Lakeside School, an independent 5-12 coeducational day school located in North Seattle is currently recruiting for outdoor specialists to co-lead trips for 7th and 8th grade Middle School students which will occur in Spring 2021.

Lakeside Middle School’s Outdoor Program consists of 4-day, 3-night backpacking trips for 7th and 8th grade students. The goals for the program are to help students:

1. Develop a sense of place in the Pacific Northwest:
2. Learn how to contribute as members of teams;
3. Take physical, emotional, and social risks;
4. Learn the fundamentals of ‘wilderness’ backpacking and camping and leave no trace protocols; and
5. Practice problem solving.

Responsibilities
The outdoor specialist is one of two or three adults to co-lead, co-manage, and execute all aspects of the trip for a group of ten to twelve middle school students. Core responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1. Supporting student learning by facilitating group activities with a diverse group of students.
2. Supporting a diverse student body who will come into the program with a wide array of outdoors experience, including many students with limited or no outdoor experience.
3. Providing wilderness, camping, and backpacking expertise as well as teaching students relevant and appropriate skills and knowledge in these areas.
4. Managing risk appropriately to create a safe and supportive environment for all students.
5. Driving students to and from site and as needed during the trip.

The trips are planned as follows:

1. 7th grade (Prep day Monday May 10, trip: Tuesday May 11 – Friday May 14, 2021)
2. 8th grade (Prep day TBD, Trip: Tuesday June 1 – Friday June 4, 2021)
3. Leaders must be available for the prep day and all days of the trip in which they are leading. Preference is given to those leaders who can lead both a 7th and 8th grade trip, though we will consider those who are only available to lead one trip. Prep day hours will be approximately 7:30am – 5:00pm at Lakeside School in Seattle. Most trips will plan to depart around 8am on departure day and return by 3pm on return day, though some hours may vary depending on the trip. Leaders may need to stay later than 3pm to clean up after the trip.

COVID Precautions
All students and trip leaders must have a negative covid test prior to the start of the trip. Tests will be provided by Lakeside School the Friday before the trip for all trip leaders and students. In addition to the negative testing requirement, we will also have a number of other precautions in place, including, but not limited to:

1. Limiting the number of people in a vehicle; all people masked and windows open while driving
2. Maintaining 6 feet of distance from all others whenever possible, wearing masks when closer than 6 feet.
3. Sleeping in separate tents or open-air tarp shelters

More details of COVID precautions and plans will be available upon request and during the interview process.