2017 Seekers Wild Practicum Opportunity

Learn and teach Wilderness Survival Skills while satisfying your Practicum requirement

Be outside every day, get hands-on training, and have the option to design and implement your own programs with youth.

            Seekers Wild is a local organization that teaches wilderness survival and outdoor living skills. Most of our camps and classes are held outdoors in the bluffs and backwaters of the Mississippi River valley. We focus on passing along the skills necessary to obtain your basic human needs in a wilderness setting. A sample of the skills we teach are: friction fire and various other fire building techniques, bow making and archery, coal burning, water gathering and purification, wild edible and medicinal plants, primitive trapping, tracking, shelter building, basic knife safety and technique, cordage/rope making from animal and plant fibers, navigation, stealth and stalking, bird language, wilderness awareness, and more.
 Seekers Wild is offering an Assistant Instructor practicum position to college students from June 6th to August 26th, 2016. The practicum student will receive: 
-Hands-on training in the skills and activities we teach.
-Mentoring and practice in: 
  • Designing programs for youth ages 7-15.
  • Implementation of programs for youth ages 7-15.
  • Working with various youth group dynamics.
  • Learning, performing, and teaching wilderness survival skills.
-Observation and practice of program risk management techniques.
-A toolbox of new activities and games. 

Position Summary:
            The practicum opportunity will be during the 2016 summer with Seekers Wild as an Assistant Instructor. The practicum student will be involved in most aspects of implementing programming for a summer day camp serving youth ages 7-15. Their main duties will be to assist in actively and creatively engaging the youth participants during Check-in/Check-out, transitional periods, and programming activities. The practicum student will have an opportunity to design and implement a program of their own. This program will be vetted by the Seekers Wild Lead Instructor to the safety, relevance, and quality of the program prior to implementation. The student will also assist in Check-in/Check-out procedures. All duties will be supervised by a Seekers Wild Lead Instructor. Minimum commitment is a full week of camp: Monday through Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm. (42.5 hours) See the full summer camp schedule with detailed info about camp themes and activities at www.seekerswild.com         

Practicum Student Responsibilities:

  • Supervise and engage camp participants with instruction, story, song, dance, poetry, etc. You get the idea. Use your strengths, past experiences, or try something new to do this and don’t forget to have fun. 
  • Communicate with Lead instructor any hazard or situation that could be detrimental to a safe camp experience such as: group dynamics, strangers, environmental hazards (bees, poison ivy, etc.), a meteor screaming towards us, etc.
  • Assist in the maintenance, cleaning, and management of gear and supplies. Sticks and rocks. That’s our gear inventory. Basically we all help pick up…even the kids.
  • Maintain a positive relationship and appearance with parents/guardians of participants as well as the general public. Be nice.
  • Your utmost duty is to ensure the emotional, mental, and physical safety of the camp participants, the community, and yourself. This is paramount. 

To be considered for this opportunity, one must be able to:
  • Lift and carry up to 30 lbs at multiple times throughout the day.
  • Actively engage and supervise youth ages 7-15.
  • Possess the mental, visual and auditory ability to respond to environmental hazards, internal, and external threats to camp participants and staff.
  • Ensure the safety of the participants, the community, and self.
  • Be able to hike, stand, and be physically active, continuously, all day in an outdoor environment.
  • Commit to one full week of camp plus one day of training prior to the start of summer camp (June 8th).
Attributes of a Practicum candidate not required but helpful:
  • Creative and able to think on their feet.
  • Notice subtle group dynamics and make adjustments accordingly.
  • Experience with skills that align with what we teach i.e. survival skills, camping and other outdoor experiences, homesteading skills, traditional living skills.
  • Any First Aid, CPR, WFR, other medical or safety training.
If you are interested or have questions contact:
Derek @ 507-272-5320
-or-
[email protected]

And check out what we offer at www.seekerswild.com 
Click on the link below to apply:
Practicum Application
File Size: 44 kb
File Type: docx
Download File
-OR-
Request an Emailed Copy by contacting us here
Check out- A Day In The Life Of A Seekers Wild Practicum Student