Employment & Internships

Jedi masters training for mindfullness and physical stamina at nature school

Employment Opportunities

We are currently accepting applications for: Field InstructorInternships – Blacksmithing Instructor

If you aren’t well acquainted with Forest Floor Wilderness Programs, please do read the information below about our Nature Connection Mentoring approach. It’s very important to us.

Forest Floor Wilderness Programs is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

What is Nature Connection Mentoring?

“From my experience, and the experience of many other outdoor educators, connection to the natural world results in a greater vitality, a zest for life, and ultimately an emergence of the genius inherent in each individual. Through that relationship, we essentially discover and connect with an aspect of our human selves that isn’t accessible in any other way.”

~ Clint Corley, Founder & Executive Director

In all Forest Floor programs, our intention is to help children develop a deeper relationship with the natural world. We do this through an approach called Nature Connection Mentoring.

In this work, we follow children’s innate passions and curiosities and guide them towards finding their own answers… and towards ever more questions. We rarely begin by giving information, and we don’t have standard academic goals. Our objectives focus on students’ personal development and on the relationships they build—to nature, to each other, and to themselves.

With Nature Connection Mentoring, we first aim to get children to passionately want to know more. Getting kids to that point through story, role-modeling, full-sensory experiences, games, and adventure, and then delivering pertinent information, is the basis of the work that we do. Even then, we track not only how well the lesson was learned, but also its deeper impact on the learners.

We celebrate with our students when they learn to identify edible plants, recognize tracks and bird songs, safely build and tend fires, understand ecological relationships, and more. To us, though, these skills are all means to a larger end. Their value lies in the empowerment and enlivenment they bring to those who practice them, in the natural relationships they build, and in the way they inspire respect and care for the natural world.

When we examine the success of our programs, we ask ourselves whether the young people we serve are experiencing more joy, energy, aliveness, inner peace, eagerness to contribute to life, and understanding of their true selves and the gifts they carry. Even if they forget the information we teach them, we hope they can carry those attributes with them for the rest of their lives, living fully and changing the world for the better.

If you work with us, you may find yourself learning not just how to deliver information about the natural world, but also how to lead games, tell stories, ask inspiring questions, improvise, adapt, work with what nature gives you, and serve as a role model for students through your own connection journey and your way of being.

One of the best resources for learning more about this work is a book called Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature. It’s the “textbook” we use to guide us on this journey… and an inspiring read for anyone interested in how we relate to the world around us.

 And if you want to dive deeper into the teaching model that underlies all of our programs watch this introductory video about the 8 Shields Model.

Are you intrigued?  See below for pathways to working with us and experiencing this approach.

Scott Carroll, Lead Instructor at Forest Floor Wilderness Programs

Employment – Field Instructor

If you’re an adult with experience in wilderness skills and working with youth, we may have a place for you on our staff team.

Our most frequent job opportunities are for summer camp staff. These positions last from early June to mid-August and require availability Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm.

If our programs and methods sound exciting to you, tell us about yourself by…

A)  Filling out an application for summer camp positions or for school-year programs.

B) Also please reach out to us via email to introduce yourself (and with any questions) at [email protected].

Field positions will require background checks.

 

Full Job Description - Field Instructor

Responsible To:

Field Director, Youth Programs Director, Executive Director

General Responsibility:

Through careful mentorship, guide children to connect more deeply with nature, each other, and themselves. All Field Instructors will work as a team, both with the entire group of children as well as in pairs with smaller groups of kids.

 

Qualifications:

  • Good to excellent communication skills.
  • Some basic knowledge of local flora & fauna, ability in wilderness survival skills, and skill in creating ancestral crafts, and an eagerness to grow in these areas.
  • Good character and flexibility, with ability to accept supervision and direction.
  • Demonstrate ability to carry out the program teaching in a positive way.
  • Ability to relate to one’s staff team as well as to children.

Specific Responsibilities:

As a Field Instructor you will work as a team, both as a whole with the entire group of children as well as in pairs with smaller groups of kids, and will be responsible for the following:

  • Assume responsibility for the health, wellbeing and actions of children entrusted to your care.
  • Make sure children understand the rules, policies, and traditions of Forest Floor.
  • Take time as needed in-between program days to plan the coming weeks program day with your co-instructor(s).
  • Arrive on-time and fully prepared each day, with the goal of bringing your best-self.
  • Communicate with the Field Director well in advance the need for, or personally supply/acquire, any materials needed to implement the curriculum and activities for any given day of programs. Keep all receipts and report them to the bookkeeper for reimbursement.
  • Be prepared and willing to both give and receive feedback about yourself and your team members skills, performance, strengths, and growth-edges.
  • Teach nature-connection based activities, particular skills or crafts.
  • Serve as a good example in personal language, appearance, and health habits.
  • Agree to and abide by the Forest Floor Code of Ethics.
  • Attend Seasonal staff meetings
  • Attend new instructor staff trainings

