Garden Teacher Edible Schoolyard NYC +1 more
- Date Posted May 10, 2018
- Location New York, NY
- Category Agriculture / Nonprofit
- Job type Full-Time
Edible Schoolyard NYC partners with public schools to transform the hearts, minds, and eating habits of young New Yorkers through a seed-to-table education. Edible Schoolyard NYC’s goal is to change attitudes, preferences, and behaviors around healthy eating, and to educate and empower children to make healthy food choices for themselves, their communities, and the environment.
In 1995, nationally acclaimed restaurateur and food activist Alice Waters created the first Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, pioneering the notion that the best place to teach children the connection between food, health, and the environment is in our schools. Established in 2010, Edible Schoolyard NYC is the first northeastern affiliate of the program, and is committed to bringing the vision of a garden-based edible education to New York City.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
TEACHING
-
Co-teach daily garden classes to an ethnically diverse, urban preK-8 student population in accordance with the ESYNYC teaching philosophy.
-
Lead a group of students in garden jobs or exploratory academic activities.
-
Consistently model routines and rituals for all garden classes, as well as respect and curiosity for learning. Encourage students’ interests and talents.
-
Strengthen students’ understanding of garden and kitchen connections, as well as how the food we grow affects themselves, their community, and their planet.
-
Guide students through the propagation, planting, cultivation and maintenance of the garden, including creation and care of small garden structures.
-
Co-teach grade-appropriate, standards-based, academic content incorporated into the ESYNYC curriculum.
-
Support ESYNYC curriculum development in collaboration with the Director of Education and fellow Garden Teacher.
-
Work with school faculty to find ways to connect garden class with the skills and knowledge students are learning in their own classrooms.
-
Participate in regularly scheduled internal professional development with the Director of Education and other ESYNYC teaching staff.
-
Develop and teach extracurricular programming, including family workshops and weekly after school classes.
-
Help teach and participate in Professional Development trainings in collaboration with the Director of Education to help educators throughout the area learn how to bring edible education to their own school sites.
-
Work on other projects to support program development as appropriate (e.g. garden management and evaluation projects).
-
Ensure that the garden is properly prepped for classes, and properly cleaned up after classes.
-
Handle and store all garden tools and equipment properly.
-
Together with your fellow Garden Teacher and the Garden Managers, ensure that the garden is maintained in order to host garden classes as well as supply produce for use in the kitchen classroom, school community, and special events.
-
Support year-round propagation, soil fertility, composting, crop rotation, garden planning, pruning, irrigation, and pest and disease management.
-
Maintain facilities and equipment in good working order, including: tool shed, greenhouse, irrigation system, and tools.
-
Support all garden events and activities.
-
Work with apprentices and other garden volunteers to maintain garden.
-
Remain engaged, knowledgeable, and up to date about the garden and know what plants are ready to harvest at any given time throughout the year.
-
Be an active participant in a community of learning.
-
Maintain effective communication with ESYNYC staff, school staff, and the extended community of parents, neighbors and school garden educators.
-
Participate in ESYNYC staff meetings, staff development days, and program development meetings.
-
Stay informed of school events and activities. Be an active presence in the school community and attend school meetings and events as appropriate.
-
Actively support a culture of wellness at the school.
-
Welcome visitors to the program and be prepared to be observed teaching class.
-
When necessary, lead garden and kitchen tours and participate in development activities in collaboration with our Development Team.
-
Participate in ESYNYC events and community outreach efforts.
-
Maintain effective communication within the garden team, and share feedback in a clear and consistent manner. Orient new team members to the garden and garden-related responsibilities.
-
Work with Evaluation Manager to execute program evaluation, including utilizing evaluation tools and properly documenting evaluation as needed.
-
Maintain a working knowledge of the ESYNYC garden class budget and manage spending to that budget.
-
Develop meaningful relationships with classroom teachers that will enhance the opportunities for teachers to feel engaged in garden classes.
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Prior teaching experience required.
- Prior gardening experience preferred.
- Experience working in an urban public-school setting preferred.
- Proficiency in Spanish preferred
- Experience working in a collaborative setting preferred.
- Experience working with middle school students preferred.
- Ability to work with frequent interruption and to simultaneously supervise a variety of tasks.
- Ability to stand, stoop, reach and bend. Mobility of arms to reach and dexterity of hands to grasp and manipulate large and small objects.
- Ability to read small print.
- Ability to stand for long periods.
- Ability to walk long distances.
- Ability to lift, push, and/or pull objects which may be approximately 50 pounds.
- Ability to work with and in the proximity of equipment with moving mechanical parts.
- Ability to work outdoors and tolerate varying weather conditions.
- Willingness to smell, taste and feel, in order to determine quality of raw food products.
- May be required to work around loud noise.
- Self-starter with ability to work collaboratively to accomplish goals.
- Organized, upbeat and flexible individuals strongly preferred.
POSITION DETAILS
This is a full-time job located in East Harlem, NY. Some weekend and evening work is required. Competitive compensation commensurate with experience, benefits package, and generous vacation policy. Professional development opportunities are supported when feasible. Start date July/August TBD.