High Trails Outdoor Science School: Outdoor Education and the Dirty Classroom
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The power of outdoor education comes not from the site or the program, but from the people that make everything happen; you! Our Instructors are the people that embody the spirit of High Trails and turn a child's stay here into an incredible memory. 

Take some time to explore this website. We do our best to paint the full picture of working here...hard work and  long hours, but also great friends, a wonderful community, and adventures & experiences you won’t find anywhere else!

NOTE:  We just might have a couple of open spots for the February through May 2012 school year...apply away!

Page Contents

The Instructor Position   The Living Situation   Life in California   Pay and Benefits   How To Apply  
Mid Season Positions  Internships 

The Instructor Position

Let's start at the beginning: schools generally come to High Trails during the school week, which means you show up for program on Monday at 8am and are finished around 5pm on Fridays. Weekends and traditional holidays mean no elementary school, which means no program for us. Thank goodness...because the rest of your time will be split between the Field, the Cabin, and that "still work but no kids around" time that we spend on Hard Work and Continuing Education.

The Field: 40% of your time

Part of your time at High Trails will be spent in the field with a Trail Group. On full program days you'll arrive at camp at 8am and head to the dining hall to prepare lunch for you and your students. After last minute things are taken care of, you'll pick up your group at 10am and spend the day with them, teaching anywhere from two to four classes. You'll eat your lunch on the trail, under the shade of tall Ponderosa Pines or enjoying the sunshine and high altitudes of our Southern California mountains. As the day begins to draw to a close you'll review everything you covered during the day, take lunch orders for the next day and head off to dinner at 5:15. Around 6:30pm, things have winded down for the day, and you are off to rest and get ready for the next day of teaching.

We have two types of days; adventure days, where you will teach climbing, archery, low initiative courses, orienteering, and more. Environmental days are more class oriented with topics like plants, water, outdoor survival, and the like. With a 5 day program, there are generally two environmental days and one adventure day. The arrival day is more of an introduction and teambuilding day, and the departure day is more of a debrief day. You can see a sample schedule here.

With your classes, the objectives and vocabulary are set and ready for your own individual teaching style. You've got to prepare lesson plans for each class you teach, so be ready to be organized and prepared for your classes. We provide most of the equipment for you, from bug boxes to compasses and field guides. But you will have to make your own small props for your classes, the things that make the class yours and give you ownership in what you are doing and teaching. A good part of teaching comes from preparing before you even get your first group, so be ready for the work involved in being a Field Instructor. You can see more details on classes, objectives and vocabulary here.

Every school that comes up to High Trails is doing so because they want their students to learn two things; the importance of nature and how to interact positively with the community around them. During the day your primary focus is on nature, how we affect it, how we can responsibly enjoy it, and how we can share it with others. The students coming up here get to experience things they have never seen or done before, from their first arrow actually hitting the archery target to peering into a magnified bug box and seeing firsthand the different parts of an insect they caught. Your job during the day is to teach, in new and exciting ways, drawing the students to your words, encouraging them to catch your energy and passion for the environment and this world.

The Cabins 40% of your time

A large part of of your time at High Trails will be spent as a Cabin Instructor. This means that from 5pm until 10 am the next morning, you are in charge of a cabin of students. After you drop your students off in the morning, there's cleaning to be done. You are generally off duty by 10:30 am, and don't have to be back at work until 5pm. While the days are focused primarily on Adventure and Environmental based classes, the cabins are a time to open up the boundaries that normally exist within an elementary school social system and work on the community aspects of life.
Being a Cabin Instructor gives you a good chunk of time off during the day, to enjoy the weather, relax, take care of errands, and get some exercise. But as the day wanes it is up to you to make our visiting students experience here at High Trails a truly great one. As the week progresses you will be their parents, their teachers, their older siblings, and most importantly, their friend. At the end of the week, it's the Cabin Instructors that get the biggest hugs.

Walking into camp, many of the students have never slept away from home before, so as a Cabin Instructor your first priority is to provide a warm and comfortable atmosphere in which the students can open up and be themselves. After every day of camp they will come back to the cabin, excited to tell you everything about their day and even more excited for the things they know you have in store for them. You will teach them games, tell them stories, help them to create arts and crafts projects, and even work on their line dance steps with them. You will help them get ready to take showers, talk them through being homesick, and wake up with them in the middle of the night when they don't feel well. You will help them come up with a skit for campfire, and then watch as they step in front of the entire camp, overcome with stage fright. You will sit with them in the evenings and facilitate discussions that allow them to open up with one another, to trust one another, and to believe in one another. Every bit of your time as a Cabin Instructor is packed full of things to do; classes like nighttime wildlife and astronomy fill your evenings, and there are always more New Games to play. You can see a sample schedule here.