Essential Functions:

  • Be physically able to accompany the children into the forest over rugged terrain in all weather conditions.
  • Be able to communicate verbally with the children, and provide instruction.
  • Have visual ability to recognize both hazards in the program setting as well as physical symptoms of children’s injury or illness.
  • Have auditory ability to respond appropriately to hazards and any children’s concerns.
  • Be able to observe children’s behavior in daily program life, to respond verbally to health and safety concerns, and to deal appropriately with any improper behavior.
  • To point out any behavior or activity that might need the attention of the Lead Instructor, Field Director, or Youth Programs Director.
  • To communicate effectively with staff during meetings and informally about issues such as program scheduling, appropriate activities, weather concerns and other concerns for health, safety, morale and/or effective program facilitation.

 

Commitment and Compensation

  • Days vary seasonally and are negotiable depending on individual needs.  8-8.5 hours for most program days.  Spring, Fall & Winter seasons range from 1-4 days per week.  Summer Camp season is Monday-Friday, for 4-7 weeks.
  • Pay scale based on level of experience with $14/hr minimum for entry level
  • Discounted or free Forest Floor programs and professional trainings
Scott Carroll, Lead Instructor at Forest Floor Wilderness Programs

Employment – Blacksmithing Instructor

Forest Floor is hiring Blacksmithing instructors to teach teenage students this Fall (and beyond) at our shop in the Haw Creek neighborhood in East Asheville.

We’re looking for one or two people to join our awesome team of mentors as we develop our youth into creative, competent, skilled, and deeply connected humans. 

 

Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 Blacksmithing programs occur on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 9 am – 4 pm.

Summer camps run multiple sessions throughout the summer. Each session is 5 days, Monday-Friday.

 

Full Job Description - Blacksmithing Instructor

Forest Floor is hiring Blacksmithing instructors to teach teenage students this Fall(and beyond) at our shop in the Haw Creek neighborhood in East Asheville.

We’re looking for one or two people to join our awesome team of mentors as we develop our youth into creative, competent, skilled, and deeply connected humans.

This job is for you if:

  • You’re passionate about keeping the skill of Blacksmithing alive and love sharing it with others
  • You enjoy working with teens and young people
  • You have enough skills and experience to teach beginner and intermediate level students(true expertise is not required)
  • You live in the greater Asheville area, and…
  • You’re available between 1-3 days per week September- mid-December.

If this sounds like you, please be in touch. Starting pay is $15-$17.50 per hour depending on level of experience in both Blacksmithing and working with youth, with the potential for growth in pay and hours as we continue developing our Blacksmithing program.

Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 Blacksmithing programs occur on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 9 am – 4 pm.

Summer camps run multiple sessions throughout the summer. Each session is 5 days, Monday-Friday.

You can learn more about our Blacksmithing program here on the website

To apply please contact Clint Corley at [email protected] or call 828-338-9787.

Homeschool student learning to make tea from gathered plants in the forest

Internships – Field Staff

Forest Floor welcomes open-minded and enthusiastic lovers of the natural world to intern with our children’s nature connection programs in Asheville, NC. We are a fully experiential program, so both children and instructors truly engage with the natural world, practice earth-based skills, and come alive with curiosity!

Interns learn through experience how to be nature connection mentors. Romping through creeks, playing nature-themed games, and building their personal wilderness skills, interns observe and assist our skilled instructors and their students. We welcome adult interns, as well as teens (ages 16 and up) with wilderness experience, to join us in an engaging learning environment offering both challenge and growth.

Interns are not expected or required to lead children’s activities—just to participate in games and activities, engage with the kids, and model being curious and enthusiastic. However, if you want to hone your skills as a nature connection mentor, our staff team can provide you opportunities to lead a game, teach a skill, tell a story, or otherwise try out a new level of mentoring.

We have many intern spots available during our summer camps. If you’re available for one or more weeks between early June and mid-August, Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm, reach out and let us know.

We also accept interns in our school-year homeschool programs. These programs meet weekly throughout a season, and interns need to be available for at least five days of one program.

Our internships are unpaid, and they don’t guarantee future employment with Forest Floor. What you can expect is that, through engaging with our programs and learning alongside our students, you’ll come to feel more at home in the natural world, build relationships within our rich community of passionate naturalists and educators, increase your confidence as a youth mentor, and perhaps experience personal growth along the way. Meanwhile, your participation in staff meetings and field experiences will serve as professional development that may increase potential for future employment with Forest Floor or other nature connection organizations.

If you’re excited to intern with us, please let us know about your interests and availability by completing this application, and reaching out to [email protected] with questions.