Summer Camp Collaborator (Counselor)

Do you like kids? Do you like building?

If so, we invite you to apply to join our team of Collaborators (camp counselors) at our Tinkering School Summer Camps! 

We work closely with kids ages 8-15 to build amazing things, like a 16’ ferris wheel, a giant moving jellyfish, gravity-powered go-karts, and whatever else kids can dream up, design, and build in a week! At our Tinkering camps, kids use real tools and real materials to build projects bigger than themselves. For more information, check us out! www.tinkeringschool.com/jobs

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Our Collaborators are people who are as comfortable with a chop saw as they are with cleaning skinned knees and navigating the social-emotional needs of eight-year-olds. Our Collaborators curate and shape a camp environment that tilts towards engagement, following children’s lead as they explore, build, and bring their imaginative designs to life.

We can teach you how to use tools, and you can learn to build alongside the kids, but it is essential that you firmly believe children are already whole people with important things to say.

We are as eager to talk to bombastic college students as we are to educators with 35 years of experience. We seek to create a well-rounded group of adults that children of all inclinations can relate to, build relationships with, and trust. 

Candidates will say “That’s me!” to any combination of the following skills:

• Tool Master. You can handle a drill press with ease, but can also comfortably guide eight-year-olds through their first cuts on the chop saw.
• Kid Whisperer. You can hold space for a nine-year-old’s unbelievably fascinating tangential story and talk to an eleven-year-old with the adult tone they crave and deserve.
• Storyteller. Stories bring us together and make us a tribe. They can teach and set examples. They can enliven a mealtime and make a campfire the perfect ending to a long week at camp.
• Listener. Some kids are shy and don’t usually get a lot of attention. You know how to find those kids, figure out what makes them tick, and get them engaged.
• Outdoor Adventurer. You may not always know the right knot to tie, can effortlessly spot the difference between blackberry bushes and poison oak, and help spread excitement about living in the woods. 

DATES AND HOURS

Tinkering School will be in operation from June 15, 2026, until August 7, 2026. We hope that you will work the whole summer, but we will also consider hiring partial-summer staff. 

Training Week - June 15-19

Session 1 - June 22-26

Session 2 - June 29-July 3

Session 3 - July 6-10

Session 4 - July 13-17

Session 5 - July 20- July 24

Session 6 - July 27 - July 31

Reset Week - August 3-7

Program Hours

Mon-Fri: 8:45 am - 5:30 pm, FT and PT opportunities available.

COMPENSATION

$20.00 - 26.71

APPLY

Apply to join our team through our candidate portal 

1. Your resume (PDF format only, please) 

2. Answers to the following questions: 

a. What is your experience working with young people ages 6-16? Or, if this is your first experience, tell us why you want to work with young people.

b. When was the last time you witnessed someone struggling with a task and how did you respond? 

c. At Tinkering School, the plan can change dramatically, swiftly, and often. Tell us about your comfort level and ability to improvise. 

d. What else do you want us to know about you? Is there anything you would like to share with us? 

3. Feel free to also email us photos of some cool project(s) you’ve worked on (not required).

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.

We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Tinkering School is an equal-opportunity employer and makes employment decisions based on merit. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender, pregnancy, and breastfeeding), sexual orientation (including heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality), national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, age, medical condition, genetic characteristics or information, military and veteran status, and physical or mental disability, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state or local laws. 

Brightworks and Tinkering School are projects of the Institute for Applied Tinkering. The Institute for Applied Tinkering is an organization dedicated to building a 21st-century model of education. Over the past 16 years we’ve brought child-centric, collaborative, hands-on education experiences to children in many different ways: sleep away camp, K-12 school, day camp, after-school programs, teacher workshops, and more. We believe that all children deserve opportunities to engage with their world in creative and adventurous ways. We are committed not only to making our programs available to families of all income levels but also to sharing our learnings with parents, teachers, and schools around the world.