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Administration & Professionals - "Red Shirt Staff"

Join our "Red Shirt" Professional Staff as an:

  • Speech-Language Pathologists/SLP Supervisors​

    • ​No CFY positions

    • AAC experience preferred

    • SLP CFY or CF ok for Social Skills Instructor positions!

  • Occupational Therapist/OT Supervisor

    • ​for Fieldwork I Graduate Students

  • Physical Therapist (part or full time)

  • General Camp Class Instructor

    • ​Masters Level Teachers and SLPs Preferred

    • SLP CFY or CF ok for Social Skills Instructor positions

  • Explorers Program Instructor

    • ​Masters Level Teachers Preferred

    • Middle School teaching experience preferred

    • Special Education experience required

  • Yak Apprentice Program Instructor

    • ​Masters Level Teachers and SLPs Preferred (CF SLP Welcome!)

    • High School Teaching/Intervention experience preferred

    • Special Education experience required

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Admin & Support Staff - "White Shirt Staff"

Join our "White Shirt" Staff as an:

  • Admin Support Person

    • Office work​

    • May get pulled to sub as a 1:1 or instructor to fill an absence

  • Staff Support Person

    • Set Up and Break Down Drop Off & Pick Up of camper areas​

    • Work at recess helping to run stations

    • May be pulled to be a 1:1 if there is a need

  • Camper Support Assistant

    • Assist the Camper Support Team by helping with campers who need breaks or a 1:1 for the day. Give breaks to 1:1s as needed.

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What does our "Red Shirt Staff" do?

Besides coordinate and communicate with families and staff, Red Shirts design curriculum, supervise "Blue Shirt" student volunteers, model best practice instruction, counsel campers, act as cheerleaders and play!

Going to graduate soon with your Masters in Speech Pathology?

We would love to have you at camp!

 

Here are the steps to securing your Conditional License from the Oregon Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology before working with children at our camp.

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All Staff, Interns, Graduate Students, Volunteers & Personal Support Workers
Must Be Fully Vaccinated by the Start of Camp.

*** We prefer to hire for the full 4-weeks of camp but often have "substitute" positions open for 1-2 weeks to fill in where needed. 

Camp Yakety Yak Staff 

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Camp Director

Heather Eason, MS, CCC-SLP

Heather started at camp as a volunteer, then served as a Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Director, and now holds the position of Camp Director. Heather is a school-based speech-language pathologist in a rural, bilingual school district.  In addition to her state licensure, she holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the National Governing Board, ASHA, and in addition to her master's degree has completed two additional graduate-level certificate courses of study in Autism and High-Functioning Autism.  Heather is a New Jersey native who has loved living in Oregon for the past 25+ years. 

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Executive Director

Monica Smiley

Monica is new to Camp Yakety Yak in 2025! She has 10+ years of experience in leadership roles as an Executive Director for nonprofit organizations that host summer day camps. Monica looks forward to getting to know the community and working collaboratively to grow capacity, involvement and support for camp. Monica is originally from Seattle and spent summers at Camp Orkila on Orcas Island. She is excited to share her camp traditions and learn yours. Monica lives in Multnomah Village with her husband Gary, sons Oscar and Erol, mother Gale, dog Bandit, cat Peaches, and 5 chickens! Oliver C. edited this web page.

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Explorers & Yak Apprentice  Coordinator  

Elise Renning, M.Ed Special Ed
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Buddies  Coordinator, SLP Supervisor

Margaret Jennings, SLP
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Yak Apprentice Lead, SLP Supervisor 

Joseph W. Vera, MA/MPH, CCC-SLP

Joseph W. Vera is a fifth year PhD student at Portland State University with a focus area on disability justice, particularly dedicated to young autistic adults.  He has a background in both speech pathology and epidemiology, obtaining a master’s from Louisiana State University and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, respectively. 

Originally from Dallas, Texas and now living in Portland, Oregon, Joseph enjoys the many colors the Pacific Northwest has to offer in their plant life (and the incredible foods that come with it!).  In his free time he enjoys playing videogames and boardgames, and hiking the many mountains around the area.

He has been with Camp Yakety Yak for 4 summers and has been with the Yak Apprentice program for every one of those summers.  He is dedicated to using contextualized learning to build job skills and social communication skills for the Yak Apprentices. 

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