Thank you for your interest in becoming a cabin leader with Exploring New Horizons. As an Outdoor School cabin leader you will be a role model for 5th and 6th grade students during their week of environmental education. Students come for either a 4 or 5-day program in which they hike among old-growth redwoods, go tidepooling, and more. As a cabin leader, you will participate in all these activities while leading your cabin group of 7-12 students throughout their week of outdoor school.

Cabin Leader Responsibilities

As an outdoor school cabin leader you will be in charge of a group of 7-12 fifth or sixth grade students. This means you will be staying in the cabin with them, getting them to meals on time, helping to supervise meals and recreation time, and going on hikes as their naturalist teaches lessons on ecology, environmental stewardship, and team-building. Please read the Cabin Leader Survival Guide to help prepare you for your time at outdoor school.

Benefits of Being a Cabin Leader

Not only do high school volunteers earn community service hours, but at the end of the week, cabin leaders can get reference letters for college or job applications. This is also a great way to give back to your community, be a role model for a 5th or 6th grade student, and gain valuable leadership and communication skills.

Cabin Leader Training

Our Program Coordinator comes to many Bay Area High Schools to recruit cabin leaders for one of our 33+ weeks of program annually. Each high school has their individual requirements for participation, but each cabin leader has to complete an application, participate in an interview and attend a training to help prepare you to work with the grade school students that attend Exploring New Horizons. The Cabin Leader Interview and Training Workshop will last for a few hours after school.

If you are chosen as a cabin leader we will notify you within a few weeks following your interview. If selected, you will meet at the elementary or middle school in the morning on the first day of outdoor school and ride the bus with the students to program. Once you arrive at the outdoor school you will go through an on-site orientation and our staff is on hand 24 hours a day to support and mentor you with any questions you may have during your stay.

If you are interested in becoming a cabin leader contact Natasha “Ozone” Anderson at Exploring New Horizons, complete the form below or give us a call at (831) 252-7868. We will be in touch soon to get you signed up to come out and volunteer for a week.