High School 2012 Staff Application

Building a Strong Staff Community

We believe that the High School program at Gathering is a transformative experience for many staff and participants. The High School Program should be center of your week, and our vision is to create a spiritually grounded community of staff members that:

• Fosters trust; 
• Shares a common vision of expectations;
• Invites understanding of others' gifts, strengths, limits, and challenges;
• Provides a safe space for dissention by caring for each other through our differences;
• Not only works together, but plays together;
• Provides opportunities to learn about each other;
• Provides a space for the communication and acknowledgement of needs.

This list is not exhaustive, but is rather the beginning of a vision which we hope to develop as a staff through the coming year and beyond. The first steps which we have identified toward realizing these goals are as follows.

Before Gathering

• Conducting phone interviews during parts of the recruiting process with focus both on interviewing the applicant and the applicant interviewing the coordinators/program - the goal is a meeting of the minds when it comes to expectations.
• Creating a formal staff buddy system before Gathering.
• Facilitating dialogue between staff prior to Gathering (beyond logistics).

During Staff Orientation/During the Gathering

• Having non-staff administrative support (The Right Hand Friend) during staff orientation & during staff meetings each morning.
• Holding meeting for worship and worship sharing together (as a High School Staff) during orientation & throughout the week.
• Time to play and hangout during staff orientation.
• Having discussion surrounding needs - what are our needs, collectively & individually, & what needs can actually be met.
• Making scheduled space for staff support during the week.

Qualities in Prospective Counselors

We are looking for these qualities in prospective Counselors:

1. Individuals who are excited about the program and about working with other staff to realize our vision of a grounded staff community.
2. Experience with the High School Gathering, Young Friends, or other religious high school age youth groups.
3. Understanding of, or familiarity with, the concept of listening for the Sense of Meeting as a central practice of Friends.
4. Skill in listening and sensitivity to teen participants, oneself, other staff, parents and other Gathering attenders.
5. Commitment to nurturing youth ownership of program guidelines.
6. Community-oriented: knowing the value of the overall Gathering and the High School Gathering's place in it.
7. Willingness to work as a team member with the coordinators and other counselors.
8. Understanding of boundary issues inherent in the role of counselor and ability to maintain appropriate boundaries.
9. Able to arrive by Friday, June 29, 2012 at 9:00 am, for a two-day orientation and team-building session.

The High School staff selection process acknowledges that no one person is going to have all the characteristics needed to make the program work, and that counselors often draw upon each other's expertise and experience in dealing with issues that come up during the week.

A few questions we consider about the composition of the entire staff are below. 

• Is there a good balance:
  • In the range of Quaker experience among staff members? 
  • Of male and female counselors?
• Are there gender non-conforming people on the team? 
• Is there a range of ages of counselors, from teenage to middle age and above (each age group bringing its own insights)? 
  • Note: Applicants must have at least one year out of the program before being considered, except those applying for the position of intern. 
• Is there diversity:
  • In the racial makeup of the counseling team?
  • In the sexual orientation of the counseling team?
• Are there people with lifeguarding/first aid/peer counseling/nursing or other helping / healing skills on the team?
• Are there people with experience leading physical activities for groups of young people? (games/sports/drama/exercise, etc.)
• Is there a good balance in the skills, interests and approaches of the staff members as a whole? 

Completing the Application

Everyone applying should complete the High School Staff Application. Download the Application Form at the bottom of this page.

Who needs to complete the Reference and Criminal Background Check forms?

• If you have worked with youth at the Gathering for two of the past three years, you do not need to complete the reference check form. 
• If you had a criminal background check by FGC in the last five years, you do not need to complete the criminal background check form.

Download the Criminal Background Check form below.  Information will be sent to applicants later regarding completion of the Reference Check Form which is not yet available.

Contact Susan Lee Barton susanleeb@fgcquaker.org if you are unsure if you need to complete the Reference and Criminal Background Check forms.