GENERAL EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

Our Mission:  The HighBridge Hills Northern Lights Educational Center Camp (HHNLEC) was formed to provide students ages 7-14, Families and Adults 15+, and the local community, with an opportunity to discover the many wonders of astronomy, the structure and sportsmanship of golf and to experience the splendor of nature at its finest, in a safe, clean & fun environment.

Lighting & White Light: HHNLEC is an astronomy based learning facility and there fore you must keep all white light (bunkhouses, showers, restrooms, rec/mess hall,) to a minimum.  Red light bulbs have been provided in the bunkhouses Do not at any time bring a (WHITE) flashlight out at night.  You will be given red filter paper to covers yours and all campers flashlights with before coming outdoors with them. You will learn more about this in training.

 HOUSING: Campers and counselors will sleep in bunkhouses (when completed) with heated floors (if needed). Some staff may sleep in tents.  Our bunkhouses will house 10 - 16 campers & staff. There is electricity, bunks with mattresses, storage lockers, and windows, and thats it!  You supply your bedding.  Restrooms and showers are available through out the camp.

SEASON: Mandatory staff training for everyone begins July - 13th and is a paid week.

Regular season begins July 13th and will run through the 13th of September. Please note! We have scheduled two weeks OFF for the entire camp for scheduled cleaning and staff recreation. During this time June 21 at noon through June 29 at Noon, and August 2 at Noon through August 10 at Noon.  You will NOT be paid, but you will still be covered for room and board & workers compensation. We will cover all aspects of resident summer camping, safety, discipline, interaction, expectations of children, administration and staff in our training.

Camp Structure:

Ø       Co-ed students ages 7-14 (6 sessions)

Ø       Families (5 sessions)

Ø       Adults 15+ (4 sessions)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT

Current CPR and First Aid certificates are not mandatory (Lead Counselor and 4 counselors must be certified) but a small bonus is paid at the end of the summer for each different certificate you hold at the beginning of camp. Other certifications welcome and sought after are all the ones listed on our application. Any certificate that gives you more credibility and experience is valuable to us. Program staff must be willing to hike, sleep out on the ground (we will do this at least once a week), learn astronomy, golf, fishing & learn basic environmentally sound camping practices.  You will need a skill or two to teach, and must bring your own personal clothing and equipment suitable to perform their duties. Personal bikes, roller blades. and other outdoor equipment are welcome. If you own a tent (not necessary) please bring it! A SLEEPING BAG IS REQUIRED!!! (This is no joke!)

PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS ARE REQUIRED AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE AND MUST BE SUBMITTED PRIOR TO ARRIVING AT CAMP. We recommend you get on it and use your college health clinic. 

ALL STAFF WILL HAVE A BACKGROUND CHECK PERFORMED ON THEM AS PER STATE LAW FOR EMPLOYEES WORKING WITH CHILDREN TO SCREEN FOR SEX OFFENSES.  We will conduct checks on the last five counties in which your social security number has been used after you are hired.  We also call the current 900 number that is available for convicted sex offenders.  Final hiring will depend on a clear background check.

We may conduct periodic, random DRUG TESTS of our employees during the summer. We believe wholeheartedly in trying to provide the safest and healthiest environment for our camping children. We are a resident childrens summer camp and drugs do not have a place in our community. Please dont apply if this if part of your lifestyle.

HHNLEC Camp is an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER and is committed to providing employment opportunities to individuals whose experience and abilities best match job requirements.  It is HHNLEC Camps policy to insure equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to any protected characteristic. 

JOB TITLES

Astronomy Activity Assistant/Counselor: Follows the lesson plans of the instructors and executes the activity as provided in training.  The activities included star finders, sun dials, Moon phases, Moon masks, story telling & will also assist astronomers and educators with the setting up of classrooms and programs.

Golf Activity Assistant/Counselor: Will assist the golf instructor in scheduled activity or hands on work shop.

Fishing Activity Assistant/Counselor: Will assist the Fishing instructor in scheduled activity or hands on work shop.

Nature Activity Assistant/Counselor: Will assist the Outdoor instructor in scheduled activity or hands on work shop.

CAMPFIRE LEADER/Counselor: Can lead songs and (hopefully) play guitar, although we do not plan on having more then 1 campfire a week unless its cloudy.  We will need some that can conduct this activity.  Since this is an astronomy based camp and ANY white light of any kind degrades the quality of the seeing conditions at night, this activity will be limited. Responsibilities include song leading, organizing skit duties between cabins and maintaining an appropriate forum for children.

Salaries for all counselors except that of lead will pay $175 per week, plus room and board.

Request Application

All counselors and assistants will COVER all CABINS DURING THE SUMMER FOR RELIEF!  No child shall be left alone at any time!

THINGS YOU PROBABLY WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT HHNLEC CAMP,

BUT DIDN'T WANT TO ASK!!!

DO I GET PAID ENOUGH?   No.  Especially not what youre worth. Beginning counselors can expect $100-150 per week without any certificates (except CPR and First Aid) plus room and board. Salaries go up from there. {I know it is ugly!)