Hard work and inservice 20% of the time

Hard work does several things: it reinforces (or teaches) a solid work ethic, it provides a good opportunity to bond with coworkers, it gets you dirty, and it gets the stuff that a business needs done to keep operating.

We make the mess, and we clean it up. From toilets to vacuuming to mopping and scrubbing, this is true dirty work. You'll also have a project area; this is a small slice of program that is yours to take care of and maintain. Projects areas consist of things like archery and climbing equipment, taking care of the dining hall, organizing the recycling program, maintaining class experiments, and more. We've also got random projects during the year; though you won't be doing advanced carpentry, staff have been known to split firewood, lay carpet, rake tons of pine needles, build campfire amphitheaters, clear and construct trails, paint cabins...the list goes on.

Be prepared to see, and work on, just about every aspect of a program, from the glamorous and fun to the dirty and necessary. It's part of running a small business.

After we work your body, we're going to work your brain. Time has taught us that if we want you to be a good teacher, we've got to start the process ourselves by giving you honest feedback on how you are doing and then providing you the tools you need to get better. We give you two full evaluations during the school year; these are detailed observations, write-ups, and discussions of how you are teaching and what you can do to get better. We'll also delve into how you are doing in the community, as this is a vital part of life at High Trails. Thrown into the mix as well are Flash Evaluations, which are quicker and shorter evaluations, making certain you get a sit down check in with administration on a regular basis. Twice a week we'll have inservices, starting off with simple themes like basic medical conditions and discipline strategies, and working into harder topics like making decisions in the field and advanced classroom management. Put it all together and you have a good recipe for becoming a great teacher.

It's awful hard to really have that balance in your life when you work in outdoor education. We try to give you a good deal of time off, but inevitably you are going to work a lot. Making it all worth it is our investment in you; hard work will get you dirty and real, and make certain you are grounded for the realities of life ahead. Continuing education will give you the resources and attention you need to become the kind of teacher you want to be; you will become as much as you put in. Kind of like life itself....

The Living Situation

Living at camp is an intense community experience. You live, work, play, eat, and sleep with all of the same people, all of the time. Strangers the first few days of staff training will soon become your best friends, and you will laugh, cry and share adventure after adventure with them as the year goes on. Come to camp expecting a room full of people that not only have the same interests as you, but are ready to give as much as you, both to the program and to the friendships you all will form. You can expect to share a room with one other person, who is generally on the opposite shift as you. So although the rooms are not the biggest in the world, you are usually the only one in there. There are a limited number of single rooms, usually grabbed quickly by returning staff. If you are working both fall and spring seasons, you've got the place for a month between sessions, rent free.

Our sites run the exact same program, and we interchange staff between sites frequently. Though we do have different sites, please don't get your heart set on working at a specific one...this will be a group decision halfway through staff training.

Our Edwards Site is near the Nawakwa Site, and is in the middle of the San Bernardino National Forest. Nearest small town is 15 minutes away, and the nearest city with amenities 30 minutes away (Big Bear).  Half of the staff live off site in houses in Big Bear City and Sugarloaf, where they must drive 20-30 minutes to work every day. Houses are generally 3-7 people, with shared rooms being the norm. Each house has a kitchen, communal areas, and entertainment area. Though staff enjoy living in these houses, each house has its own maintenance and upkeep which must be done. The other half of the staff live on site in houses very similar to the town houses. Staff like this site because the site has a nice, homey feel to it and they live in town, close to amenities on the weekends.

Our Nawakwa Site is in the middle of the national forest, with the nearest small town 15 minutes away and the nearest city with amenities 30 minutes away (Big Bear). Staff live on site and walk to work every day.  Most staff live with a roommate in cabins that have electricity and heat, but no plumbing; the showerhouse is 50-100 yards away. There is a communal staff lounge with a full kitchen, couches, tables, and entertainment area. Staff like this site because it is out in the woods, they don't have to drive much during the week, and the community tends to be pretty tight knitted.

