Company description

Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment, located in Freeport, Maine, seeks to transform our relationship with farming and food for a healthier planet. On our 626 acres of diverse ecosystems we farm, conduct agricultural research on soils and climate change, and invite visitors to engage with the food system and the role we all can play in building a more just and sustainable future. The farm is within a unique mix of ecosystems—creating a remarkable and inspiring place for visitors of all ages to learn and play. Our educational programs are growing and currently include summer farm camp, school programs, school vacation camps, after-school programs, weekly and weekend programming for families, Teen Agriculture: Training Farmers, Feeding Mainers, and the Organic Dairy Research and Farmer Training Program. Wolfe’s Neck’s education programs use our unique landscape to facilitate hands-on farm-based experiences. Wolfe’s Neck also manages a community garden, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program (including reduced-price shares allocated for SNAP recipients), farm store, oceanfront campground, and several seasonal community events and festivals.

 

Job description Our Community & Visitor Programs
Wolfe’s Neck Center’s Community & Visitor programs connect thousands of visitors of all ages with our farm and sustainable agriculture each year. Offerings range from sensory explorations in the barn with toddlers to leading a tour of our organic dairy milking parlor to facilitating farm chores with kiddos to harvesting farm items for breakfast with a group of families staying at our campground to chatting with visitors in our livestock barn.

What Are Community & Visitor Educators?
Community & Visitor Educators are the face of Wolfe’s Neck Center for the majority of our visitors, helping engage them with our mission while also keeping the public and our livestock safe and happy. They lead programs that pique the interests of a wide range of audiences and facilitate a deeper connection to our unique farm and sustainable agriculture. Community & Visitor Educators provide visitors with accurate information about our history, agricultural operations, community events, and various programs. Our Community & Visitor programming explore the seasonal shifts of our working farm March through October.

This position shifts seasonally:
Spring & Fall: Programs are mostly offered on weekends for approximately 8-15 hours depending on visitor traffic.
Summer: We offer a wide range of programs everyday and are looking for Educators 15-25 hours/week.

What We’re Looking For
With over 30,000 visitors each year, Community & Visitor Educators connect a wide range of people to farming and our mission. We’re looking for folks who are excited to introduce lots of people to the farm, our livestock, and sustainable agriculture—even the 67th time you’ve answered the same question that day. Community & Visitor Educators “hold down the farm” on the weekends, so you’ve got to be self-motivated, self-sufficient, very reliable, and not easily flustered. For example, some visitors are not familiar with our safety guidelines (and fail to read our prominently posted reminders), and ideal candidates adeptly reinforce guidelines in a friendly (and still firm) way. There will be a schedule of programs, and you’ve got to have the time management skills to get them started on-time and run them as long as advertised. We’re also looking for candidates with these kinds of qualifications:
• Degree, some higher education, and/or experience in environmental education, childhood education/development, agriculture, food systems, or related fields
• Ability to work and problem-solve independently as well as collaboratively
• Desire to be outside in a variety of weather, interact with livestock, and introduce thousands of people to small-scale agriculture and Wolfe’s Neck Farm
• Ability to safety operate a tractor pulling a haywagon. Must be 21+ to operate a tractor under our insurance.
• Ability to efficiently and graciously manage program registration, walk-on participants, questions from the general public, while also helping to collect program data.
• CPR/First Aid certifications
Ideally, candidates would work through an annual cycle, though we will entertain seasonal applicants. Compensation this position is : stipend / non-monetary compensation Application instructions Deadlineno deadline