Summer Camp Instructor 2026

2026 Summer Camp Instructor (May 28, 2026-August 14, 2026)

This position is either residential, including significantly subsidized tiny home, shared, or tent housing, or non-residential, for applicants who are able to commute daily. The position begins May 27 and continues through August 14, 2026. Only applicants that can attend the full period of the position, which includes 8 days of staff training, will be considered.

Interested in helping children connect with nature?

Slide Ranch is a non-profit farm-based environmental education organization located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, on coastal wildlands just 25 minutes north of San Francisco. The mission of Slide Ranch is to connect children and people of all ages to the outdoors and partner with community groups, families and educators to provide transformative learning experiences on our organic farm and national park land along the California coast. By farming, cooking, caring for animals and exploring wilderness and the coast, we teach people of all ages to see the connection between their own health, a healthy food system and a healthy environment.

Summer Camp Instructor Position Summary

As a Slide Ranch Summer Camp Instructor, you will work alongside a dynamic staff on a rural, coastal farm within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. From June-August, Slide Ranch hosts 10 weeks of day camp. Summer camp participants learn to care for farm animals, garden, explore wildland trails, discover ocean tide pools, cook farm-to-table, participate in nature-based arts & crafts projects, and connect with outdoor spaces and sustainable food systems. Camp Instructors work in pairs lead groups of up to 18 campers in experiential education camp programming, with the assistance of trained CITs.

Apply yourself for a season of work that challenges you to grow as a person and as a professional educator. You will gain valuable hands-on experience in agricultural and environmental education and learn how to live and work in a rural setting as a member of a community.

Summer Camp Instructors receive 8 days of training focused on organic gardening, animal husbandry, wildlands stewardship, residential community norms, group management, and best practices in outdoor education.

Summer camp programs serve 5-11 (some 12) year old campers and CITs ages 12-17. The work week typically involves 5 camp days, with a Monday-Friday camp week. You are strongly encouraged to visit our website to better understand the themes we offer during our summer camp program.

A typical work day is 8 hours and includes farm chores, camp preparation and cleanup, leading a camp day from 9:30am-3:00pm. Additional afternoon work hours include team meetings, educator skill building and planning, garden and animal husbandry, farm and environmental maintenance and stewardship and two weeks of camp aftercare supervision. Instructor observation, coaching and mentoring by program staff complement the position.

Farm and Community Life

All instructors are responsible for a daily ~30 minute, paid ranch chore. Additionally, all residential staff share residential community responsibilities outside of the work day (unpaid), including a weekly residential chore, cooking dinner for fellow residents with a partner twice each month, and bimonthly resident meetings.

Requirements

Desired Qualifications

Position requires a collaborative and positive spirit to work with a team of teaching peers, organization staff, and residents. The successful candidate will possess a great attitude and strong motivation to experience all facets of the job as important to one’s learning and development. A successful candidate will also possess a growth mindset, with a desire to set goals, reflect, and provide feedback to the rest of the team. Applicants must be comfortable in rustic accommodations.

• Prior experience working for camps or working with children - especially a broad range of ages.
• Safety oriented.
• Flexibility, enthusiasm, creativity, curiosity, and positive attitude.
• Eagerness to engage campers of various ages with an interactive, student-centered teaching approach.
• Desire to learn about and practice farming and land stewardship.
• Awareness of multicultural environmental education and issues related to the urban environment and current local, regional and global events.
• Dedication to creating learning environments where every student feels respected, supported, and able to thrive.
• High level of personal responsibility in work and professionalism when dealing with the public and colleagues, including plants and animals.
• Ability to take initiative and adopt a solution-oriented approach, while understanding the value of teamwork.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to accept supervision and guidance.
• Interest in supporting nonprofit organizations.

Physical Requirements

Duties are performed in a hilly and rural outdoor setting and can be physically demanding, including outdoor teaching in all weather, manual labor such as shoveling, and lifting up to 40 lbs.

All incoming instructors are expected to have the following: current CPR/1st Aid certification by May 27, 2026 that does not expire before August 14, 2026 and includes an in-person skills test as part of the certification; successfully complete ServeSafe Food Handler training prior to May 27, 2026, and have a recent TB test. Incoming staff will be reimbursed up to $100. All incoming staff must clear a criminal background check. Additional training materials, which may include videos, will be provided prior to our in-person staff training. Verification of this pre-training material review may include surveys or quizzes to ensure comprehension.

Benefits

Compensation

In addition to an hourly wage of $18, we provide very affordable housing, paid sick time, paid holidays and vacation time.

To Apply

Applicants must be at least 18 years old to apply.

Include a cover letter that indicates your interest in this position. We encourage you to describe any professional or personal experience you think may be relevant, including working with youth, additional languages besides English, and any unique skills or diversity you would bring to this team. We are also interested in any farm, garden or other outdoor experience you may have. Please indicate in your application where you saw this job posting.

We will begin interviewing applicants in early- mid February. Applications will be accepted until all positions are filled. Applicants must be available for the entire duration of the session, May 28-August 14, 2026.

Please note that Slide Ranch aims to increase diversity in our staff and support an instructor team cohort that reflects the demographics of our San Francisco Bay Area community. People of all colors, cultures, class, age, genders, and sexual orientations are encouraged to apply.

Dates of Session: May 28-August 14, 2026