Land to Learn’s work is rooted in gardening, food, community, health, and ecology. Our learner-centered approach fosters understanding and agency within youth in schools, residential centers, virtual classrooms, and other educational settings.

Our curriculum cultivates a deepened awareness of self, the world and its inhabitants, and the interconnectedness of all beings. Experiential, place-based, democratic, and transformative philosophies and practices inform our work.

We strive to center social justice and environmental consciousness in the learning communities we co-create with students and participants.

Land to Learn 

Part Time SproutEd Assistant Position 

2023-2024 School Year

Approximate Schedule:  October 15th, 2023-June 15th, 2024 (potential to extend)  Tues-Thursday 9:00-2:00 

Compensation: $17/ hour plus travel stipend 

About Us: Land to Learn’s mission is to help grow a movement for food justice and community wellness through garden-based education. Land to Learn educators integrate experiential learning into public school classrooms by bringing classes out to school gardens during the warmer months and facilitating lessons indoors during the winter. Regularly scheduled lessons throughout the school year provide opportunities for students to explore subjects of ecology and botany, eat, grow, and cook with vegetables, make connections to food and health, and engage with the natural world. We teach students in elementary schools in Beacon, Newburgh, and Kingston, where we maintain vegetable gardens to use as learning and growing spaces. 

Position Description: This position will assist in the implementation of the SproutEd program at JFK and Robert Graves Elementary School in Kingston, NY. The Education Assistant will be responsible for supporting the SproutEd program by working alongside the SproutEd educator to prepare materials and implement garden based lessons both indoors and in the outdoor garden classroom, in addition to assisting in the maintenance of the school gardens. In the summer, this position will continue garden maintenance assistance and other projects.Note: In the winter, lessons are indoors 

Expectations & Requirements: 

Teaching and Lessons                                                                                                                     

• Support students in garden-based lessons with Kindergarten, first, and second grade classes using LtL’s established curriculum.    
• Collaborate with SproutEd educator to adapt lessons to meet students needs.                 
• Record photos, anecdotes, quotes, and other information and input data
• Assist in Vegetable of the Month and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Tasting Program

 Garden Maintenance           

• Help maintain school gardens with guidance and support from the Kingston SproutEd Educator 
• Help harvest and deliver produce for donation throughout the summer months
• 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. 

Required skills                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

• Experience with and enthusiasm for working with groups of young children, especially outdoors 
• Desire to build skills in gardening and growing food 
• Ability to work outside in various weather conditions    
• Ability to work collaboratively’
• Commitment to social justice, including food justice  and education justice
• Must be able to lift at least 30 pounds 
• Access to a personal vehicle is required for this position. 

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                                                                                                                

Preferred skills

• Preference is given to candidates from Kingston
• 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 

To Apply:

Send a letter of interest stating why you would like the position and what you hope to gain from it. Please include a little about yourself and your resume or any work experience or accomplishments you’d like to share with us. Please also include contact information for a reference. Send letter in the body of an email or as a PDF attachment to Mara Estes at: mara@landtolearn.org