Life in California

While there are a million reasons to come and work at High Trails, there are a million more reasons to come and LIVE here. We're at the middle of one of the most geographically diverse areas in the world. Camp is at 7,000 feet in the middle of the San Bernardino National Forest, a small mountain range. To the west is Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean. To the north are the Sierra Mountains and Death Valley National Park. To the east is the Mojave Desert and Joshua Tree National Park. And to the south is Palm Springs and the Santa Rosa Mountains National Scenic Area. 

So what does this mean? It means that you can wake up at camp with a foot of snow around you, drive down the mountain and spend the day throwing the frisbee around at the beach, and then enjoy an evening of sushi and dancing in the city. And don't forget about Disneyland and Six Flags Magic Mountain!

Or you can drive out to Joshua Tree National Park, where you can rock climb all day and then listen to the coyotes howl as the stars come out over your crackling fire and the barren desert landscape. A little farther south are the Santa Rosa Mountains, a beautiful desert paradise, where the mountain bike trails are world class and can only be ridden (unless you're a camel) in the winter. 

Or you can remain in the mountains, and hike, bike, climb, ski, and relax your weekends away. Snow covers much of the mountains during January, February and into March. Big Bear sports two ski resorts, with lots of cross country skiing trails around.  When the snow melts our mountain bikes leave the lower elevations and taste the mountain soil again. In Southern California you can recreate all year round, and choose your weather and climate. Snow? Beach? Desert? Mountain? It's all here.

Working at camp means long, hard hours and plentiful rewards in return. Living at camp means that in your time off, you have the chance to explore nature in ways you never thought possible. 

Pay and Benefits

10 Darn Good Reasons to join High Trails


Nobody ever got into Outdoor Education to get rich. However, we've all got to survive, pay off our bills, buy a couple of toys, and maybe save just a bit. Believe it or not, outdoor education can be an affordable pastime. Here's what we can offer you to come work with us:

  1. Single Duty Starting Rate of $60 a day***: if you have residential outdoor education experience we will credit you days towards progressing though levels and pay increases. PLEASE NOTE; our positions are designed to give you time off, so you can still have a life. Single duty is Cabins (5pm through 10:30am) or Field (9am through 6:30pm). There are places out there that pay more, but also require you to work more on a daily basis; this is a recipe for burnout. We want you to love your job and truly enjoy your time with the students, so the most common week at High Trails is single duty. Don't get your hopes up too much, though -  there is a healthy amount of time and a half and double duty available.
  2. Time and a Half Starting Rate of $90 a day: available on average 1 out of every 5 weeks. This one is for you if you like sharing both kids and time off. Here you have a cabin group and share a field group with another instructor. One person would teach the morning classes and the other the afternoon classes, or whatever you work out with the other instructor. Pay is one and a half times your daily rate each day of the program.
  3. Double Duty Rate Starting at $120 a day: available on average 1 out of every 5 weeks. Take this one on if you are resilient and keep begging the kids to dish out more, and if you want to earn double pay. Here you would have a cabin and a trail group all week to teach.  Pay is double your daily rate each full day of program, one and a half times your rate on the last day of program.
  4. Move Up Levels and Earn More: we have a detailed level system that encourages you to learn and push yourself, and rewards you accordingly.  Please see details of the levels for complete information.
  5. Environmental Incentives: carpooling, recycling, biking to work, and getting out on the weekends. We try to back up what we believe in, and are super proud of this program!
  6. Room and Food: we cover the rent. You've got to cover utilities of gas, water and electric; this forces to you to walk the talk and conserve your resources; monthly utilities average about $50, depending upon your house and conservation habits. With Food, we'll feed you all through the program week. Pretty darn good food, for carnivores and vegetarians alike.
  7. Pro-Deals: lots of them as you progress through the levels. Prodeals are professional discounts on field related gear; outerwear, sleeping bags and tents, shoes, sunglasses, and more.
  8. Health Insurance: we require all of our instructors to have health insurance and will assist them financially in this endeavor; see below for more details.  
  9. Full Disclosure: ever take a job, show up for your first day of work, then look around and say "ummm....this isn't what I thought it would be...."? We have, so our goal is to let you know the entire picture before you come out here. It's a big step getting a job without ever actually seeing the program and facilities in action, so through this website you will see pictures, details and everything else that we can think of that will give you an accurate picture. If you don't see something you want to see, please let us know!
  10. ***A Built In Savings Account: $5 of your daily pay is automatically placed into a "savings" account. As long as you fulfill the dates of your contract, this lump sum is payable to you on your last paycheck of the Fall and Winter/Spring seasons. We do pay interest...we'll add 10% of the amount you've saved onto your last check.

