Teacher Naturalist

NOW HIRING: Teacher Naturalist

Job Type: Full-time yearlong position with up to 3-6 weeks unpaid furlough.
Location: Townsend, TN
Compensation: Starting salary $425.00 per week + meals and lodging. On-site housing provided with monthly utilities paid by Institute. Local estimates place a $9,600 per year value for housing.

Benefits: Benefits include retirement package and access to health and dental insurance, 14 paid holidays per year, and more. Overtime compensated with additional paid leave. Paid professional development including Wilderness First Responder, Red Cross Lifeguarding, and Southern Appalachian Naturalist certifications.

Come work along the banks of the Middle Prong in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! We value each team member at Tremont and recognize that each plays a crucial role in fulfilling the mission of connecting people to nature. Our dedicated staff, and their curiosity about the world around us, make Tremont a magical place to work and learn. Do you have the skills and experience we are looking for?

This is an excellent opportunity to work year-round with a caring team of professional educators while living in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Teacher Naturalists implement all aspects of residential education programs, including teaching daily classes with youth, classroom teachers and adults, conducting evening programs, planning and implementing programs, and assisting in overall institute operations.

Our Ideal Applicant: We are seeking passionate educators. People who have experienced awe and wonder outdoors, and who now want that for other people too. Tremont Teacher Naturalists believe that education is a vehicle for change and want to assist Tremont’s programs in making positive impacts on the health and well-being of our participants and the ecosystems they live within. Above all, Tremont Teacher Naturalists want to take care of children, and know that the dynamic, rich experiences of exploring the outdoors with wonder and curiosity fundamentally take care of children.

Our ideal applicants have experience working with children, either in classrooms, after school programs, nature centers, outdoor schools, or camp settings. They know they like to be around children, and have empathy and respect for their social and emotional lives.

Finally, our ideal applicant brings warmth and hospitality to our programs. They understand that one’s connection to the natural world is dependent on aspects of identity and demographics; some communities and backgrounds have historically been excluded or disenfranchised from connections with nature. Thus, they modify their work in a way that invites people of all backgrounds into realizing our collective heritage in the natural world.

Briefly, responsibilities include the following (more details listed in the position description):

• Guide experiential education programs for youth and adults.
• Deliver innovative lessons that help students and teachers deepen relationships and (re)discover a love of learning.
• Adapt Tremont lesson plans to accommodate personal teaching style, goals of participants, and seasonality.
• Provide warmth and hospitality to all program participants; invites participants into spaces and activities with kindness and compassion.
• Contribute to our caring community by taking care to set-up, clean, and maintain program spaces as needed for programs.
• Demonstrate curiosity by continually exploring areas of interest (such as branches of natural history, human cultures and history, the humanities, etc.).