DO I GET DAYS OFF? All staff will be off for 2 weeks, 1 week in June and 1 in August. Also more time off is scheduled in the sessions for Families and Adults.  Since they dont need as much instruction/interaction.  During Family/Adult sessions you will be required to perform duties in the kitchen, classrooms and wherever needed.

WHAT CAN I DO WHEN I HAVE THE DAY OFF?  Sleep. That seems the most popular pastime for staff. There is also lots of hiking, swimming, and scenic attractions near camp. The Chequamegon National Forest borders camp & is only 15 minutes away Ashland Wisconsin & Duluth Minnesota is near-by. It is beautiful quiet country, on un-crowded roads with clean little towns and friendly natives.

CAN I USE CAMP EQUIPMENT WHEN I'M OFF? Yes except for horseback riding (there is a fee) please check with Program Director for more information. You are free to use whatever facilities you find to your liking.  In the case of golf, you must schedule a tee time through the golf instructor.

HOW MANY HOURS AM I EXPECTED TO WORK IN A DAY? Far too many but fortunately the program director is human (at least in the beginning) and tries very hard to give you a couple different hour-long periods off each day.

WILL I GET DIRTY? Yep! Especially, if you are having fun and doing your job. If you bring old clothes, lots of soap and utilize our showers, you can minimize the risk. If you aren't dirty occasionally, I may wonder what you are doing.

ARE THE SHOWERS HOT? It depends on whether you get to them before the campers get in.

ARE THERE BUGS?   None of them are larger than a bread box. Bug repellent is as important as soap at HHNLEC.

ARE THERE ANY WILD ANIMALS? Definitely! There are Black bear, Elk, white tail deer, raccoons, birds, butterflies, Bald Eagles, to name a few.  Thats what makes are camp so special.  But if you follow camp rules for trash and personal hygiene you should have no problems.

CAN I BRING MY DOG?  NO.  Even if you have the sweetest dog in the world, it will want to eat children after spending 15  weeks with them.

ARE THE KIDS JUST RICH BRATS? Think of it this way, if they are, they may be good future business contacts. Kids are kids, rich or poor and all need positive attention and wholesome experiences. Most of our campers come from middle to higher income families and 99% are really nice people.

WILL YOU APPRECIATE MY INPUT?  Sure, as long as its not in the middle of a crisis.

WHAT SHOULD I BRING?   Less than a U-haul and more than a daypack.

ARE THERE CUTE GUYS/GIRLS ON STAFF?   We are all ugly after a week.  

CAN MY FRIENDS Visit? Friends can visit, but can they move in? No. Unfortunately, our program staff increases as the summer goes on and some are people we never hired. They just came for a "short visit" and stayed. You will notice if your friends hang around too long the other counselors begin to growl and Directors start adding up the tab. They are welcome for a meal or an evening of activities but then we would like you to focus on your campers. PLEASE ASK FIRST!! Abusing this one gets you dirty looks.

WHAT'S YOUR DRINKING AND DRUGS POLICY? It's pretty simple. Drinking is something you do on your time off away from camp and at no time do you return to duty intoxicated. Please don't apply if partying is your priority. Drugs are illegal in Wisconsin so they are illegal at HHNLEC. You can probably already guess what happens if you are caught doing either one on duty. Yep, Ashland is just 18 miles away and has a phone if you don't have a car.

BUT DUDE, WHAT ABOUT MY BOOMBOX? YOU KNOW I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MUSIC!   We have lots of lovely music at camp. It comes in the form of laughter, bird songs, guitars, and campfire songs. By all means bring your favorite tapes and portable stereos (well marked with your name), but remember we are living in a small community. Stereo competition among the bunkhouses gets on everyone's nerves.

ARE YOU ENVIRONMENTALLY CONCERNED? We teach low impact camping, the appreciation of nature, and the value of caring for our environment.

IS THERE A DRESS CODE? Yep! It's pretty straight forward. Stay as clean as you can, shave if you are beardless, keep it neatly trimmed if you are not and don't start one while you are here. We would rather not have any form of goat-tees, soul patches, scruff below the wind in the trees, counselors and campers playing the lip, or lamp chops. (Ouch!) Please just ask if you are uncertain. Suggestive t- shirts are out, as are dirty sockless feet. Wear shoes appropriate to the activity, i.e. sturdy shoes on the trail, not beach sandals. HHNLEC T -shirts are worn out of camp on official business and on opening and closing days. Earrings on guys are no-no's on public days. Girls are asked to not wear string bikinis and to keep hair neat and out of the face. Please do not wear the skimpy tank tops that allow your bra-straps to hang out. No bizarre haircuts either. Same with tattoo's (they need to be coverable ). Body piercing (other than reasonable ear piercing), including facial and tongue piercing are not acceptable. Be discreet. (Nothing like interviewing someone, hiring them and then not recognizing them when they get to camp!) If this seems hard-nosed, remember we are a business and have a clientele with certain expectations. If campers don't return or worse, go get their tongue pierced and their back tattooed because their camp counselor did, you don't have a job. My biggest pet peeve is someone taking the job and then showing up with all this stuff thinking I won't notice. I do! Let's talk about it and we can probably work out a reasonable solution to your style of body decoration.

WILL I MAKE FRIENDS? Without a doubt! (Especially if you cover their shifts.)