Courageous Sailing is looking for an Instructor-In-Training (IIT) Trainer to help prepare our IITs with the teaching, leadership, and sailing skills they will need to be instructors at Courageous after they complete the program. The IIT Trainers work in a pair to oversee a team of 20-30 IITs (10-15 per year of the program) and report to the Youth Program Director.
At Courageous Sailing, we run an intensive Instructor-in-Training (IIT) program for a diverse group of Boston teens ages 15-18. We have up to 30 Instructors-in-Training, each with varying levels of skill in sailing, teaching, and professionalism. The primary goal of the IIT program is to prepare them to become full instructors, capable of passing the US Sailing Level 1 examinations, within one to three summers of training. The Instructor Trainers play a critical role in facilitating this transformation. Instructor Trainers are also responsible for leading team building and creating a welcoming, supportive, and positive learning environment for all of our IITs.
Our Instructors-in-Training (IITs) are graduates of our summer program or other sailing programs who are interested in furthering their sailing education by learning the skills required to become instructors. During the first year of this program, IITs focus on honing their sailing skills on a variety of boats and learning fundamentals of teaching. In the second year of the program IITs practice teaching by shadowing and assisting in all of the programs at Courageous. They are the youngest members of our staff and are expected to adhere to staff guidelines. Our Instructor Trainers are charged with helping them navigate the shift from student to staff.
Responsibilities
General
- Responsibly manage risk so that IITs feel comfortable stepping outside of their comfort zones
- Deliver high-level sailing instruction following Courageous Curriculum, preparing IITs to pass our In-House Sailing Evaluation and independently teach beginner sailors
- Create a safe place to make mistakes by clearly establishing limits and boundaries for the IITs behavior and independence
- Complying with, teaching, and encouraging of IITs’ learning of Courageous’ set of sailing safety standards
- Model best practices for the IITs, especially best practices in professionalism in the workplace, sailing and teaching on the water, cleanliness and organization, care for Courageous boats and resources, and safety
- Provide active and engaged supervision to IITs both on-land and on-the-water
- Organize and lead at least one off-site camping trip for IITs to the Boston Harbor Islands
Management and Supervision
- Supervise and oversee IIT programming, including scheduling IITs to work across different programs and program sites
- Schedule and hold regular meetings with IITs to check in on work projects and give feedback.
- At least once per season, hold performance reviews with each IIT to exchange job performance feedback
Professionalism:
- Attend all days of mandatory training and/or complete online training
- Be proactive and communicative. Provide clear, effective and timely communication with supervisors and staff. Ask questions if the scope or intention of work is unclear, express concerns when they come up, give feedback regularly to peers and supervisors, and help facilitate positive change
Safety and Risk Management:
- Comply with Courageous safety standards and policies on and off the water and teach participants how to do the same
- Model safe, respectful, and responsible behavior to participants and peers at all times.
- Exercise sound judgment and decision-making. Treat safety as the highest priority.
- Leave Courageous better than you found it. Treat Courageous property with respect. Maintain the cleanliness and functionality of workspace and tools
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:
- Cultivate a kind and inclusive community where everyone at Courageous can feel like they belong