and federal
taxes to support the government and its programs, and we do pay
competitive salaries to our staff. All of this while maintaining some of
the lowest student tuition rates in our area. We have found that it is
possible to run a program like ours without utilizing the government
benefits afforded by a non-profit classification. Why take a donation
when you don't need one?
Q:
What's the backstory of High Trails?
I came out to California in 1998 to run a small outdoor science school owned by a huge, not really kid
based, foreign corporation. Soon it was obvious that the only way to
make the program into what we envisioned it was to go out on my own. So I
did. Almost all of our schools followed us up out of the city and into
the mountains as we officially opened High Trails in the Fall of 2000.
Our first year was incredibly tough, but we were incredibly lucky and
graced with a dynamite staff who were willing to give their all to a new
program, making our first year a huge
success. Our second year we grew over 50% and opened a second site in the
spring. Once again we had a wonderful staff that made it all happen, and we now
find ourselves heading into our umpteenth year, with two sites open for the full
school year.
My name is Drizzt, and my background is varied: I graduated with a business degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1994, and decided (hoped) to use it in combination with all of my camp and teaching experience to eventually open some kind of outdoor teaching experience thing with kids. Somehow everything lined up and it all fell into place. Wow. Before coming to California, I bummed around Colorado, Utah and Arizona working as a camp counselor, a river guide, a ski instructor, a rock climbing instructor, a backcountry trip leader, a substitute school teacher, an adjudicated youth counselor, a rep for an outdoor gear maker, and many other not-so-glamorous jobs (can you say "drive a big brown truck delivering packages?). Now I spend my time sitting in front of a computer attempting to make us look and run like a real business. This will be my twelfth year (yes, I'm getting old...) with the official title of "Director", which means I do everything, from being the secretary, plumber, and web site developer to signing checks and signing up schools. You can find me during the year bouncing back and forth between our sites supporting the staff and helping our admin team maintain some semblance of organized chaos. If and when I get free time, I'm probably pretending to be a mountain biker, pounding diet coke so I can climb (hang) my way up some 5.12's, or wondering for the 537th time what the guitar fingering is for a D7sus2 chord.
