Creating and Directing a Program of Environmental Education
Background
Camp Wiyaka, a rustic camp located in Richmond, New Hampshire 90 minutes east of Williams, was founded in 1921 by a community leader who had recently returned from experiencing the horrors of World War I. The camp offers a rustic experience in a wilderness setting with a beautiful 25-acre lake surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest where campers hike, swim, boat, and sleep in tents.
Operated by the Athol area YMCA, the camp serves a once-thriving industrial area that faces severe social and economic challenges. It is one of a diminishing number of organizations that offer a positive experience to the region’s children. Over the years, the Camp’s focus on learning about the natural environment has been lost. Its spectacular location on pristine Sandy Pond amid acres of forest provides a unique opportunity to create an environmental education program that benefits these children.
The Internship
Working with the Camp Director, the intern will design an environmental program to be included as a part of the regular Camp curriculum. The Camp season runs July 7 through August 16, with staff orientation and training taking place a few days before the opening. During the Camp season, the intern will be responsible for managing the environmental program, taking note of what works well and not so well. At the conclusion of the camping season, the intern will use his/her findings to refine its design, describe a realistic training program for future leaders, and present the results to the Camp’s senior staff and other interested parties. The newly created environmental program will become a central and permanent part of the Camp’s offerings.
Housing will be provided to the intern June 30th through August 17 and the intern will attend staff training June 30 through July 5th. Additional housing time may be possible. Meals will be provided while the Camp is in session, with access to the kitchen when it is not. For the most part, weekends will be free. The State requires a background check to work with children.
A variety of resources are available to the intern as s/he may need. For example, Dr. Shaun Bennett (Williams ’65 – aquatic ecologist) is a conservationist who has studied the immediate area for 50 years. The Harris Center for Conservation Education and the world-renown Harvard Forest are within 30 minutes. Nearby there are several land trusts and a very active community-based environmental program, the Millers River Environmental Center.
For More Information call Dr. Bennett at 267 971 6587
To Apply: Send a letter to [email protected] (note the zero following quabbin) including your goals, interests, and qualifications as well as any other information that you would like to have considered.