Crew Leader Information - Youth Conservation Crew

2024 Applications for Crew Leader are now open!

Learn more and apply with this application link:

Youth Conservation Crew - Adult Crew Leaders (Community Service Aide II)

First Priority: Inclusive Work Culture

Everyone at YCC will be treated with kindness and respect.

Bring your culture, gender expression, passions, skills, knowledge, fears, and life experiences to this job. By being yourself, youth feel permission to explore and celebrate their own identities.

We hire crew leaders who will create a positive experience for diverse youth. Diversity includes race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, language, gender identity, religion, and more. If you have strong equity skills, and are INTERESTED in nature (but don't have many skills yet), we hope you will apply.

Supplies

Each crew leader will be assigned the following supplies to use for the summer:

• Cell phone for texting and calling teens
• Vehicle for driving supplies and youth
• Field kit which includes a First Aid Kit and other items
• Other tools and supplies as needed

Training

There will be 2 weeks of training before youth begin work.  We will cover:

• Safety and Risk Management
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Best Practices
• Mentoring and Supervising Teenagers
• YCC Policies, Traditions, and Culture
• Skills you need for your crew (trail building, tree work, community gardens work, etc.)

Schedule

2023

• Official YCC 2023 Work Season:
  • YCC Training: June 12-23.
  • Working with youth: June 26 - August 18, 2023
  • Monday (8:30am - 2:30pm); Tuesday - Friday (7:15am - 3:15pm)
    Crew Leaders and Office Assistant may begin working earlier than June 12 on a flexible schedule if available.
• Start early!  Once you are offered a job, we can discuss an early start date.  Work part-time with a flexible schedule.  Gain extra job skills and training.
• Keep working when YCC is over.  Many Crew Leaders continue working with Environmental Education or as Seasonal Maintenance Workers when YCC is over.
• Work locations vary. All are in the City of Portland, including North Portland, and Southeast Portland.

Teamwork

You will NOT be working alone! These are the people who will be on your team. We will all be working together for a safe, fun, and productive summer:

• Co-Crew Leader - you will work with another adult to lead a group of 10 teenagers.

• Other Crew Leaders - every Monday you will attend a "Crew Leader Meeting." All Crew Leaders share their ideas, successes, and difficulties. Crew Leaders support each other, help each other solve problems and give each other ideas.

• Sponsor - the "sponsor" is the full-time staff person who plans your work projects. For example, if you are a Trail Crew Leader, the Trail Crew Sponsor will give you the tools and skills you need to lead trail projects. They will meet you and the youth on site to help you get started, and will answer all your questions about Trails.

• Coordinator - the coordinator will hire you and train you to work with youth in YCC.

• Returning Crew Members - some youth work for YCC for years. These experienced "Returning Crew Members" can help you! We even have a special work day with Returning Crew Members only so that you can get to know them and build trust. 

Working With Teens

MENTORING

Youth bring their whole selves to work! Your job is to get to know and care about each person as an individual. Some ways you will mentor youth:

• Job related topics: skill building, teamwork, responsibility
• Future goals - what does each teen hope to do in life? How can you help or encourage them?
• Friendship and teamwork - help teens feel like they belong in the community. Create opportunities for them to build social skills at work.
• Mental health - some teens experience anxiety, stress, depression, and other challenges. You may need to support these teens at work, and in some cases, call in more resources.
• Life issues & resources - some teens may have problems at home. Some may not have a place to sleep at night, or enough food to eat. When you learn about challenges, you will talk with your team to learn about resources that can help.

COMMUNITY BUILDING

We believe that friendship makes work joyful. It also makes work safer! When there is a feeling of family on a crew, everyone looks out for each other and people are more likely to tell you when they are injured or worried. Crew leaders are responsible for helping turn a random group of strangers into a community. Some ways we do this:

• Icebreakers, name games, get to know you games - in the beginning, you will lead lots of activities to get youth talking and comfortable in the group.
• Work together- provide opportunities for youth to work in groups of 2 and 3 with people they don't know well yet. 
• Enrichment  - approximately 3 times a summer, crews do fun outdoor activities like canoeing, beach trips, rock climbing, and kayaking. During COVID, some activities are not possible.
• Set expectations that no one is excluded, and that everyone makes an effort to get to know others.
• Feedback Fridays - Every Friday, youth meet in small groups WITHOUT crew leaders and talk about what is going well, what is not going well, and what ideas they have to make things better. Each group elects a speaker who share the ideas with the crew leaders and other youth.

TEACHING JOB SKILLS

For most teens on your crew, YCC will be their first job.  You will help them learn basic job skills.  Every teen will be different and need different support. For example:

A 14 year old will need to be held accountable for attendance, and getting to work on time. You will need to give daily reminders, and check in. They might also need help learning teamwork skills.

A 17 year old might need your encouragement to lead a small group. You will teach them public speaking and leadership skills.   

You will need to talk to teens about issues right away. You will have the opportunity to do official evaluations with each youth twice in the summer. 

