About Land to Learn

Our mission: Growing a movement for food justice and community wellness through garden-based education. We offer garden-based education through a variety of programs that serve students in elementary through high school, including youth in after-school, residential foster care, and summer apprenticeships. Our flagship program, SproutEd, brings garden-based learning to Kindergarten through 2nd grade students in 10 Hudson Valley schools. In the summer of 2021, Land to Learn, with the support of our Board of Directors, decided to shift to a shared leadership model. Through this transition we are building an organizational model that prioritizes transformative, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive impacts.

About Our Values

Roles and Responsibilities

• Teaching and Lessons

• • • Facilitate lessons with Kindergarten, first, and second grade classes using LtL’s established curriculum and teaching methodologies at 2 schools for a total of approximately 13 teaching days/month, 3 classes per teaching day
    • Schedule monthly Kindergarten and bi-weekly 1st & 2nd grade lessons throughout the school year
    • Maintain regular communication with teachers
    • Adapt lessons, as needed, for specific classes and situations. 
    • Work with SproutEd team to develop new lessons and design curriculum
    • Participate in related trainings, conferences, and professional development
    • Record photos, anecdotes, quotes, and other information and input data
    • Manage students’ photo releases and take photos of programming
    • Purchase materials for programs as needed
    • Manage education program materials
    • Assist with summer programming as desired and needed
  • Garden Maintenance
    • Maintain school gardens with guidance and support from LtL Garden Management team. Perform all necessary tasks for growing crops and creating an educational space, including planting (both with and without students), watering, weeding, laying out wood chips for pathways and mulch hay for planting areas, etc. 
      • Tasks often include heavy labor, such as shoveling and carting soil and woodchips
    • Use personal vehicle to transport gardening supplies between schools
    • Assist with larger garden projects at other LtL sites
  • School Community Outreach
    • Serve as the SproutEd liaison and representative for your partner schools, developing relationships with students, teachers, administrative staff, maintenance staff, and families
    • Work with volunteers in programming and gardens
    • Attend 1-2 events at each school per year to create awareness of program and volunteer recruitment (e.g. PTO meetings, Meet the Teachers Nights)
      • Occasional evening and/or weekend hours
    • Participate in & help to plan LtL community building events at your schools - 1-2 at each school per year (e.g. garden volunteer work days, garden events)

• Workplace culture

• • • Participate in regular accountability check-ins, staff meetings, and organizational events
    • Share your wisdom and collaboratively build workplace culture

• Shared Leadership Responsibilities

• • Co-lead strategic organizational decision-making and other executive responsibilities
  • Co-create annual operating budget, program budgets, and evaluation tools and measures 
  • Rotating staff meeting facilitation and note-taking, etc.
  • Participate in programmatic and operational committees 
  • Collaborate in the refinement of the LtL organizational structure 
  • Maintaining Board relationships in rotation with other Co-Directors, including:
    • identification and recruitment of Board candidates
    • collaboration with current Board members
    • attending Board meetings and committees

Required skills

• • Experience with and enthusiasm for leading activities with groups of young children
  • Commitment to finding teaching innovations that are equitable and inclusive of students’ needs
  • Desire to build skills in gardening and growing food
  • Ability to bring democratic teaching principles into learning spaces
  • Ability to work outside in various weather conditions
  • Ability to work independently
  • Ability to work collaboratively with a team and practice open communication
  • Desire to work in an organization with a shared leadership model
  • Skills and experience that can support the healthy functioning of a shared leadership nonprofit
  • Commitment to social justice, including food justice and education justice

• Because we work in public schools, candidates must follow all New York State and district-specific requirements for working in schools, including any vaccine requirements and background checks

• • Must be able to lift at least 30 pounds

• Access to a personal vehicle is required for this position. Mileage beyond your daily commute is reimbursable. Must be willing to use personal vehicle for transporting education and garden materials.  

Preferred skills

• Preference is given to candidates from Newburgh or Beacon
• Preference for Spanish speaking applicants
• Experience with outdoor education
• Experience with gardening and growing food
• Understanding of and passion for food justice and localized food systems 
• Experience in nonprofit work or management is a plus, but not required
• Familiarity with G Suite (Docs/Sheets/etc.)

Additional Perks

• Collaborate with a values-driven team committed to iterative learning, working, and story-telling
• You will have the opportunity to laugh a lot
• Work with diverse community partners who are passionate activators in food sovereignty, environmental justice, and community wellness
• Participate in a team implementing experiential, democratic, and place-based learning that engages young people in math, science, nature and wellness through the action and power of growing their own food
• Enjoy fresh, organic garden produce