Health Insurance

Health Insurance is a tough issue these days. It used to be, years ago, that people would hire on with a company, and one of the incentives to stay with the job for a long period of time was the "group" health insurance that was offered. As people tended to not only stick with the same job for quite a while, but also have families early in their lives, this health insurance was a very important factor in their compensation.

Group health insurance, the type of insurance traditionally offered by employers, is a very expensive type of insurance. It is based on the premise that everyone in the company is covered by the insurance, regardless of any preexisting conditions they may have. Because of this, the healthier people end up paying the same premiums as the not-so-healthy people. The same concept is true, to a lesser extent, when families are involved. It often occurs that those without families or dependents subsidize the insurance of those with families. Both of these factors mean that "group" health insurance is a pretty expensive option.

Group health insurance is also only available while you are employed through the company that offers it. This is great you work at the same position for 10 years; if, however, you will bounce back and forth between jobs searching for your niche in life, it will mean that you will be in and out of health care coverage a whole lot. Or, like many people, you will forsake insurance all together.

Today's job environment is a little bit different; most of us will have multiple careers and work for multiple companies during our life (often even during the course of a single year...). We will wait longer before we get married and have families. This, coupled with the ever increasing cost of group health insurance, means that we've got to explore different options to find a better, longer term solution for the people that come work with us as instructors.

We want our instructors to be healthy, and when they are sick, to have inexpensive ways to get better. We also want to help set them up for their future years, so they can keep teaching students, wherever they are at. Because of this, we REQUIRE our instructors to choose from these health options:

  1. Get "Individual" Health Insurance. On average, this option offers the same benefits as insurance offered through group plans at half the cost. Individual health insurance is obtained by and through the individual, and is based on age and health factors; it is possible to be turned away if you have preexisting conditions. Once you sign up for this policy, it is yours, whether you work with us or not. If you choose this option you should visit the website http://www.ehealthinsurance.com or http://www.tonik.com (or another reputable agency) and do some research on a good health insurance plan. You can decide whether you want a high deductible, lower cost insurance, or a co-payment, higher cost insurance. There are many choices, and only you can decide what is best. You are responsible for signing up for this plan and for paying the costs associated with it. We will add to your paycheck your non-taxed health insurance stipend, based on your current level. If you already have health insurance, whether it is through your college, your parents, or yourself, you are set and ready. 
  2. Sign up for the High Trails "Group" health insurance plan: we offer one plan, Blue Shield's 1500 Value Plan. The average cost of this for individuals in their 20's is $150 per month; costs will vary a little depending upon age. You can see all of the details here.

Bear in mind that any accident or injury that occurs in a workplace setting is covered by a Worker's Compensation insurance policy. Because of this policy, we know you will be safe and protected while you are at work. We require you to have some kind of health coverage so that you will be safe and protected outside of work as well.

During staff training we will provide time to discuss and choose your health option. Whichever option you choose we will require you to provide us with current proof of health coverage. You cannot elect to take the health insurance stipend without choosing one of the above options, and you cannot work with us if you do not choose one of the above options. Our hope and goal is that you get a good individual health insurance plan and keep it through the years, so that you are always protected and healthy.

The health stipend we provide you depends on your current level at High Trails. Please see details of the levels for complete information.

How To Apply...

Qualifications

Warning!!!

We think working here is pretty cool, but High Trails is not an easy job. Teaching sixth graders every day is an exhausting experience, and you must have the energy and determination to keep up with them. Being an Instructor does not mean all you do is teach. You are a full staff member, and that means lots of program equipment maintenance and facility upkeep. If you shy away from honest, hard work, whether it is scrubbing toilets everyday or moving bunks from cabin to cabin, you should look for an experience elsewhere. Before you even think of applying, please take the time to explore this entire website (especially the FAQ) and email us with any questions you may have.

Your Application

Get that Resume out. Update and fine tune it. This is your black and white, nuts and bolts, "where I've been and what I've done" piece.