Career Development

We care about crew leaders and their futures. We help crew leaders build skills and confidence. Crew Leaders meet a variety of hiring managers and learn about different career paths in Parks.  At least 15 crew leaders have later been hired into full-time positions with Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) and partners:

• PP&R Environmental Educator (1 hired)
• PP&R Trails Technicians (4 hired)
• PP&R Stewardship Coordinators (3 hired)
• PP&R Equity Specialist (1 hired)
• PP&R Protect the Best program (1 hired)
• PP&R Park Technician (1 hired)
• Friends of Trees (3 hired)
• Forest Park Conservancy (1 hired)

Crews - Types of Work

• COMMUNITY GARDENS CREW – (hiring 2) Looking for crew leaders with experience and/or interest in working with plant identification, growing food, gardening, Indigenous land care, and/or food justice.  Projects crew leaders may be asked to lead:
  • Build and repair community gardens around town. 
  • Interact with gardeners from around the world and explore issues related to gardening and food justice.
  • Work in the Native Gathering Garden, which focuses on habitat restoration through removal of unwanted plants, caring for native plants, community connection, and indigenous land practices. 
  • Teach plant identification

• NATURE CREW – EAST SIDE (hiring 2) and WEST SIDE (hiring 2)  Looking for crew leaders with experience and/or interest in ecology, environmental education, landscaping, plant identification, habitat restoration.  Projects crew leaders may be asked to lead:
  • Remove unwanted plants by hand or with shovels (including ivy, blackberry, and other species)
  • Mulch, weed and water native plants and trees
  • Build split-rail fences to protect habitat
  • Maintain trails
  • Collect data and participate in science projects like pollinator surveys and turtle studies

• TRAIL CREW - (hiring 2) Looking for crew leaders with experience and/or interest in trail building, engineering, and physical work.  Projects crew leaders may be asked to lead:
  • A variety of standard trail building and maintenance projects, including:
    • Maintain and improve tread surfaces
    • Improve grading and drainage
    • Improve stream crossings
    • Close unofficial trails
    • Build new trails
    • Build rock walls, turnpikes, and other structures
  • Teach youth ecology topics including erosion, plant identification, animal identification, and ecology. 
  • Teach safe and effective use of a wide variety of trail tools, equipment, and materials. 
  • Teach youth to be aware of their safety. Trail crew projects can be very physically demanding, Crew leaders must be able to monitor youth well-being, and help them know when to stop.

• TREE CREW – (hiring 2)  Do you love spending time with trees and exploring the city? Looking for crew leaders who have experience and/or interest in tree identification, tree health, and data!   In 2022, Youth Conservation Crew Tree Crews will map and collect data on street trees across Portland as part of the Tree Inventory Project. Youth will learn how to identify and measure different types of trees and input information using mobile mapping devices. This information will help decide where trees are needed most and what we need to do to take good care of our trees. Tree Crew Leaders will work with the crew to perform tree inventory data collection, learn about mapping and GIS, tree identification, and basic tree health. The crew leader should know or be willing to learn tree identification and basic tree health principles, and ideally have background in science or data collection. This is a great opportunity for candidates interested in the importance of the nature in our neighborhoods and teaching the public about how to care for the urban forest.    

Logistics and Daily Plans

You and your co-leader will work together to create daily schedules and plans.  Don't worry! Work projects (trees, trails, etc.) will be assigned to you, but you will have independence and decision making authority about other activities. Some things that you will decide:

• Lunch and breaks
• Games and activities
• Conversations to have
• How to delegate work
• and more!

Crew Leader Qualifications

• Be at least 20 years old by the start date.
• Have a driver's license and a good driving record.
• Be invested in racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. 
• Be ready to lead a crew of teenagers with warmth, kindness, humor, and high expectations.
• Love nature.
• Have skills and/or interest in trees, trails, gardening, habitat restoration, and/or environmental education.
• Be able to follow COVID-19 protocol and other safety measures.
• We encourage alumni of Youth Conservation Crew to apply for crew leader positions!

Safety

As a YCC crew leader, you will have to pay attention to many hazards, and do your best to keep youth safe.  These are some hazards you may face, and how we will help prepare you for them:

• Cuts, scratches, sprains: minor cuts and injuries are the most common thing you will deal with. All crew leaders are required to be First Aid & CPR trained. We will provide the training for free if you do not already have it.  Crew leaders will be provided with a First Aid Kit and a field kit full of useful items.
• Driving a vehicle - all crew leaders take "Defensive Driver Training." You will drive supplies and may be responsible for driving teens (if COVID allows). 
• Dangerous trash in parks (needles, human waste, glass, etc.) - all crew leaders participate in "Risk Assessment training." Additionally, we try to avoid unsafe areas with a lot of trash.  Youth are not allowed to touch needles, human waste or other dangerous trash.
• Heat - we are experiencing hotter summers than ever. Sometimes this means we cancel outdoor work, or end work early. Crew leaders will be trained in how to identify heat-related illnesses.
• Air Quality - when air quality is bad due to wildfire smoke or other pollution, we will cancel outdoor work for the day. Crew leaders may work from home.
• People - we work in public parks and natural areas.  Sometimes we see people experiencing a mental health crisis. Sometimes people are rude to us. Crew leaders will be trained in how to respond to this. People are unpredictable, and the unexpected can happen.
• Bees & wasps - some summers we have no stings; other summers, we have many.  If people are being stung, crew leaders are empowered to quit working and move sites. Crew leaders are required to have "Severe Allergic Reaction" training, and carry Epi-pens in case of emergency.