Camp Counselors, Assistant Trip Leaders, & Lifeguards
When your campers hug you at the end of the season and tell you what a difference you’ve made in their lives – often with tears in their eyes – you’ll know all your effort was worth it. There is no satisfaction like watching your camper leave camp a better person than when they first arrived. After pouring yourself into their lives, you’ll find that you have grown tremendously as well.
Our counselors come from all over the country and the world, and the relationships formed at Wolf Ridge last a lifetime. If you’re ready to work hard and inspire in campers a sense of belonging, stewardship, and adventure, then Wolf Ridge may be for you.
Functioning as the heartbeat of camp, counselors work and live with campers. At Wolf Ridge, we have three types of camp counselor positions: the camp counselors, assistant trip leaders, and lifeguards.
All staff members will go through a two-week staff development program and an seven-week camp experience during the summer.
Camp counselors fulfill two roles while at camp. The first and most important is as a mentor and role model. Counselors are exceptional people who have been hired after extensive interviews and background checks. Counselors live in a room with eight to 10 campers of the same gender and take the role of caring for other peoples’ children with the utmost seriousness. They have compassion, great listening skills, an ability to relate to children, and are ready and excited to put the needs of children before their own.
The other part of the job involves being an assistant and participating in hands-on outdoor and environmental activities at Wolf Ridge. Each counselor is prepared with the skills needed to assist and participate in daily activities with the age group of kids they work with each week. Activities include wildlife programs, hiking, rock climbing, swimming, geology, games, archery, campfires, singing silly songs, camper skits, and much more!
Assistant Trip Leaders (ATLs) fulfill the role of camp counselors, with the added role of sometimes being the counselors for campers venturing out on our wilderness trips away from the main Wolf Ridge campus. When on the main Wolf Ridge campus, ATLs are camp counselors to their assigned groups (refer to the description of “Camp Counselors” above). They live with and supervise campers, are great role models, and assist campers with their activities, experience, and daily life at camp.
When ATLs are assigned to wilderness tripping groups, their job is to share with campers the beauty, ethics, and skills of camping in the backcountry. Wolf Ridge has a broad-based adventure and wilderness tripping program which features two- to 21-day trips canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Superior National Forest, and backpacking on Isle Royale National Park and the Superior Hiking Trail. An assistant trip leader will co-guide a trip with a wilderness trip leader to expose campers to sleeping in a tent, helping prepare food, hiking, canoeing, teamwork, leave no trace ethics, and much more.
This position sometimes fulfills the roles of camp counselor (listed above) as well as working as a lifeguard at Wolf Ridge’s Wolf Lake waterfront. Part of the summer is spent working as a lifeguard at the waterfront, maintaining the waterfront, enforcing the rules and protocols of the area, performing rescues as necessary, and ensuring that all have a both fun and safe time in the water.
Some weeks this position will be working at the waterfront as well as supporting other essential camp functions, while other weeks they will be assigned to the role of being a camp counselor for a camp group. See Camp Counselor job description listed above.
Think you have what it takes to be a counselor at Wolf Ridge? Staff members at Wolf Ridge are resilient, take initiative, selfless, creative, high-energy, fun, nurturing, compassionate, and display a positive attitude. They care about children and want to share a passion for our environment with each of them. A camp job is can be challenging – think 14 hour days, six days a week – but counselors are ready to work hard to meet those challenges. They’re also great role models; counselors are often like superheroes in their campers’ eyes. They display that sense of selflessness and always put the campers first. Most of all, counselors are always focused on ensuring that their campers have an amazing and memorable camp experience.
Many staff come back to Wolf Ridge summer after summer and while the camper come first, a camp job is not only an amazing opportunity for fun, friendship, and adventure; it’s also a fantastic growth experience. Camp is a place to learn about yourself, face challenges, experience personal growth, and develop new friendships. Each summer at Wolf Ridge, our diverse staff comes together to build a community. There is no stronger foundation for a community than the pursuit of a common goal shared by all who come to camp. Staff learn to work together through challenges and support each other as they develop problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Whatever your future career plans hold, we know that a summer at Wolf Ridge will equip you with skills and experiences that will benefit you. If you’ve read through everything up to this point, way to go! You now have a sense of what makes a summer at Wolf Ridge the toughest job you’ll ever love. If you share our excitement for this upcoming summer please complete an online application.
- Must be 18 years of age or older at the time of employment
- Possess a current First Aid/CPR/AED certification (can be fulfilled during staff training)
- Assistant Trip Leaders and Lifeguards: Successfully complete a Wilderness Water Safety certification course during staff training
Wages and Benefits: $265 per week, paid bi-weekly. Wolf Ridge provides room and board.
How to Apply
To apply for a position please complete an online application.
About Wolf Ridge
Established in 1971, Wolf Ridge was the first environmental learning center (ELC) in the country to be accredited as a K-12 school. We’re recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in environmental education. Our experienced naturalists work with school groups looking for outdoor, hands-on learning. We offer over 50+ lessons that build awareness, curiosity, and sensitivity to the natural world. In the process, we promote self-awareness and leadership. Wolf Ridge operations are conducted on a 2,000-acre main campus in Finland, Minnesota with a 400-bed facility, along with a 68-acre Lake Superior campus just down the road.