Middle School Project Adventure Teacher & Ropes Course Instructor

Position Overview

Breck is seeking an innovative, student-centered educator to join our faculty as a Middle School Project Adventure Co-Teacher and Ropes Course Specialist. Operating within a dynamic, collaborative co-teaching model, this instructor partners closely with a fellow faculty member to deliver our adventure-based experiential education curriculum for students in grades 5-8.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Collaborative Co-Teaching & Experiential Instruction

• Partner fully with a co-teacher to manage group dynamics, balance instruction, and safely supervise middle school classes across various elements.

• Co-design and execute age-appropriate ice-breakers, games, and initiatives, ensuring a deliberate sequence that moves from ground-level team building to low elements, and ultimately to high-element challenges as students develop trust and readiness.

• Implement the Project Adventure framework, guiding students to discover their own internal resources by presenting them with collective problems rather than pre-determined solutions.

• Maintain an inclusive environment honoring "Challenge by Choice," ensuring students participate at a meaningful personal level without being forced.

• Teach and enforce active, proper student spotting techniques to maintain a high standard of physical safety during ground and low-element activities.

• Ropes Course Management & Operations

• Set up, manage, and operate low elements, group initiatives, and high elements across both indoor and outdoor facilities.

• Collaborate on standard pre-use safety checks of the course, gear, and hardware to ensure all elements are sound.

• Maintain necessary inspection logs, track internal certification timelines, and help prepare the courses for annual third-party compliance audits.

• Manage the safe setup, teardown, and secure storage of all challenge course gear and removable hardware.

• Prepare both the indoor and outdoor courses for the mandatory annual third-party safety inspection.

• Help ensure all course setups, gear, and belay systems meet current industry and Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) safety standards.

• Assist in maintaining accurate compliance files, inspection reports, and official safety certificates for the school’s permanent records.

• Enforce standard safety protocols and verify all participant gear, harnesses, and belay systems prior to course use.

• Assist the coordinator in monitoring staff training timelines, credentials, and safety compliance records.

Education And/or Experience

• Education & Credentials:

• Bachelor’s degree in education, outdoor leadership, or a related field preferred.

• Must hold (or be able to imminently obtain) a challenge course certification from an accredited provider (such as Project Adventure, ABEE, or an equivalent ACCT-accredited organization).

• Breck is willing to fund recertifications and send you to annual Project Adventure/challenge course training.

• Experiential Teaching:

• Experience delivering structured experiential education, with a strong understanding of how to sequence activities across multiple grade levels.

• Co-Teaching & Collaboration:

• Demonstrated success working in a team-first environment, with a proven ability to share a classroom space and split instructional and safety duties equitably.

• Technical Background:

• Practical, hands-on experience with ground-based initiatives, challenge course hardware, knot tying, rope management, and standard belay mechanics.

• Middle School Alignment:

• Prior experience working with young adolescents, displaying a strong understanding of their developmental needs and emotional growth.