  1. Write a Cover Letter. This is your style piece; introduce yourself, tell us why you want the position and are perfect for it, how you love kids, the environment, and cleaning toilets. Or just talk about whatever you want.
  2. Fill out the online Tough Questions Form. This is your character piece; let us know how you think and feel about camp relevant issues. Here is the Questions and References Form.
  3. References! You need three (3) of these; they can either be a written letter from a reference or you can take advantage of our Online Reference Form; just enter the name and email address of three references. We'll take this information and contact your references, giving them a link to an online form they can fill out to tell us all about you. If you choose to use a Letter of Reference that someone has already written for you, please include this when you submit your Resume and Cover Letter. Friends and family are decent references, but work related references are key. We can review your application and even interview you, but we cannot offer you a position until we have all three references. PLEASE NOTE: Out of your entire application, what we weigh most heavily are your references. References are also the most common item to hold up an application; we'll send out online forms to your references, but you may have to get in touch with them as well to ask for their assistance in the process.
  4. Get everything to us! Please email a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment to us at work@dirtyclassroom.com. If you prefer, you can also send or fax information to us at:
High Trails Outdoor Science School
PO Box 2640
Big Bear City, CA 92314
email work@dirtyclassroom.com
fax 1 800 428-1851

Our Response

Once you have taken the time to apply with us, we owe it to you to be on top of things. Don't expect anything less from anyone else. Here's what you can expect from us:

Methods of communication

We prefer email, because we are in and out of the office so much and the mountains don't always lend themselves to consistent phone service. If you need to speak on the phone, though, please give us a call. We will respond to you via email unless you ask us otherwise. Please email or call us with questions. We're ready for you!

Staff hiring email: work@dirtyclassroom.com
Telephone / Fax: 1 800 428-1851

Mid Season hiring

We run program at several sites, and have more than 9,000 students a year. Because we can't do this alone, we need LOTS of help...close to 50 people work with us every year. We are always on the lookout for good staff, no matter what time of the year, so if you are interested please get your information on over to us and we'll talk.

Traditionally, contracts are available for our full season, which runs mid-September through late May. We also have more students in the spring, so we have additional contracts available early January through late May. We generally start interviewing and hiring for the fall positions in the preceding spring, and for spring positions in the preceding summer and fall.

Some years positions fill early, and some years we are hiring up until the beginning of staff training. Some years all of our staff stay the entire year, and other years we have mid-season openings. If you are reading this halfway through September or at the beginning of January, there may be hope and we may be able to help each other out; get in touch with us. 

Internships

Qualifications

If you are in college you are qualified. Although internships are traditionally arranged through colleges, our internships happen when people want it, with your school's involvement or without it.

When do you offer Internships? We offer flexible paid internship opportunities that may be just what you are looking for. Most positions run seasonally, September through December and January through May, but we may have shorter sessions available.

Why do we offer internships?

The overwhelming majority of our staff have their college degrees. However, we wish to offer those up and coming a chance to experience the benefits of "learning by doing". We believe strongly in Experiential Education and the benefits this type of education can afford. It may be that you wish to "test the waters" in several areas of your field or that you're looking for a break away from the everyday grind of classes. Whatever the reason, an internship in a great opportunity to learn and grow.

Internship Goals

How is an Internship different than a normal Instructor position?

The Internship Goals are what differentiate our internship program from our normal staff positions. Other than this, you will have the same job and responsibilities as all of the other Instructors. We will expect you to act like a normal Instructor; because of this you will enjoy the same pay and benefits as a normal Instructor. 

Welcome to High Trails! Started in 2000, we're a Big Bear based small business that focuses on residential outdoor education for elementary and middle school students. This single minded approach has let us refine our program into what is now, we believe, the best thing out there for your students.

Last year we had 100+ schools and 8,000 students visit us in the mountains for 3, 4 and 5 weekday programs...come join us!

Take some time and explore our site; the tree cookies to the left will get you to all the main destinations, while the slides here have got some great extras.
High Trails Outdoor Science School: Outdoor Education and the Dirty Classroom
High Trails Outdoor Science School: Outdoor Education and the Dirty Classroom
High Trails Outdoor Science School: Outdoor Education and the Dirty Classroom
Ahh...the Dirty Classroom. No sweeping or dusting necessary. Here you'll find our own effort at helping outdoor educators become better teachers. From lesson plans to activity videos, we're doing our part at making the Dirty Classroom good, clean fun.
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